Every year the University of Miami is required to submit their infrastructure Master Plan (The UMCAD) to the City of Coral Gables Planning Board. Within each annual submission the University has to include any amendments to the plan as well as corresponding impact reports, such as how any new construction project will affect traffic on the roads adjacent to the Coral Gables campus. Following submission, the City Planning Board is supposed to review the UMCAD and any associated amendments and then make a recommendation on their approval to the Coral Gables City Commission. For the last three years, not only has UM been unable to get any amendments to the UMCAD approved, the City Planning Board had not even granted a hearing. Late on the afternoon of Friday January 5, the Planning Board advised the university administration that at the next meeting of the City Planning Board UM's amendments to the UMCAD would receive a hearing. In addition to reviewing all amendments accumulated since 2004, the Planning Board also requested additional traffic impact studies, a request that caused a lot of rushing around at the last minute.
The next meeting of the Planning Board convened on Wednesday January 10 at the Coral Gables City Hall. In attendance were leading officials of the administration, supporters of the school, approximately forty students including the Student Government Senate Speaker John Constantanide, and prominent Coral Gables attorney Dean Colson, Chairman of UM's Board of Trustees. Making a very rare appearance to address the City Planning Board was UM President Donna Shalala. In her speech she highlighted the need for the variety of infrastructure projects such as the new University Center and additional on campus residences, all of which will help UM rise in the rankings of the nation's colleges, rankings that prove so important in the competition for the very best students and faculty. After nearly four hours of proceedings the Planning Board ultimately voted a recommendation of "no" to the City Commission.
Sadly enough the last time amendments were approved was during the long, drawn-out process involved in the University Village project. As you may remember it took nearly three years to complete the complex series of negotiations between the city government and the Coral Gables Homeowners association that preceded the breaking of ground on the project. Instead of a student residential complex with the capability of housing 1100 students, the current community of 7 apartment buildings houses approximately 800. As if that wasn't bad enough, previous and ongoing problems attributed almost entirely to the construction company contracted to build University Village forced a series of delays in move-ins by leaseholders and continued inability to complete many areas of the complex, including the parking garages, access gates to the apartments, and the permanent leasing office the management company will use to manage the property. Although its been nearly two months since the last residents moved in to their apartments, not much progress appears to have been made on something as simple as security gate locks for residents to access the main parking garage from the buildings adjacent to it.
UM is Coral Gables' largest employer. Its presence here generates significant economic benefit to the city and its federal research status along with the leadership of Donna Shalala, continues to bring added prestige to the city. After all, other than the Miracle Mile shopping district, overpriced houses and the Biltmore Hotel, what else is Coral Gables known for... The U Yet many of the residents of this city seem to have nothing but disdain for the university, its administrators, and its students. This would be manageable if the politicians that are in charge of the Coral Gables government, as well as their civic board appointees, didn't appear so eager to stifle UM at every turn. While I can in some small way appreciate concerns over traffic, to simplistically blame UM students and employees for any and all traffic congestion on San Amaro Drive and UM"s other perimeter roads sinks to a level approaching pathological scapegoatism.
Its time for this kind of blatant disrespect of our university and its students and employees to stop.
This city's politicians in spite of their apparent predilection for preventing UM from rising in the national collegiate rankings are in the end merely responding to the desires of their constituents. Now why is this you may ask? Because in spite of all the benefits UM brings to Coral Gables, the residents who drive the opposition to UM's program of improvements have one great power to wield that UM does not.
They have votes they cast in Coral Gables City elections. In spite of all the consternation often emanating from the UM student population concerning restrictions placed upon what we can do and the facilities the university can develop, very few students are actually registered to vote in Coral Gables.
In almost all elections for the Coral Gables City Commission, the total turn out is no more than three - four thousand. There are currently just under 15,000 students enrolled in classes at UM. Even though many of them attend classes on the Medical and RSMAS campuses, nearly 10,000 attend school on the Coral Gables campus. If only on-campus residents and commuter students from Coral Gables are included among new voter registrants, the number still approaches several thousand, enough to determine any election. With a county polling place right on our campus there should be no reason why UM students can't make a significant impact in the political system in this city. While city policies may not be the most exciting they to pay attention to, they often times have the most direct impact on each of us while we're here. Registering to vote in Coral Gables is the only way to effectively impact those policies.
Very soon we?ll have another opportunity to let our voices be heard. In March, the City will be holding an election for Mayor as well as at least one seat on the City Commission. Don't let another year go by without letting them know you matter.

Register to vote in Coral Gables today!