"Sometimes you just have to say what residents want to hear." (Guest Post)

A letter from former Director of Development Services, Suramy Cabrera.

Note from Aesop: You know you’re living in interesting times when your sleepy little community is somehow able to sustain a news cycle that is practically Washingtonian in scale. In addition to all the pyrotechnic drama that has become the new normal at commission meetings, we have seen this week the Fritz and Franz saga reach its inevitable crescendo, as well as the introduction of the latest wag-the-dog crisis courtesy of the wannabe Weather Underground geniuses over at KFC headquarters: the P-card scandal, or as I like to call it, “Celsius Watergate”—you’ll probably want to keep tabs on this one if you’ve ever wondered what it looks like when a rabid degenerate with an inferiority complex shoots himself in the foot.

This is all fodder for a couple of posts at the very least, but before getting to all that, I thought I should share something that is, in my view, much more substantive and worthwhile than the aforementioned agitprop. Hence the following, an impassioned guest post authored by none other than the city’s former Director of Development Services, Suramy Cabrera. As many of you know, despite her objective success here in the Gables, Suramy left the city last summer for greener (read: less toxic) pastures. What many of you don’t know is what exactly precipitated her departure, and so I suspect you will find Suramy’s refreshingly candid post both informative and compelling.

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My last day with the City of Coral Gables was August 1, 2023.  I decided to leave the city after a very characteristically sickening experience with Commissioner Ariel Fernandez.  I believe that you have generally covered this in previous Aesop’s Gables articles.  Specifically, I am referring to Commissioner Fernandez’s unannounced visit to Development Services, which he published on his social media.  So, what happened that day?  This is a long story and, although I am notorious for one-sentence (or one word) responses, I must make an exception here, for there is a lot to clarify…

I was hired by City Manager Peter Iglesias (then ACM Iglesias) to transform the Development Services Department – and that’s exactly what I did.  Despite the early accusations by a supposed Coral Gables resident named “Ms. Cohen” that the CM Iglesias and I were “too close”, and although I was at the verge of quitting many times, I stayed on, hoping that things would change.  And, well, they did.  ACM Iglesias became CM Iglesias, and I had the support needed to do what had to be done.

I dug right in, reviewing the budget, employee evaluations, City issued equipment, processes, and our physical space.  All were unacceptable.  The Building Department was subsidized by taxpayer dollars, we had a few “bad apples”, inspectors and code officers were lacking equipment necessary to perform their duties, and well, coming to work meant dealing with rat droppings on your files, termite wings on your desk, and ceiling tiles falling on your head after a rainy day.  Yes, that is what we had ladies and gentlemen, “Welcome to the City Beautiful!”  Let me go through each of these…

The City’s Building Department was being subsidized by the general fund.  So, what does that mean?  Well, anti-development residents, your tax dollars were subsidizing permit fees!  Yeah, basically, that’s it.  We hired a consultant to perform a permit fee study and provide a structure where the building department was self-sustaining.  When I arrived, the Building Department owed the general fund millions of dollars (I can’t recall the exact amount).  When I left, the Building Department had reimbursed the general fund and had a credit of around 10 million dollars to cover the department when development slows down.

Employee Evaluations – yes, that was tough.  We had to remove several employees for unethical behavior.  I will not get into the details.  Most of the development services employees are honest, hard-working people that I was privileged to work with – and they know it.  I care for each and every one of them. 

City Issued Equipment.  Well, there was pretty much none.  Inspector’s vehicles were old, rusted retired police vehicles.  The raincoats were the equivalent of what you get free at any theme park and then throw away.  They had no tape measure, no mallets, no step ladder, etc.  Why do they need this, you might think?  Well, spend a day with them doing their job and then let’s talk.  They not only needed this, but they also deserved it.  I always put employees first.  I elevated the development services group, and morale was high while I was the director.

And now, the physical space.  More than once, I presented photos to the commission of the conditions that we worked in.  The termite wings all over the place, buckets in ceilings and floors to catch the rain, wet ceiling tiles hanging from the ceiling, rat droppings in the files, etc.  Code Enforcement purchased gloves and breathing masks to handle files because they were concerned about their health.  I couldn’t blame them.  Luckily, we were able to renovate the 427 building (no small feat). The renovations were paid partially (mostly) with permit revenue (about 60% of the renovation, furniture, computers, etc.), not tax-payer dollars.  We didn’t close, we didn’t hire additional staff, nothing.  The team did what had to be done.

We moved to the 427 building, and well, that brings me to the scandalous p-card purchases.  Yes, employees called me to tell me to watch what happened in Tuesday’s commission meeting.  Commissioner Fernandez’s knee-jerk reactions on that dais betray him.  It did in the e-mail exchange with City Manager Iglesias, and again yesterday with the p-card purchases.  His hate and contempt for successful, competent people is so evident that he fails to be objective and evaluate facts before throwing accusations.  I will speak about the purchases that occurred during my tenure in the City.  I, and I alone, made the decision to stop the use of plastic and polystyrene (Styrofoam) in Development Services.  I found it hypocritical that the city claims to be “Sustainable” with a Styrofoam-banning ordinance, a plastic bag prohibition, and yet Development Services was full of Styrofoam plates, plastic utensils, plastic cups, plastic water bottles, etc., etc.  So when we moved to 427, I requested a water-bottle filling station, issued reusable water bottles and thermoses for field staff, purchased reusable silverware, plates, coffee mugs, bowls, etc. for the team’s use. It’s all there, in the building.

Development Services has about 60 employees and I believe that I purchased about 12 placings for the upstairs kitchen, and 12 for the downstairs kitchen.  I also purchased sponges to wash the dishes, and oh yes, for Mrs. Cruz, I purchased a dishwashing bar.  I saw that Mrs. Cruz was baffled by what this is.  Well, let me explain (or educate).  We did our own dishes in Development Services.  To do the dishes, I provided sponges and soap.  And, well, as an alternative to plastic bottles of dishwashing liquid, I opted for a dishwashing bar - an alternative that is not only environmentally friendly, but less prone to being “misplaced” as yes, some employees “take” things from work.  That brings me to the coffee machine.  I eliminated the Keurig coffee machines and opted for a leased machine.  Why, well, simple, Keurig cups tend to “disappear” and again, are a lot of plastic waste.  The commercial coffee machine coffee and cream refills are specific to that machine.  No “disappearing” coffee.

I can go through the entire list, and I am happy to.  For now, back to why I left the city.  Commissioner Fernandez came to the 427 building on an afternoon, around five to 10 minutes before closing.  He walked around, took some photos, and headed back across the parking lot (the video exists).  Five minutes later, I received a call from City Manager Iglesias asking where all my staff was.  I responded, we are having a lunch-and-learn today and they are all upstairs with me in the conference room.  He goes on to explain that he is with an elected official, and the elected official was upset because there was no one at the front counter.  I explained that it was five minutes before closing and that the two supervisors were at the counter to attend to any last-minute visitors but that everyone else was upstairs.  I went on to invite the manager and the elected official to our lunch and learn.  Commissioner Fernandez and CM Iglesias came over to our lunch and learn.  Commissioner Fernandez then took pictures with staff and not of the empty lobby, only to publish it on his social media page later that day:

Upon their arrival, I asked the Commissioner if he would like to say any words to the team – and he did.  And this is when I realized that it was time for me to go.  Commissioner Fernandez told the team something to the effect that he supported their director (me), and that I supported him and that what goes on at the dais is sometimes just a result of, and I quote  “…sometimes you just have to say what the residents want to hear”.  I thought, so this is not about the truth, about the residents, about the employees, or even what I thought was my failure to communicate the successes of the team.  This was about doing whatever it takes to get elected.  I am not a politician and I preferred not to work in that environment.  The residents had spoken, this is what they wanted, and this was not what I had signed up for – so I left.

On my very last day, I had a feeling that I needed to document some of the more important items that I was working on.  I just felt that, in that environment, others would take credit for what the team and I had accomplished, and I would take blame for what hadn’t been completed.  Well, that’s exactly what happened.  Again, thank you to the employees that alerted me to what happened during the January 9^th meeting, particularly the presentation on Development Services and all the progress of the department.  Especially upsetting to me was the very special thank you by Commissioner (Doctor) Castro to Deputy Director Ramirez where she takes credit for process improvements in the city.  The phone system was my initiative, the reporting on permits was my initiative, the sign-in system at the lobby was my initiative, the manual was my initiative, flowcharting processes was my initiative, closing out thousands of expired permits was my initiative, providing overdue review feedback to all reviewers, including Fire and PW (which did not report to me) was my initiative, taking the overdue reviews from thousands to zero, yes, that was under my tenure.  I can go on and on.  I prepared a memo on my last day where I went through all the items that were still pending implementation and or correction (I’ve attached the memo here).  You can see that we were working on what Dr. Castro so publicly took credit for before my departure. How low can a person go?

When I left, I promised I would leave the drama at the city behind.  I truly try to do my best and get very frustrated when it is not recognized.  I am bluntly honest, and I hate bullies.  I always hated bullies, even as a kid.  Funny, though, I was never bullied.  But I stood up for others - all the time.  This time, I’m sticking up for the team and myself.

Thank you.