Who Moved My Cheese, a book about change, is a parable about a group of mice that for years went to the same spot to dine and, after a bit, noticed their cheese (in this case) was gone. Two of the mice figured they needed to forage somewhere else while others stayed in the same old dining spot, hoping the missing cheese would return. But alas! As you may imagine, the foragers not only found some cheese but new and interesting things to do, as well, while the stay-behinds had no food at all. So, if worried about “changing” your life, just remember the Cheese-less Mice!
Speaking of adjusting to change, Casa Larios was sold to the La Carreta folks and before you knew it, the doors were locked and a sign posted that the business had closed. My-oh-my! What’s a mouse to do? Thousands of us have been going there for years and dang it, they’ve moved our cheese! But never despair.
While the place is getting set to reopen, miserable mice can hang out at the small tables and chairs that are still set up right outside the front door. Many are still going there, just to hang out, enjoy coffee obtained elsewhere, and chin up with friends. You can even park a car and palaver with friends pulled up next to you to discuss where to find your next cheese.
And speaking of a brighter future, Commissioner Gabriel Edmond, no longer a newbie, has been rather quiet of late. When is he going to start making a difference? It sounds like the city is moving forward and actively talking about developing the city hall and the library — and would love to include the medical office property, just east of the library, to plan a large office building and – oh, my goodness – a hotel! Wow, nice idea and certainly even nicer if the city could actually get the job done.
In the meanwhile, the city ought to do whatever needs to be done to get on with the Madison Square project and forget whether or not the site is large enough to meet tax credit requirements. If you guys hadn’t screwed around with this project for so many years, it could have been done a long time ago. Now, the locals are paying the price for your inefficiency. It Just Ain’t Fair! So do what you need to do and get things moving!
Former Chief of Police Orlando Martinez de Castro’s legal case against the City of South Miami is advancing following a hearing held a few weeks ago. Nothing decisive, so the meter is still ticking unless our city leaders decide to turn it off.
Meanwhile, the city is spending lots of time, energy and money, defending itself. One never knows how these things end, but I’m reminded of an old saying that paraphrase goes something like this: “You go into court a pig and you come out a sausage.” So come on, city commissioners, stop wasting your time and our tax dollars. Grit your teeth and settle this thing. Don’t say what we’ve heard before
(‘Heck, it ain’t my money’). Make this nonsense go away and use your time for better things – even if just a new kind of cheese we can chew on.
Couldn’t help but see that the city might reduce the parking requirement for apartments in certain parts of town. Wow. Sounds pretty progressive. Mayor Phil says the city currently requires two times as many spots needed by apartments in the downtown area and more than four times what’s needed in the CRA and TODD areas (around the Metrorail station and north of it). Nice move, Phil. Now let’s see what you’re made of to get your fellow pols to go along with you!
Three South Miami K-8 Music Center students got the thrill of their young lives when they joined some 200 others chosen from throughout Florida to represent their schools at the recent Florida Music Educator Association ElementaryAll-State Choir event. Our Magnet school group included two fifth graders, Enzo Araya and Nicholas Rodriquez and fourth grader, Isabella Figueroa, all of whom went on the three-day trip to Tampa over the winter break.
Good news keeps coming for the K-8 Center with Vivian Gonzalez, a music teacher, recognized as a semi-finalist for the 2015 Grammy Music Educator Award – and repeats once again as the Center was announced as recipient of a $4,000 donation from the Ford “Drive-4-Us” School, created by the Ford Foundation, Ryan Seacrest and the Grammy Foundation to raise awareness and support music educators across the nation.
Got any tips? Contact me at 305-669- 7355, ext. 249, or send emails to Michael@communitynewspapers.com.
