The Times

Thursday, February 16, 1961, page 8 (of 18)

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THE TIMES

the local community newspaper for all South Dade John T. Watters, President & Publisher William von Maurer, Editor Robert M. Slane, Advertising Manager Subscription: $3.00 year by mail anywhere

Reinstatement Of Blount

Reinstatement of Tommy Blount as Tax Assessor of Coral Gables puts to rest one of the greatest controversies ever to grip this city. Nearly seven years have passed since the case first hit the headlines — and hit them it did. When the controversy first began shaping up, it was big news in Miami as well as Coral Gables. Big names were involved and the daily newspapers gave a running account of developments. Like all news stories, however, it soon yielded to the pressure of new stories and new sensations. And the fickle public, which also likes new names and new crises, soon forgot. But the subject of the controversy did not forget and continued to fight for his reinstatement as tax assessor of Coral Gables. Mr. Blount lost his position when he refused to set aside tax increases he deemed just. The taxes were levied on property belonging to a number of prominent Gableites and city officials. The City Commission refused to back their own tax assessor, sided with the disgruntled taxpayers and demoted Mr. Blount. The results of that action have rankled ever since. Mr. Blount never ceased working to have himself reinstated. He waged his fight as a man dedicated to a principle. Reinstatement alone will mean little to Mr. Blount. Metro will soon abolish the job of tax assessor for the City of Coral Gables. However, reinstatement does mean the vindication of Mr. Blount as an honest public servant and as a man who conducted a public office with integrity. The City Commission deserves the appreciation of the entire community for having put an end to this unfortunate set of circumstances that have persisted far too long. The Commissioners and Mayor John Montgomery are to be congratulated, too, on making the reinstatement a unanimous decision. This unanimity eradicates any lingering bitterness and uncertainty that might have clung to the case had Blount been reinstated under any other conditions. Hundreds of Gableites, particularly those who know the case from its beginning seven years ago, will feel just a little bit better now that it has been resolved so satisfactorily.

All's Well That Ends Well

THE CASE OF TOMMY BLOUNT, TAX ASSESSOR | All's Well That Ends Well

Remember The Times

25 Years Ago Coral Gables was the first city in Florida to wage war against property owners who posted distasteful looking "For Rent" signs on their land. It was reported in a national real estate journal that several other cities were following the trail blazed by Coral Gables... The third annual Helen Lee Doherty Milk Fund Ball was held at the Miami Biltmore Country Club. The child of Larry Larson, a Gables radio dealer, represented "Babyhood" at the affair... Funeral services were held for Florence Troy Hails, 71. It was her daughters, Helen and Rebecca, who opened the Gables' prominent Exmoor School... Pupils at Coral Gables Elementary School became reporters for THE RIVIERA TIMES. The youngsters began submitting stories about the classroom activities. 10 Years Ago Construction began on the new Coral Gables bus terminal on Aragon Ave. at Salzedo St.... Coral Gables got a defense plant. The Metro Electronics Corporation with more than $500,000 in government contracts and another million on the way, announced it was opening its plant at 4567-69 Ponce de Leon Blvd... Plans were revealed for construction of an elementary school to be operated by the Dade County School Board on the University of Miami campus. Today, it's known as West Laboratory School... Mrs. Ruth Linder Sutton was named by Governor Fuller Warren to serve out the unexpired term of her husband, justice of the peace O. B. Sutton. Mr. Sutton had died of a heart attack.

PROFILE of the week

There's just the slight hint of a brogue, but the feeling of Scotland is ever present when you listen to William Anderson, executive vice president of the Coral Gables Board of Realtors, 367 Alhambra Circle. Mr. Anderson, a native of Barrhead, Scotland, reeived his bachelors' degree in business administration from Glasgow University. He came to this country in 1928, and started work in the statistic department of the Alexander Smith Co., a rug and textile making firm. Leaving New York, he came to Miami in 1943 and went to work for the Wes Fulton Engineering Co. as an office manager. With the end of World War II, the company closed its southern offices and Anderson decided to stay in Miami. He joined the Miami office of the Bahama Trading Co. In 1956, he started in the real estate business and during the same year he was made secretary of the Coral Gables Board of Realtors. Just last month he was made executive vice president. "I only wish that I had started working in the realty business when I first came to this country," said Anderson, "it's the most interesting and fascinating work that I've ever been in. Just listening to the tales and woes of the 500 or so realtors and salesmen is an experience in itself." When Anderson is not engrossed in real estate matters, he spends his leisure time playing golf or listening to music. "I've been playing golf since I was 11," he said, "and as far as music goes, I like all kinds." As a boy, he was a drummer for the Scottish Highlanders. Now that he is in Miami, he keeps up with his drum playing by being a member of the Miami Scottish Bag Pipe Band. Anderson is also a member of the Coral Gables Masonic Lodge and the Miracle Mile Toastmasters Club. His three children, Allan, 33, George, 30, and Roberta, 24, are all living in the New York City area. He and his wife, Helen, live at 5000 SW 94th Ave., in the Miller Heights section of Miami. Bn.-Barrhead, Scotland Ch.-Allan, George, Roberta Ed.-Glasgow University, Scotland M.-Helen Bus.-Real Estate

South Miami Roundup

By EDWIN KNIGHT KNIGHT NEIGHBORHOOD shopping centers — those boons to the suburban family in this day of heavy traffic, bumpy, narrow roads and long distances — are giving Coral Gables and South Miami merchants the shakes. Mention an area shopping center to a South Miami or Coral Gables businessman and he cringes. TELL HIM ANOTHER shopping center is going in west or south Dade county and he wipes his brow. Slip in the list of stores going in the center and he gets red in the face. The truth is that the downtown South Miami and Coral Gables merchants are worried. AND WHY SHOULDN'T they be? Gables and South Miami merchants lose customers with every store that opens in a shopping center. And it will get worse before it gets better. Why? Because the biggest shopping center of all, the papa of shopping centers, is still to be built. THAT CENTER is Dadeland Shopping Center, slated for opening in late 1962 at the intersection of South Dixie Highway, North Kendall Dr. and the Palmetto Expressway. There isn't a better location for a shopping center in South Florida. The city merchants know it. This center will be built on 140 acres. SEVENTY ACRES will be occupied by an initial 500,000 square feet of store space, malls and 400 parking spaces. Burdine's alone will account for 130,000 square feet of floor space. Some 30 to 40 other stores will cater to residents of south and west Dade County. MUCH OF THE business for Coral Gables and South Miami merchants through the years has come from the south and western ends of Dade. Shopping centers began opening in these areas several years ago. First there was the Red-Bird Center on the northwest corner of Red and Bird Roads. THEN CAME Suniland Center, at SW 112th St. and South Dixie Highway. Next was Westchester, at Coral Way and SW 87th Ave., followed by Cutler Ridge Center, at South Dixie Highway near Perrine. Then came the opening of the Central Plaza Center, at NW 37th Ave. and 7th St. Sprinkled between these centers are smaller shopping areas that also detract from the two city business districts. EACH OF THESE centers has free parking. Each has a wide variety of stores, is open later hours. They make competition for the Gables and South Miami merchant rough, so tough that the city merchants are appealing to their respective municipal governments for help. THE CITIES' fathers, not always prone to forge the homeowners in favor of the businessmen, are listening to the requests. They realize the merchants have a problem. And they know, too, that the merchants' tax load in any city is a big one. But when are the merchants crying "wolf" and when do they honestly need help? Should merchants do more advertising to meet the shopping center competition? IT'S A TOUCHY question. And the city fathers know it. Last week the merchants in both cities made plenty of noise. Whether these are the first of many outbursts is a good question. The answer depends on the merchants' condition. South Miami Council received a most unusual request — especially from the merchants. The South Miami District Chamber of Commerce Merchants' Division asked that parking meters on the cities' streets be covered during a four-moth trial period. I DON'T THINK the South Miami Council was surprised by the petition. With so many shopping centers around with no parking meters, this request was a reasonable and logical one. This is one way of meeting the competition if it doesn't hurt the city's till. On this question, only time and an experiment can tell. SOUTH MIAMI Council, we feel, will grant the re[quest?] after a Metro survey of the city's parking meters shows a small take-in. South Miami is counting heavily on its merchants for its yearly tax collection.

Letters To The Editor Why No Referendums?

Editor, The Times, Why are a majority of the Coral Gables City Commission so reluctant to place questions so vitally affecting Coral Gables to the people? In recent weeks we have seen them refuse to go along with Commissioner Joe Murphy's proposal to put a Charter change involving conflicts of interest to a vote of the electorate and they have similarly opoced giving voters a chance to expresse their wishes on the question of high rise buildings. I fail to see why any Commissioner would oppose a democratic proposal so vitally affecting everyone living in Coral Gables. Many persons are completely opposed to the construction of high rise buildings in residential areas — even where zoning permits construction of three-story apartments. Under the present set up we must stand up and fight every proposal that is made. Many of us do not have the time or money or ability to successfully battle the forces of "progress" in our town. What we need is to prohibit these monstrosities now. It will be too late after they have been built and we find ourselves stumbling in the morass of humanity that will result if they are allowed. We don't need to learn by experience — we have the example of hundreds of other communities already suffering from congestion, overcrowding — overpopulation — if you wish. Let us not bow out to the crass commercial interests who are only interested in making a buck. Distressed Gableite

Letters To The Editor What Goes On In World?

Editor, The Times, One of the things that I enjoy about reading your newspaper is that it keeps me so close to what is going on at home. I often wonder as I read the big dailies how the average reader can hope to know what is going on in the world from the stories that appear there each day. If there is one person in Miami, for instance, who can explain to me just what is going on in the Congo and just who Lumumba, Kasavubu and Mobutu are, then we have a better informed reading public than I ever thought we had. I confess I don't know these people, their country or their problems. And, I suppose, it will shock many, but I don't find it in my conscience to really care. That's isolationism, I suppose, but I still insist that the problems right here in Coral Gables, Southern Florida and the South are greater than my imagination can cope with. In addition, I know even less about Laos, communal farms in Red China and the justice or injustice of what happened to the Dali Lama. The world has become too complicated for this aging reader, I suppose. Those who oppose my views will say that I should read and catch up on what is going on, but no one who works for a living can possibly read all the information that is thrown at him in just one day. Satiated