The Times

Coral Gables THE TIMES South Miami the local community newspaper for all South Dade.

Vol. 36 No. 5 Second Class Postage Paid at Miami, Fla. Thursday, March 16, 1961 Published Weekly at 308 Aragon, Coral Gables, Fla. Price 10c

Easy Guess--Searle Is Next Mayor | All He Has To Do Is Vote For Himself

By MAURICE LABELLE On April 12, Robert L. Searle will be sworn in as Coral Gables' new mayor simply by casting a vote for himself on April 11. He is unopposed. The qualifying deadline passed at 5 p.m. Tuesday without any of the 12 other candidates deciding to go against the former vice mayor and six-year veteran of the City Commission. Last to file was Dr. Franklin J. Evans, well-known physician and attorney. The Guessers Commissioner Joe Murphy kept the guessers guessing by not filing until shortly before 3 p.m., just two hours before the deadline. Murphy had been urged to run for mayor by his supporters, but declined at this time. Jack Plunkett, a local concrete products manufacturer and former Marine pilot, filed Tuesday morning. George Wilson, former president of the Coral Gables Jaycees and investment counselor, filed Monday after vacillating several times on his decision. 13 Candidates Dr. James C. Chimerakis, an osteopath, rounds out the list of 13 aspirants, 12 of whom will vie for the four vacancies to be created by the departure of Mayor John M. Montgomery, Commissioners Frank Kerdyk and James Hess and expiration of Commissioner Murphy's two-year term. Searle is in the doubly enviable position of not being opposed for the mayoralty and not up for re-election. Murphy is the only incumbent forced to run for his seat. Several of the candidates have already made public appearances before the Citizens Committee and the Apartment Association and at least two more open meetings have been arranged for next week.

ROWS OF BICYCLES, some laden with dust from the passage of time, line the storage room at the Coral Gables Police Station. Each unclaimed bicycle, such as the one in foreground, is given a tag indicating when and where the vehicle was found. If someone doesn't claim a bicycle, it is then sold at an auction. Maybe yours is here.

Lost A Bike? Could Be City Has It

Dozens of bikes piled up at the Coral Gables police station are mute evidence that the victims don't know how to get them back. Some of these bikes come from Coral Gables, but many probably belong to West Miamians, South Miamians, Miamians and others living out in the unincorporated areas, Jimmy Robinson, police records clerk, explained. How is it that all these bicycles are recovered by police and never picked up by the owner? Main Reason The main reason explained Robinson, who handles auction sales of the unclaimed bikes a couple of times a year, is that victims assume their bikes were stolen in the town in which they live or that the bike was recovered by the police in the town in which it was stolen. Thieves are not that cooperative, Robinson pointed out. They may pick up a bicycle somewhere in Miami, ride it to Coral Gables and abandon it—or vice versa. There are so many cases of bicycle thefts that police can't go to too much pain to find the owners. The conclusion is obvious. If you have had a bike stolen, start, by the process of elimination, to check out the various police departments. There are usually two ways you can do this, Robinson said. One way is simple—if you have the serial number of the bike. Just call police and ask them to check their recovered bike serial number list. But if numbers are not known, parents will have to furnish police with a detailed description of the stolen bike and accompany their children when they come to claim it. 27 Municipalities There are 27 municipalities in Dade County and most of them have police departments. The county also has its own force. This is an ideal set up for thieves and they know it. It also makes it tough on the victims. But if you want to recover stolen property you must work at it. Check the municipality you live in first. Then contact the county. Then try your luck at contacting the two dozen departments. If all fails, you may appear at the auctions held by Gables police and some of the other departments and bid on somebody's recovered bike. By the way—waht's the serial number of your bike? If you don't know, look under the pedal and sprocket gear housing and you'll usually find it stamped on the frame. Proving ownership is greatly facilitated this way.

Gables Names Tennis Pro

The former tennis professional at the Pompano Bath and Tennis Club was named Tuesday to be the new pro at Salvadore Park. He is 38-year-old John (Jack) Cook Jr., who was selected by City Manager L. W. Robinson Jr. Cook replaces Leo Fullwood, who resigned recently to become the pro at a new local tennis club. Cook was pro at the Quogue Field Club, Quogue, Long Island, between 1959-60, the Town Tennis Club, New York City, 1958-59, and the River Club, New York City, before that. He is a graduate of Bayside High School, Long Island, and served from 1942-45 in the U.S. Navy as BM 1/c.

Ben is back at Ben's Shell Service Sta.

Ben is back at Ben's Shell Service Sta., 9330 So. Dixie. adv.

Come Back, Little $1 Parking Penalty

A resolution requesting a return to the $1 overtime parking fine was passed Tuesday by the Coral Gables City Commission and forwarded to the Metro Commission. The fine was raised from $1 to $2 in July 1960 when Metropolitan government took over responsibility for traffic and parking law enforcement throughout Dade County.

Street Crews Will Rip Up Three More

Three Coral Gables streets have been torn up or will be torn up shortly for widening and resurfacing. LeJeune Rd. construction is well underway and is scheduled to be completed next fall. Workmen are rebuilding the stretch from Bird Rd. north, but eventually construction will extend from South Dixie Hwy. to Tamiami Trail. San Amaro San Amaro Dr., on the University of Miami Main Campus, is also all torn up and being widened and repaved to four divided lanes. This project is being paid for by the University. The third project is the realigning and repaving of University Dr. from Ponce de Leon Blvd. to a point west of LeJeune Rd. Curiosity continues to be aroused by the odd bit of work being done at the old Youth Center lot in connection with widening of LeJeune Rd. Workmen there are constructing huge concrete ditch covers that will be used to cover a 17-foot deep underground drainage ditch being dug in the center of LeJeune Rd. The covers are being set down on shoulders cut out of the solid rock lining LeJeune and form a tunnel-like stucture to drain water away toward a canal near Coral Gables High School.

High Rise Promoter To Sue City

Builder Albert H. Sakolsky filed suit in Circuit Court Tuesday to prevent the City of Coral Gables from blocking the construction of a 12-story apartment building at 720 Biltmore Way. The injunction action seeks to keep the city from carrying out its resolution of Jan. 10 which revoked Sakolsky's permit for the high rise building. 3-2 Vote The resolution, passed on a 3-2 vote, reversed an earlier 3-2 action granting Sakolsky permission to go 12 stories and other variances. Commissioners Joe Murphy, Frank Kerdyk and James Hess reversed the earlier action after opposition began to mount from Gables home and apartment owners. Mayor John M. Montgomery and Commissioners Robert Searle and Winston W. Wynne had voted to approve the high riser Dec. 6. Wynne resigned his Commission seat Jan. 1 to sit on the Metro Commission and Hess, appointed to replace him, voted with Murphy and Kerdyk, both strong opponents of Sakolsky's proposition, to reverse the earlier action. Sakolsky actually never obtained a permit to construct the entire building, only the foundation. The final plans for the building had not been approved by the Commission. Fuel To Election His suit may add fuel to an already hot campaign issue in the April 11 election. However, only Commissioner Searle, the sole candidate for mayor, and Commissioner Joe Murphy, a candidate for re-election, participated directly in the controversy. Mayor Montgomery and Commissioners Frank Kerdyk and James Hess are retiring from the political scene. The present City Commission voted unanimously on Feb. 7 to tighten up on its high rise building requirements following the uproar from a large group of residents.

Malones Fine Watch Repairs

Malones Fine Watch Repairs—6234 So. Dixie, So. Miami. Adv.

They'll Be Legislators For A Day

Eight Coral Gables High School students will be among scores of students from other Florida cities at a YMCA-sponsored Youth Legislature this weekend in Tallahassee. According to Southwest YMCA Youth Director William Nicholson, the students will use the facilities of the Florida Legislature in a mock operation of the state government as part of Hi-Y and Tri-Hi-Y activities. Hi-Y is the boys' and Tri-Hi-Y the girls' YMCA-sponsored high school clubs. Girls making the trip are Gayla Reed, 751 Coronado Ave.; Pat Paris, 2340 SW 28th St., and Sue Sheppard, 5600 Alhambra Cir. Boys going to Tallahassee are Bill Tegtmann, 832 Alhambra Circle; Curry Bassett, 1118 Ferdinand St.; Alex Galenes, 1407 Lisbon St.; Walt Tullis, 526 Bargello Ave., and Dennis Loftus, 1553 Trevino Ave. The students will leave Coral Gables Thursday and return Sunday.