Commissioner then mysteriously withdrew his request
Coral Gables newly-elected Commissioner Richard Lara — who repealed the prior commission’s increased salaries and talks a lot about fiscal responsibility — tried to nickel and dime the city himself with a reimbursement request for a ticket he bought to the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce’s Centennial Gala. A ticket he bought before he was elected.
Less that two weeks after Lara beat attorney Tom Wells, 55% to 45%, in an tense campaign where he said he would repeal raises commissioners gave themselves in 2023 and cut taxes, Lara — who, btw, has gone along with not cutting taxes — sent the city attorney an email asking for reimbursement of a $650 ticket to the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce Centennial Gala, which was on April 29, part of a series of events celebrating the city’s 100th anniversary. It was held a week after his election victory.
“Please find the attached documentation for your review and reimbursement. The enclosed purchase, in the amount of $650, was made to cover the cost of a ticket to the Coral Cables Chamber of Commerce Centennial Celebration Grand Gala, which I attended in my official capacity as Commissioner,” Lara wrote in the May 5 email.
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¡Que atrevido! Does this mean that he wouldn’t have gone if he hadn’t been elected? Who believes that? These two love their galas!
Lara included a receipt that showed he purchased two tickets in December, four months before he was elected, for him and his wife. At least he didn’t try to get his wife’s ticket paid by the city.
An attorney by profession, Lara also cited the city charter section and resolution that provides for this to be an eligible commission expense. But he either doesn’t know the charter as well as he thought or he must have realized this was not a good look. Because when Ladra got the reimbursement request from the city, there was what looked like a Post-It on the email noting that it was “withdrawn at the request of the commissioner.”
Or was it because he ended up sitting at the mayor’s table? The one the mayor said he paid for himself?
Lara did not return calls and texts to his phone.
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Subsequent emails to the city clerk and the city attorney about when the reimbursement was withdrawn and how — via email, phone call — have not only not been answered, they’ve been downright evaded.
“At the request of the Commissioner the request for reimbursement was withdrawn, I do not have a document that answers your questions,” wrote City Clerk Billy Urquia on Monday when Ladra asked again. But someone in the city has to know when the commissioner asked for it to be withdrawn.
Was it after Political Cortadito asked for the document on June 18?
The gala included a cocktail reception, a premiere of a stage play called “Greetings From Paradise,” and a grand gala dinner under the stars. But it looks like Lara is going to have to pay for it out of his own pocket.
The post Richard Lara sought repayment for gala ticket bought before Gables election appeared first on Political Cortadito.
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