The association linked to Coral Gables youth center just sued the city. Here’s why

A private association linked to a Coral Gables youth center has sued the city, accusing it of violating Florida’s public records law.

It’s the latest development in a lengthy feud related to the future of the War Memorial Youth Center on University Drive, unfolding as Gables residents prepare to vote in the city’s November election. The complaint, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Sept. 18, claims the city failed to properly search for or provide documents that would fulfill three public records requests made in January and paid for by the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center Association.

Those requests, in part, sought to review proposals, plans or discussions related to the future use of, or expansion into, the youth center property by any organization.

“It has been eight months since we first asked for [the records], and we warned the city with a five-day notice letter in May that they needed to provide us the requested records,” said Jane Muir, the attorney for the War Memorial Youth Center Association, a private not-for-profit civic organization tied to the youth center.

The civic organization is a self-described watchdog for the youth center, which the association deeded to the city decades ago. Under the arrangement, the city of Coral Gables owns, operates and maintains the youth center.

The legal clause requires the city to never change the name of the War Memorial Youth Center and to continue using the property for youth recreational activities for Gables children. If it does not, ownership of the property will go back to the civic organization.

Florida’s public records law requires government agencies to respond to records requests within a reasonable timeframe. It’s been several months since the association made its requests and paid $192 for the city to conduct its search. For Muir, that means the records are long overdue.

“We think the voters need to be aware of the details that may be contained within the records that we’ve requested before the voters go to the polls in November, so we did not want to wait any longer before we asked the court to intervene and give us the records we have the right to review,” Muir said.

The dispute

The reverter clause is largely the reason for the lengthy and heated feud between the association and city leaders that began last year. The two sides appeared ready to tussle in court until commissioners voted 4-1 earlier this year to hold off on legal action and instead freeze any renovation plans that were in the works for the youth center, excluding routine maintenance, until the reverter clause dispute is resolved.

Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara want to get rid of the clause, which they argue is a “cloud on the title” that could cause problems for the city in the future. Anderson, a lawyer, has previously described the clause as too “vague” and “not reciprocal.”

Lago has also raised concerns that the city is unable to access all the organization’s financial filings, even though the youth center is on city-owned land and is funded by the city.

The association, for its part, says it has turned over what it is legally required to and argues the clause is what protects the youth center. It’s previously questioned the city’s intent to scrap the clause, questioning whether commissioners want to develop or lease the property in a way that runs afoul of the deal, or if the scrutiny is politically motivated due to the group’s former president, Kirk Menendez — a city commissioner from 2021 to 2025 — running against Lago in last year’s election. Lago, Anderson and Lara have denied the accusations.

Lago has repeatedly said in public meetings and to the Herald that he does not want to sell parks or the youth center. On Thursday, when asked for comment on the association’s allegations, the mayor pointed the Herald to a referendum he sponsored that will be .

The ballot question will ask voters if the city should seek at least 60% approval by voters in a special election before proceeding with plans to sell, exchange, convey or execute a lease of 10 years or longer of any city-owned property that is used as a park, recreational facility, golf course or open park space. Lago has previously said that the law, if passed, would protect the city’s many parks and give additional protection to the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center, which he says should resolve any concerns the association has.

But the association remains skeptical of the motivations behind the recent scrutiny. In a May letter to commissioners, Muir drew a comparison between the city’s focus on the association and the actions of former city of Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo, who was found liable in a jury trial of retaliating against two Little Havana businessmen who supported his political opponent.

“We are confident that the members of the Commission have considered what happened in the City of Miami when elected officials directed the machinery of government against organizations or individuals because of their association with political opponents, as using governmental authority as a tool of First Amendment retaliation can result in personal liability,” Muir wrote.

“The Association has no interest in such an outcome,” her letter continued. “It has every interest in resolving this matter without further escalation.”

Similarly, Lago sees the association’s efforts as political retaliation against him ahead of his November reelection bid to serve a final term as mayor.

“Let me be clear: this lawsuit and the allegations within it are completely news to me on all fronts. The city will vigorously defend itself against these meritless claims,” Lago told the Herald in a statement. The city says it has not been served with the lawsuit yet.

“The accusation that I want to sell, lease, or develop our parks or the Youth Center is completely false and politically motivated,” he added. “My record as a fierce defender of parks and open space speaks for itself. During my tenure, Coral Gables has actively increased its park footprint.”

In the recent public records lawsuit, Muir noted that this is not the first time the group has had to defend the youth center’s reverter clause. In the 1960s, the city tried to build an elementary school on the property, an idea that was squashed in court, with the judge siding with the association.

Muir hinted in her filing that there could be another, similar legal dispute on the horizon, writing that “the City, at the direction of the Mayor, may have already violated the terms of the reverter and applicable rules by directing the Youth Center property’s athletic fields to be rented to Somerset Academy,” a charter school, for PE classes.

But Lago and other city officials say it’s a non-issue. Although a group of Somerset parents came to the city several years ago with a petition to let the school use the youth center’s fields for PE, a deal was never made, according to city officials.

“Representatives from Somerset Academy contacted city staff to explore the possibility of using the Youth Center athletic fields for daytime physical education classes. In response, the Community Recreation Department conducted a review,” city spokeswoman Martha Pantin told the Miami Herald in an email Thursday. “However, there was never any authorization or facility use. This review did not progress. The city has not executed any contract, lease, or operational agreement with the school. Somerset Academy has at no point been granted access to the property, has never utilized the fields, and is not permitted to use them.”

But Muir, in the court filing, used the situation with Somerset as an example of how she says the city has failed to properly search for or provide requested documents.

At first, the city asked Muir to provide specific search terms. Then, the city sent her a report that shows how many times specific keywords appear in emails, documents and other city files. The report “suggests that these responsive records [about Somerset] do not exist within the City’s public records,” according to the association’s complaint.

However, the association says it knows there are emails from city officials, including Lago, City Manager Peter Iglesias and Fred Couceyro, the city’s director of community recreation, in 2023 discussing the possibility of renting the fields to Somerset Gables Academy. Muir obtained those emails from an ongoing lawsuit between the Biltmore Neighborhood Association Inc. and Somerset Gables Academy.

Those emails, which are included in the War Memorial Youth Center Association’s lawsuit, initially show Iglesias telling Couceyro in March 2023 that “the Youth Center is not for rent.”

Still, city officials eventually began to review and discuss the Somerset parents’ request over several months, including speaking with school leadership, exploring the possibility of granting Somerset a rental permit and double-checking with city attorneys that Iglesias has the authority to “adjust the usage and conditions” of a city ordinance that prohibits renting the youth center’s fields.

The emails make it sound like a deal could be on its way, with Couceyro telling a Somerset parent in August 2023 that “after conferring” with city officials, someone from the youth center would be contacting school leadership “to begin the process and get the program rolling.”

But an agreement was never made, according to the city.

“Somerset Academy did not use the fields, does not use the fields, and will not be using them,” Lago said, describing the Community Recreation Department’s review of Somerset’s request as “part of its standard due diligence.”

“The discussions never came to fruition, and any implication that the city violated the reverter clause or permitted unauthorized use is entirely false,” he added.

Muir said obtaining the full batch of records from the city is key for confirmation about whether the reverter clause was ever violated.

“We asked for these records to make sure the reverter had not been triggered and since we never received any reply, our concern is that it may already have been triggered. And to protect the youth center from private interest, we felt like we needed to proceed to obtain the records one way or another,” Muir said.

What the association wants

The association is asking the court to require that the city use a proper search methodology to fulfill its outstanding record requests, and if the city does withhold certain records, to give a legal basis for doing so.

The association is also seeking records about the city’s relationship with the association, including funding and financial information, as well as what oversight or authority the city believes it has, if any, over the group. It also wants records related to the city’s analysis on why it believes the private not-for-profit group is subject to Florida’s public records law and any discussions related to “constraints imposed by the Youth Center deed or the reverter clause.”