Business owner Robert Morell called for Spanish-speaking residents to learn English — and was booed by the crowd.
”I am a little bit appalled because if you travel to any other city it looks like they’re going into the future. Some of us still want to live in the past,” Morell said. “I speak Spanish, even though my whole family is American. I don’t understand why everyone else doesn’t learn the [English] language.”
Tomas Martinez, a regular at council meetings, where he addresses members in Spanish, approached Morell as he left the podium and an argument ensued.
As the men stared each other down, Robaina and City Council President Esteban ”Steve” Bovo threatened ejection from the meeting or arrest for anyone causing a major disturbance.
Ignoring Morell’s suggestion, resident Randy Carter said he would address the council in Spanish.
”I am going to speak in Spanish because when you do your political campaigns you do them in Spanish,” Carter told council members in Spanish.
Members of the audience laughed and applauded.
Despite the fact that this plan is perhaps the best thing that could happen to the zonal mess of
Some residents said they feared being displaced from their trailer homes or that historic landmarks would be dwarfed by seven-story buildings.
I find it amusing that the largely Cuban audience (who typically spends time lamenting over how great a city Havana was) would try to defeat a plan which could potentially bring some of Old Havana’s urban planning charm (by charm I clearly mean the old Spanish, walkable, non-autocentric, dense, ground floor commercial with residences above, covered walkways, etc.) to the city of Hialeah… Like the photo above/below, minus the decay of the past sixty years…
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