The swearing-in ceremony of the 2021 Coconut Grove Village Council, conducted by then-City Commissioner Ken Russell, far right. (Photo courtesy of Hank Sanchez-Resnik)

Spotlight 40-241008 Village Council

by Spotlight Staff on

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In today’s Spotlight,

  • Grove Village Council: Saga or tragedy?
  • New details on man’s death in Peacock Park
  • Scotty’s Landing lawsuit challenges Regatta Harbour

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In the wake of a bruising power struggle, including allegations of misconduct and abuse, the Grove’s signature civic group is struggling to regain its relevance.

by Francisco Alvarado

The swearing-in ceremony of the 2021 Coconut Grove Village Council, conducted by then-City Commissioner Ken Russell, far right. (Photo courtesy of Hank Sanchez-Resnik)

Nearly two years after an internal power struggle featuring accusations of racism, elitism and sexual harassment, the Coconut Grove Village Council – an unofficial city advisory board elected by Coconut Grove voters – is on life support. 

Its last chairman resigned in 2022 and hasn’t been replaced. The group hasn’t met since May. Its website hasn’t been updated in months. 

“If we don’t have a presence at City Hall for issues important to the Grove, then we haven’t mobilized our power,” Chris Baraloto, a Florida International University environmental sciences professor and the council’s vice chair told the Spotlight. “And to the extent we haven’t carried that out, we are open to constructive criticism.” 

Sylburn W. Robinson, 69, had suffered a stroke in 2022 and was not in good health, his daughter said. The cause of death is pending.

by Mike Clary

Sylburn Robinson, pictured here with his daughter Whitney. (Photo courtesy of Whitney Robinson)

When Whitney Robinson’s mother showed up unannounced at her home in Las Vegas last week, the Coconut Grove native soon began to suspect the visit was more than a casual surprise.

From her mother, Robinson learned that her father, 69-year-old Sylburn W. Robinson, had been found dead earlier that day, Wednesday October 2, in Peacock Park.

“We were very close. And my mom didn’t want me to be alone when I heard the news,” said Robinson, 31, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant. “It was devastating.”

Scott and Kathleen Wessel claim they were promised ongoing payments as part of a licensing agreement for the waterfront site, now home to the upscale Bayshore Club.

by David Villano

Scotty’s Landing, a Grove landmark on Dinner Key, closed in 2015 and was demolished in 2019 but its longtime owners are claiming they’re owed millions for their part in the waterfront site’s development. (Photo courtesy of Glenn Terry)

Nine years after the iconic waterfront bar and restaurant Scotty’s Landing closed its doors, its former owners are claiming they’re owed millions of dollars by the group behind its successor, Regatta Harbour, for supporting its winning bid to redevelop the city-owned seven-acre site on Coconut Grove’s historic Dinner Key.

Scott and Kathleen Wessel, who owned and operated Scotty’s landing and the adjacent Grove Key Marina from 1991 to 2015, claim in a lawsuit filed last year that they signed an agreement in 2013 promising them a minimum of $200,000 annually through the life of what could be an 80-year lease between Regatta Harbour and the City of Miami.

Payments ceased in March 2019 shortly before groundbreaking for two new restaurants and a revamped marina complex at the site, according to the lawsuit.

The Democratic candidate for House District 113 has locked in at least one vote prior to Election Day. In a Letter to the Editor, a son endorses his mother.

Armour Dance armourdance.org

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