mayor don slesnick
re-elected to four-year term
Incumbents win in Coral Gables
By ELAINE DE VALLE
Voters in Coral Gables seem to be happy the way things are.
All three incumbents regained in their seats on the Gables City Commission Tuesday as a surprisingly brisk turnout of voters decided not to change the city's direction.
''Everything in Coral Gables is so great,'' said Esther Reyes, who voted for Mayor Don Slesnick and veteran commissioners William ''Bill'' Kerdyk, Jr., and Wayne ''Chip'' Withers at the public library on Salzedo Street. ``I don't want anything to change.''
Of the 4,842 ballots cast -- representing about 18.4 percent of the city's registered voters -- Slesnick captured 56.7 percent against two opponents, former Mayor George Corrigan and activist Richard Namon.
Kerdyk won his fifth term by taking 79 percent of the vote against 24-year-old political novice John Gottshalk, a University of Miami graphic artist. Withers won his sixth term by defeating retired gynecologist Omar Pasalodos by 62 percent to 38 percent.
Kerdyk regarded the incumbents' sweep as a vote of confidence for the entire commission.
''All the City Commission should get some comfort from the mandate,'' he said.
Thanks to a charter change city voters approved in 2005, Slesnick will serve his first four-year term after serving three two-year terms.
