CGVC Candidates Forum - Hank Sanchez-Resnik
Hank Sanchez-Resnik
GRAPEVINE: Why do you feel you would be a good Village Council Member?
HANK: I’ve been a dedicated community activist for most of my adult life. I’ve participated actively in community affairs and decision-making in several different places where I’ve lived (primarily, before Miami, Berkeley, Calif. and Key Biscayne, Fla.). I’ve founded, led, and sustained five successful nonprofit organizations. I’m an excellent communicator and organizer. I keep my commitments and my word. People know they can rely on me to get things done.
G: What would you like to accomplish during your time on the Council? Objectives? Projects?
H: My main focus during my volunteer career has been transportation, especially promoting bicycling as a form of everyday recreation and transportation since I’m an avid bicyclist and rarely drive a car. I want to address the Grove’s transportation problems as a member of the Village Council, and I intend to participate in the Transportation committee. Improving conditions and infrastructure for bicycling benefits the entire community. It doesn’t mean everyone has to ride a bike. For various reasons some people can’t ride a bike. But when you improve safety and conditions for bicycling you also improve conditions for walking. And in order to do that you have to calm and slow traffic. Cars speeding through Coconut Grove on their way to somewhere else, often from somewhere else (not Grove residents) is one of our most serious transportation problems.
G: What is your favorite part of Coconut Grove?
H: My house on Gifford Lane. My wife and I were thrilled when we bought the house. We had lived in another part of the Grove, and one of the reasons we moved to Gifford Lane (in addition to our former townhouse not being appropriate for our approaching old age) was Gifford Lane is our favorite street in the Grove. We’re active participants in planning and organizing the Gifford Lane Art Stroll. Our street and our neighborhood are our idea of a true community.
G: What is your least favorite part of Coconut Grove?
H: The intersection of Grand, MacFarlane, and Main Highway. This is a complete abomination, ugly and unsafe for everyone who uses it. My dream is that someday there will be a beautiful island in the middle of the intersection separating and directing traffic and acting as a refuge for pedestrians, almost like a minipark. Even then it won’t be anywhere near one of my favorite places because my guess is there will always be far too much traffic, but at least it would be a lot better than what it is now.
G: How long have you lived in the Grove? Where are you from? What drew you here?
H: My wife and I moved to Coconut Grove in 2013. Prior to that we lived in Key Biscayne for seven years. And prior to that we lived in Berkeley, Calif. for 36 years. What drew us to Florida is that my wife, who’s Afro-Cuban, really wanted to be warm. The San Francisco Bay Area has about 10 warm days per year (in normal times—the current fire disaster is, I hope, an exception). So I agreed to try renting a place in the Miami area for a couple of months. It turned out the best and most affordable furnished apartment we found was in Key Biscayne, hard as that may be to believe, and our first year we rented for nine months. We were happy in Key Biscayne, rented for several years, then bought a condo. But Key Biscayne never felt like home. One day we joined a friend for dinner at his townhouse in Coconut Grove. Although we’d visited the Grove often while living on Key Biscayne and it was our favorite place away from the Key, we suddenly realized we belong in the Grove. Soon we’d sold our Key Biscayne condo and bought a townhouse in Center Grove. It was the best move we’ve ever made.
HANK: I’ve been a dedicated community activist for most of my adult life. I’ve participated actively in community affairs and decision-making in several different places where I’ve lived (primarily, before Miami, Berkeley, Calif. and Key Biscayne, Fla.). I’ve founded, led, and sustained five successful nonprofit organizations. I’m an excellent communicator and organizer. I keep my commitments and my word. People know they can rely on me to get things done.
G: What would you like to accomplish during your time on the Council? Objectives? Projects?
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| Hank Sanchez-Resnik |
G: What is your favorite part of Coconut Grove?
H: My house on Gifford Lane. My wife and I were thrilled when we bought the house. We had lived in another part of the Grove, and one of the reasons we moved to Gifford Lane (in addition to our former townhouse not being appropriate for our approaching old age) was Gifford Lane is our favorite street in the Grove. We’re active participants in planning and organizing the Gifford Lane Art Stroll. Our street and our neighborhood are our idea of a true community.
G: What is your least favorite part of Coconut Grove?
H: The intersection of Grand, MacFarlane, and Main Highway. This is a complete abomination, ugly and unsafe for everyone who uses it. My dream is that someday there will be a beautiful island in the middle of the intersection separating and directing traffic and acting as a refuge for pedestrians, almost like a minipark. Even then it won’t be anywhere near one of my favorite places because my guess is there will always be far too much traffic, but at least it would be a lot better than what it is now.
G: How long have you lived in the Grove? Where are you from? What drew you here?
H: My wife and I moved to Coconut Grove in 2013. Prior to that we lived in Key Biscayne for seven years. And prior to that we lived in Berkeley, Calif. for 36 years. What drew us to Florida is that my wife, who’s Afro-Cuban, really wanted to be warm. The San Francisco Bay Area has about 10 warm days per year (in normal times—the current fire disaster is, I hope, an exception). So I agreed to try renting a place in the Miami area for a couple of months. It turned out the best and most affordable furnished apartment we found was in Key Biscayne, hard as that may be to believe, and our first year we rented for nine months. We were happy in Key Biscayne, rented for several years, then bought a condo. But Key Biscayne never felt like home. One day we joined a friend for dinner at his townhouse in Coconut Grove. Although we’d visited the Grove often while living on Key Biscayne and it was our favorite place away from the Key, we suddenly realized we belong in the Grove. Soon we’d sold our Key Biscayne condo and bought a townhouse in Center Grove. It was the best move we’ve ever made.
VC-Candidates-2017
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