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Miami-Dade County commission set for budget showdown, hearing Thursday
Sheriff gets her millions; firefighters still up in the air
Budget season is usually messy, but this summer has been a full-on disaster. And Thursday night at 5 p.m., Miami-Dade residents get their first chance to sound off at the budget hearing before commissioners take their first vote.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has been in cleanup mode for weeks, backtracking on the most controversial cuts she dropped on July 15 like a ton of bricks. Remember? Arts funding, senior services, even mowing the grass at the neighborhood park were on the chopping block. Commissioner Marleine Bastien, usually an ally, called it a “community train wreck” and a “budget without soul.” Commissioner Kionne McGhee said “working families are left out.” And they weren’t wrong.
Now, suddenly, between borrowing some funds from the future and tweaking here and there, La Alcaldesa suddenly found almost enough money to fill her $402 million hole. How does that happen?
Read related: Critics say Miami-Dade 2025-26 budget could possibly put public safety at risk
The loudest battle, of course, was with newly elected Sheriff Rosanna “Rosie” Cordero-Stutz. A change in Florida’s Constitution required Miami-Dade to spin off its police agency into an independent sheriff’s office after the November 2024 election. The Republican lawwoman cried foul earlier, saying that the mayor’s budget was “defunding the police” because she got “only” $55 million more. She wanted $94 million more than what the Miami-Dade Police Department got last year.
Last week, the mayor blinked. Levine Cava announced an extra $31 million for the Sheriff’s Office, bringing Rosie’s total to about $1.1 billion. That fight? Defused. “This is a victory for every resident, family, and neighborhood in our county,” Cordero-Stutz said in a statement. “With these resources secured, the Sheriff’s Office can continue to meet the needs of a growing community.”
So, that means the sheriff must have also done some belt-tightening. She asked for $94 million, got a total of $86 million and can still meet all her needs? So, $8 million was what? Padding?
But don’t think the drama is over. There are still plenty of hot potatoes baked into this budget:
Parks lifeguards: Gone at natural swimming holes like Matheson Hammock. That cut survived.
Charity & arts grants: Some money is back, but nonprofits are still short about $11 million.
Water rates: Levine Cava scaled back her 6% hike to 3.5% after Commissioner Raquel Regalado stepped in. But it’s still an increase.
Garbage fees: They’re expected to go up, even as the future of solid waste disposal in the county is a dumpster fire.
Senior centers: Little River stays open. South Dade? Still slated for closure.
Transit: The MetroConnect shuttle gets the axe, unless an alternative pops up. Bus and rail riders still face a 50-cent fare hike. MetroMover might start costing up to $100 a month for downtowners. Tolls on the Rickenbacker Causeway to Key Biscayne are slated to go up by 200%.
FIFA: The public and some commissioners question if now is the best time for the county to shell $46 million in cash and services to the FIFA World Cup related activities (read: parties).
The big fight now is over the mayor’s plan to dump $28 million in chopper costs onto the fire rescue department to pay for air rescue services themselves through their separate tax. Currently, the county pays out of the general fund to operate the four helicopters that fly critical patients to the hospital to get them there faster and douse brushfires from the skies.
Read related: Mayor Daniella Levine Cava wants Fire District to pay for air rescue helicopters
But here’s the rub: The choppers serve every inch of the county — even the five municipalities that don’t pay a penny into the fire district: Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Hialeah and Key Biscayne. And, basically, Levine Cava’s idea is to let those people ride for free while the other municipalities and the people in the unincorporated county areas foot the bill.
Levine Cava insists she’s protecting “core county services” while keeping the property tax rate low. She says her original proposal was a “snapshot in time” before her staff nailed down more one-time surplus dollars. But her critics aren’t buying it.
Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez mocked her on social media: “It looks like, after the self-induced ‘perfect storm,’ as she calls it, the ayor followed the imaginary yellow brick road to the pot of money that was waiting right where she left it,” Gonzalez wrote Thursday on the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Enough with the games and storytelling, we’re not in Kansas anymore!”
So, now the stage is set for Thursday’s first public budget hearing at County Hall. Residents, nonprofits, cops, firefighters, seniors, and straphangers all get their turn at the mic. Two minutes, if Commission Chairman “King Anthony” Rodriguez feels generous. Otherwise, they’ll get 60 seconds. Then, the commission takes its first vote on the mayor’s ever changing proposal.
Round two comes later this month. And Gonzalez says he wants a change order by the Sept. 18 hearing that fully funds the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department’s air rescue operations. He was flanked by Commissioners Rene Garcia and Natalie Milian Orbis and Congressman Carlos Gimenez — who had to jump into the debate — at the fire union’s press conference last week where he demanded that police and fire be fully funded. The fire union has threatened legal action.
“What we have is no longer a mismanagement of funds,” Gonzalez said in a video posted on his Instagram. “What we really have is a failure to prioritize the things that are important to the residents of Miami-Dade County.
Read related: Facing $400M budget shortfall, Miami-Dade cuts senior meals, lifeguards, more
“I am sick and tired of the shell games,” said Gonzalez, who has seemed to be campaigning for higher office recently. “The mayor says that we’re in a deficit. Then she says that we’re not in a deficit. The mayor says that she lost money. Then she says that she found money. Folks, there is one thing that we cannot play with, and that is the safety and the lives of our residents.”
Some things never change on the 29th floor — and that includes finding magical drawers of money when you most need to.
Speaking of which, enter Gimenez, the former county mayor. Because, por supuesto, he shows up at press conference to wag his finger at his Democratic successor. “They need more money, more units, more firefighters,” Gimenez, a former fire captain and city manager, blasted as he stood with fire union leaders and firefighters.
Excuse Ladra while she coughs up a hairball. Because we all remember when this same Gimenez, as county mayor, proposed rolling “brownouts” at fire stations — putting one or two units out of service every shift and rotating which neighborhoods would lose coverage. That was his idea of fiscal responsibility. Now, he’s suddenly the defender of Fire Rescue’s funding?
Levine Cava’s camp wasn’t having it, either. As Gimenez spoke, her comms team blasted out a slick video of La Alcaldesa, smiling, “setting the record straight,” and praising firefighters as “heroes” while touting the raises and new trucks she’s delivered in her five years. She insists the helicopter shuffle is just an accounting move: “The services remain unchanged, and the public will not be impacted.” Her budget folks point out that Fire Rescue has actually grown 10% under her watch and say delays are about land costs and backlogged fire truck orders, not dollars.
The union isn’t buying it. “Lives hang in the balance,” union president William “Billy” McAllister warned. “When seconds count, sometimes we’re minutes away.”
So, now, we’ve got the firefighter-turned-mayor-turned-congressman tag-teaming with union leaders and Republican commissioners against the current mayor. The same guy who once pitched cutting back fire coverage is now crying wolf about a “dangerously unfair” budget.
Ladra says grab your helmets, gente. The helicopter fight is only fueling the flames as commissioners get ready to take their first budget vote Thursday night in a meeting that might look look less like a policy debate and more like a campaign commercial.
Ladra can’t help but wonder if the congressman is going to make an appearance.
The first public hearing of the Miami-Dade 2025-2026 proposed budget starts at 5:01 p.m. Thursday at County Hall, 111 NW First Street, and can also be seen online on the county’s website.
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Coral Gables puts election year change on the ballot — a mail-in only ballot
After months of swearing up and down that they had the authority to move Coral Gables elections to November without asking anybody, a majority of the commission suddenly got religion this week and voted to let residents decide. But don’t be fooled: it’s not exactly democracy at work.
Instead of putting the question on a regular ballot where most people actually vote, the commission scheduled a special mail-only referendum for April 21, 2026 — guaranteeing that only a sliver of the electorate will weigh in on an issue that affects everybody. If this is really about turnout, why pick the one path that ensures turnout will be tiny?
Ah, because then it’s easier to affect the outcome.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago caves on election change; wants public vote
Mayor Vince Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, and Commissioner Richard Lara — the same trio who passed the ordinance in May to unilaterally shift elections — spun this as giving voters “the final say.” What they really did was load up a special April 2026 ballot with a bunch of their pet charter changes, hoping to turn a political setback into a political jackpot.
Among them: setting up an Inspector General’s office, forcing the charter review committee to meet every 10 years, and requiring voter approval for commission raises. And, of course, a measure that says future election-date changes must go to the voters — which is rich, considering these very same commissioners already voted to do it themselves without asking anyone. And then defended that vote.
The whole thing was conditional, though. The referendum would only happen if Miami lost all its appeals in the parallel election-change case. And they did. If Miami had prevailed in changing their election from November in odd-numbered years to even-numbered years — effectively extending terms by an extra 12 months — Coral Gables would have stuck with the ordinance already passed and move elections to November of next year anyway, without having to get the pesky voters involved.
So, L’Ego’s sudden change of heart is less about giving the voters a “final say,” and more about giving himself a political insurance policy.
Read related: City of Miami drops legal fight to change/cancel election, takes it to voters
Commissioner Melissa Castro — who has been the only consistent voice for a real referendum — voted no. Not because she opposes asking voters, but because she opposes doing it this way. She argued for putting the question on the April 2027 ballot, instead of rushing into a mail-only vote in 2026. She even showed a slide deck with all the extra printing and mailing costs, which adds up to almost $80,000.
“Let’s do it the right way,” she urged. “Don’t do it just to get me out of office.
“You said I wouldn’t win an election. To be honest, you don’t know if I’m going to run again. I don’t know if Im going to run again,” Castro said. “But I could guarantee you one thing: If I’m going to run, I’m going to win. There’s no fighting that.
“So, don’t be so worried. Don’t be so preoccupied,” she told the mayor. “I would never get into something I can’t win.”
Lago brushed it off, claiming long-term savings once April elections are gone. But it’s pretty obvious that the change is about making it harder for independent candidates like Castro and Commissioner Ariel Fernandez, who were elected against the mayor’s wishes in 2023, L’Ego has made it clear with statements about “special interests” not controlling the election outcome.
But while she voted against the move on principle, Castro was thrilled that the commission voted to put the election change on the ballot. “This is a complete victory but not for me,” Castro said. “For the people of Coral Gables.”
Well, maybe. But right now, it feels more like a victory for Lago and company, who get to reframe their blunder as magnanimity — while still making sure the vote happens under their terms, on their timeline, with their question on the ballot. The mayor even suggested that the city do some “educational outreach,” which he said lacked for the Little Gables annexation referendum that city voters rejected overwhelmingly (63%) last year. And Ladra suspects Lago is going to bring that annexation attempt back (more on that later).
Read related: Coral Gables voters reject annexation of Little Gables — and Mayor Vince Lago
Y por supuesto they want a mail-only referendum in April of next year. They can control the smaller turnout. But it undercuts the whole “increase turnout” excuse that LALala campaigned on. If increasing participation from 20% to 30% in odd-numbered years to 80% with state and general elections is the true goal, why not wait and do it when the most voters will actually vote?
There is a perfectly good alternative that won’t cost as much: Having the referendum on the November 2026 midterm ballot. That would guarantee a higher turnout and would also allow the city to make the change after the April 2027 election, because voters would know that the candidates they elect for mayor and commissioner will serve a term that is five months shorter. If it’s true that he’s polled Castro’s seat five times and she is “underwater,” as he said in last week’s commission meeting, then he should be confident that his candidate, whoever she may be, will beat Castro in April. No? Or would she only lose in November?
Could it be that this isn’t really about turnout or saving money at all, but about controlling the process and future elections?
The post Coral Gables puts election year change on the ballot — a mail-in only ballot appeared first on Political Cortadito.
City of Miami drops legal fight to change/cancel election, takes it to voters
After months of legal wrangling, appeals, and behind-the-scenes maneuvering, the City of Miami is finally giving up its harebrained scheme to cancel this year’s election. It only took the governor, the state’s attorney general, a district court judge, three appellate judges, twice, and a general distaste in the public for them to get the point.
On Tuesday, Mayor Francis Suarez and Commissioner Damian Pardo admitted defeat and said they’ll now do what they should have done in the first place: ask voters if they want to change the city’s election cycle from odd- to even-numbered years. They say it will save the city about $1 million each election cycle and more than double voter turnout.
A special commission meeting is set for Friday, where at least three commissioners will have to sign off on the ballot language before it can go to the November ballot.
Read related: Third DCA says no, again; Miami loses third try to cancel November elections
The about-face comes after the Third District Court of Appeal last week smacked down the city’s last-ditch request for a rehearing in the lawsuit brought by former city manager and mayoral hopeful Emilio González. That ruling effectively ended the whirlwind legal drama that had cast a shadow over the races for mayor and two commission seats.
Remember, it was only in June that the commission voted 3-2 to move the election from 2025 to 2026, gifting themselves an extra year in office. That blew up in their faces when every single judge who looked at it said the city couldn’t just wave a wand and willy nilly override the Miami-Dade County charter, which controls municipal election dates.
“I sued the city of Miami because they cancelled our elections for this November, and I won,” Gonzalez said on a social media message posted Tuesday. “Miami insiders don’t want us to vote. Miami insiders are afraid to let the voices be heard.
“Miami insiders are even more afraid that I’m going to be the next mayor of Miami.”
Gonzalez is one of 11 announced mayoral wannabes that include Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, former Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez — father of the current mayor and a former Miami mayor himself — and former Miami Commissioner Ken Russell. Threatening from the sidelines are Commissioner Joe Carollo, former Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla, who was suspended in 2023 after a public corruption arrest but the 14 felonies — including bribery and money laundering — were dropped last year, and Congressman Carlos Gimenez, a former county mayor who has been rumored to have an interest in coming home.
Qualifying starts Friday and ends Sept. 20.
Pardo, who sponsored the ordinance and has been the loudest cheerleader for the switch, told the The Miami Herald that the change wouldn’t even kick in until 2032 — meaning his own 2027 reelection, and those of commissioners Miguel Angel Gabela and Ralph Rosado, would be for one-time five-year terms to sync up with even years. Candidates elected in 2029 would also get an extra year, through 2034. After that, terms would go back to four years.
Somehow, the commissioner thinks this will keep people from accusing them of extending their own terms and giving themselves an extra annual salary of about $100,000. But someone’s terms will be extended. Because the fact remains that whoever wins in 2027 and 2029 still gets that bonus year.
Read related: Miami Commissioners pass election date change — and steal an extra year
If Pardo really wanted to prove that this whole idea wasn’t self-serving, the plan would be to cut the terms by a year and not extend them. Several candidates running for mayor and commission in District 3 have already said they would be willing to serve one less year in order to get the question on the ballot. Anyone elected in 2027 could serve three years until the first even-year election in 2030 and the city can start the four year terms right there.
Ladra’s only doubt about that is if there would be a legal challenge to term limits if one of the terms were truncated. We don’t want that.
In any case, the election this November is definitely back on. Voters in Miami will get to choose their mayor and commissioners in District 3, where Joe Carollo is termed out, and District 5, where Chairwoman Christine King is up for re-election. There will also be at least three questions on the ballot: the election change, lifetime term limits (with two big exceptions) and the restoration and redevelopment of the long-abandoned and historic Miami Marine Stadium (more on that later).
Gonzalez said he was glad it was “finally” over. But the closure comes at a cost. How much taxpayer money was wasted on lawyers and legal maneuvers to keep the public from voting on the election change?
As first reported by Political Cortadito, the city paid outside attorneys up to $2,350 an hour to fight this losing battle. A contract shows that Dwayne Robinson was hired on July 25 to handle the appeal of Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Valerie Manno Schurr, the first judge to say, “Nananina, Miami.” His time is worth $750 an hour. His partners Charles Throckmorton and Brandon Sadowsky get $700 and $600 an hour, respectively, and paralegal Farola St. Remy gets $300 an hour.
It adds up to $2,350 an hour when they work together. We’re still waiting to see the final bill.
The city could also be on the hook for Gonzalez’s legal costs. And they aren’t gonna be cheap. His lead attorney is former Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson.
Whatever it adds up to, it’s going to be too much for what was always a bad idea.
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Miami-Dade Commission takes over Coral Gables zoning near UM Metrorail
RTZ overlay is for a student housing project: The Mark
The latest chapter in the Coral Gables zoning soap opera will play out in Miami-Dade Commission Chambers this week. It started last Tuesday when County Commissioner Raquel Regalado took her Rapid Transit Zoning show on the road — to City Hall.
Regalado showed up to the Aug. 26 Coral Gables Commission meeting to advocate for her pet project: expanding the county’s Rapid Transit Zone (RTZ) to create a new University Station Subzone around the UM Metrorail stop That overlay would pave the way for The Mark, a hulking student housing project that has some neighbors concerned.
The Miami-Dade County Commission will vote Wednesday on the a proposed RTZ expansion and University Station subzone that extends to properties within a quarter mile of the University Metrorail Station. Translation: The county will have zoning jurisdiction, not the city. And that clears the path for high-density, mixed-use projects.
Read related: Critics say Miami’s new transit zoning ordinance = loophole for developers
Developers who purchased the University Shopping Center in 2023, where the Bagel Emporium and TGI Fridays is, want to build a $70-million, sprawling mixed-use apartment complex, called The Mark, which will have 146 one-bedroom units, 99 two-bedroom units, and 151 three-bedroom units in two eight-story towers, connected by a bridge on the fifth floor. The ground floor will have restaurant and retail spaces.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, for her part, is cheerleading the move. Her memo in support of the ordinance talks about “equitable development,” “shorter trips,” and “visual compatibility with Coral Gables” — complete with “generous height allowances” and “enhanced landscaping.” Translation: Taller buildings with more trees in front of them.
“The Subzone aims to promote high-density, mixed-use development within a quarter-mile radius of the University Station, while integrating land use and transportation planning. The ordinance addresses the CDMP’s objective of integrating land use with transportation to attract transit ridership, produce shorter trips, and minimize transfers,” Levine Cava wrote. “This code amendment will facilitate the development of additional residential density and commercial development adjacent to the mass transit system.”
La Alcaldesa also says that there will be a city representative on the Rapid Transit Developmental Impact Committee (RTDIC) and that the county will coordinate with the city “on a potential interlocal agreement to address future concerns and align regulatory processes.”
Good luck with that.
To the folks who actually live near University Station and the Bagel Emporium plaza that will be replaced with two residential towers, it sounds less like equitable development and more like a takeover. They say they’ve been blindsided by the scale of the proposal and worry that the neighborhood will be flooded with traffic and end up looking more like Brickell than the City Beautiful.
This is the same fight that’s already spilled over into Coral Gables’ Planning and Zoning Board, where longtime neighborhood activist and P&Z member Sue Kawalerski grilled Regalado so hard about the RTZ zoning superseding the city’s own code that the commissioner snapped back. Weeks after that public meeting, Kawalerski was unceremoniously bounced — another casualty of Mayor Vince Lago’s revenge tour. She has been blamed for forcing the developer to go to the county and apply RTZ criteria, which is more generous than the city’s code.
Read related: Coral Gables moves to ‘fire’ longtime activist from planning zoning board
Regalado, who doesn’t need anybody to defend her, has been one of the prime proponents of RTZ. And she says the Gables needs housing and the area around the university is perfect for it.
“I don’t agree with demonizing student housing,” she told the Gables commissioners last week, and cited the Vox 1, 2, 3 and 4 projects in South Miami as an example of a student housing project done right. It also resolved a problem with students “cutting up” rented housing, living 10 or more at a time.
“Students need a place to live,” Regalado said. “UM is a partner. They are doing their part on campus… [But] the transit corridor is the place to house students.” She noted that the location for The Mark is right where the university has their pedestrian bridge over U.S. 1.
“The concept that this is not a place for student housing, to me, is mind blowing,” she said. “I’m not saying it’s appropriate everywhere, but you might want to decide where it’s appropriate.”
Kawalerski has said it is not about student housing, per se, but the gradual changing of the neighborhood’s character.
Regalado told the Gables Commission that she would amend the item going before the county commission this week to include the lighting and open space requirements “to give everyone a little more comfort.” But both she and Lago waved the ugly specter of Live Local — the Florida law that allows even more density to promote affordable or workforce housing (which is really not that affordable for the workforce).
It’s convenient for Lago to throw the blame somewhere else for the runaway development he has ushered into the Gables.
“The city has no control,” he said, referring to RTZ and Live Local. “That train has left the station.”
But if you think that The Mark is the only stop on this route, think again. City Manager Peter Iglesias said this overlay is specific for that particular student housing project, it includes that property alone, but not another proposed development for the nearby Gables Waterway.
“We need to expand that overlay and work on something new,” Iglesias said.
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Coral Gables commission launches legal fight with Youth Center group
And how much is this about a nearby private school?
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has been in office for 12 years — first as a city commissioner, then as mayor — and never once raised an eyebrow about the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center Association, the entity charged with the stewardship of the property, which also gives scholarships for its athletic programs.
But all of a sudden, just a few months after he solidly beat former Commissioner Kirk Menéndez — who is also the president of the association — in the mayoral race, Lago is on what looks more like a stop on his revenge tour than a transparency crusade.
Las malas lenguas say this could also be related to the expansion plans of Somerset Academy across the street, which approached the city last year about expanding from 260 to 700 students?
Read related: Election fallout: Coral Gables Mayor Lago takes aim at Youth Center group
On Tuesday, the mayor dragged the commission into a one-hour debate before pushing through a 3–1 vote to hire outside counsel to chase financial records from the private nonprofit that has overseen the Youth Center for decades.
Records he isn’t entitled to, by the way.
He said the association had to follow the same Sunshine rules as the city — but that’s actually not true. Some non profits tied to governments, like the garage associations the mayor and commissioners are on, do have to adhere to Florida’s Government in the Sunshine laws. Key word: Government.
The association already responded to a letter from the city attorney, handing over the basics: annual corporate renewals, tax filings for the last three years, the deed with that ironclad reverter clause that says the property goes back to the association’s full control if it is used in any other way except a youth center, and the judiciary decision that reaffirmed that in YEAR. All documents the city could have found on its own because they are in the public domain.
Which was probably the point association attorney Jane Muir was trying to make: This is what you’re entitled to. Goodbye.
But Lago wants so much more: bank statements, board elections, minutes. “I want to see 10 years of bank records,” he said at the meeting, as if he was in charge of that. But private nonprofits don’t owe the city their checkbooks. That’s not how this works.
So why does Lago suddenly care? He says it’s about protecting a $200 million asset. Ladra thinks it smells more like settling old scores. He went out of his way to slam Menéndez for running the association while he served as commissioner, raised unnecessary suspicion and called it nepotism because his wife and children are also on the board. But that’s also a stretch. Private non-profits can have family members on their boards and often do. It’s a legacy thing. Even public non-profits can legally have family members on the board as long as 51% are not related.
Lago can’t be expected to know this because he is not an attorney. But City Attorney Cristina Suarez should know. And so should Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara, because they are both attorneys. But first, they are boot lickers. Lara even said that Muir was a competent attorney he had known for years. But he still wants a fight.
Read related: Post-election Vince Lago revenge tour in Coral Gables = political retaliation
This is so very obviously targeting Menendez for having the guts to challenge him in the mayoral race. Because where was all this fake outrage back when Menendez was his colleague? Now, after beating him, Lago is clutching his pearls.
The sudden change of relationship status was not lost on longtime activist Maria Cruz, who also used to be friendly with Lago way back when. She got to speak even though Vice Mayor Anderson didn’t want to take public comment. “Kirk Menendez was a wonderful person when he agreed with the mayor. Kirk Menendez could walk on water.
“All of a sudden,” Cruz said, “he’s a criminal.”
And if we’re going to play the “show us your books” game, shouldn’t the mayor start at home? How about the bank records, invoices, client lists and investment docs from his for profit company, BID Construction, which he now admits he owns 33% of, or that coffee house franchise he owns 25% of? Or his real estate partnership with the cousin of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez? What about Capital Equity, the real estate boutique he owned for just one year with former Hialeah Council Member Oscar de la Rosa? That’s the one that rented that vacant storefront on Ponce de Leon to developer Rishi Kapoor for more than a year. And how did he pay off the $616,000 mortgage loan he got from Frank Quesada in 2022 in 12 months? Can we see those 12 months of bank records, please?
Read related: Developer who paid Miami mayor also rents from Gables Mayor Vince Lago
If this is about transparency, Lago can lead by example.
He can’t say that those things have no bearing on the city. They certainly could have more impact than the War Memorial Youth Center Association that doesn’t ask for any funds and spends its return on investments — managed by Morgan Stanley — on scholarships and trophies.
Maite Halley, the Gables Pickleball Queen, seemed to understand it better than the commissioners. “It’s a private entity,” she told them via Zoom at Tuesday’s meeting. “It’d be like asking me for all my tax returns because you don’t like how I’m handling my finances. You have no right to do that. There’s no legal standing.”
Commissioner Melissa Castro tried to pump the brakes. She reminded everyone that the association is a private entity and not subject to public records law. She warned them not to spend taxpayer money to fight a losing battle.
That’s the real dereliction of duty, Mr. Mayor. Letting your ‘roid rage weaponize the city to go after your real or perceived enemies. But Lago, Anderson and Lara charged ahead anyway. Commissioner Ariel Fernández skipped the show entirely, again, and some are beginning to wonder if he’s ever coming back (more on that later). Castro was the lone no.
Lago said this legal action wasn’t about the reverter clause. But his favorite sidekick wondered out loud if it was even in effect anymore if the association’s non profit had lapsed — an accusation with no basis. The state corporate records show the association filing annual reports since at least 1996 with only two reinstatements, in 2002 and 2006. But it was never inactive for more than two years. Anderson also mentioned that the city had “made significant investments in the land,” and that the documents requested would help the city tell the story of the War Memorial Youth Center. But really? You don’t need bank records and an investment portfolio to tell the facility’s history.
In fact, the city could get oral histories from some of the other notable board members, which have included other electeds at one time or another. People like former Coral Gables Mayors Robert Knight and Keith Phillips, and U.S. Southern District Court Judge C. Clyde Atkins. Ladra believes both Bill Kerdyks have served on the board. Former Mayor Don Slesnick served on one of the association’s committees. Have all of them had a conflict of interest?
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago scores trifecta on post-election revenge tour
Lago insists his only goal is to “protect the asset.” Ladra calls BS. Because if this is about protecting taxpayer interests, then why are we paying lawyers to chase paperwork we can’t compel?
The mayor ended the heated exchange by insisting his intentions were pure. “The end goal is to protect the asset,” he said. “It’s in the best interest of the city to make sure we immortalize this and ensure we have a tradition. or is Kirk planning on on being there posthumously. Is he going to be like a mummy? Is he going to be there forever?”
See? It’s personal.
Ladra smells a long, expensive legal tug-of-war brewing — and you know who always pays the lawyers in the end: the taxpayers.
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Third DCA says no, again; Miami loses third try to cancel November elections
Como un novio feo, the City of Miami just won’t take no for an answer.
After losing in circuit court and then getting their appeal slammed by the Third District Court of Appeals July 31, city officials went right back on Monday and filed yet another motion for rehearing — still trying to justify their illegal power grab to cancel elections and keep a term-limited mayor and two commissioners in their seats for another year.
Former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who sued to the city to stop the change — calling out the ordinance for being unconstitutional and self-serving — was ready. His legal team filed a blistering 28-page response Tuesday asking the court to shut this nonsense down and stop the waste of taxpayer money. Lead attorney Alan Lawson — a former Florida Supreme Court justice — pointed out that Miami’s move to change the election by ordinance (read: three votes on the commission) has already been shot down by the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office, the state Attorney General, Governor Ron DeSantis, and four separate judges. All unanimous: It’s a violation of the city charter and the county’s Home Rule charter.
Lawson also said that Miami wanted to pay a bunch of pricy outside lawyers to “rehash arguments already rejected by the courts.”
Read related: Third DCA strikes down Miami election change; November ballot is on
That’s probably why the Third DCA on Friday denied the rehearing — without even bothering to explain why. This time, the court basically said they don’t even want to hear the same sob story. And it was unanimous, again. Maybe because their first decision, also unanimous, wasn’t even the least bit tentative. There was no hesitancy, no dissent, no wavering. There were no ifs, ands or buts.
“The Ordinance is unconstitutional,” wrote the panel of judges in their ruling, which upheld the earlier decision by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Valerie Manno Schurr. They weren’t buying the city’s argument that they were just “tweaking” the code — not the charter. “It is, in truth, a charter amendment dressed in lesser clothes — fragrant in title but thorned with consequence,” the decision reads.
This is the lawsuit González filed back in June, after commissioners Damian Pardo, who sponsored the item, Ralph Rosado and Christine King voted to change the city’s election date from odd- to even-numbered years to coincide with general and midterm elections in order to get a better turnout, and, also, save some money. But critics — including Gonzalez and a slew of other mayoral candidates who did not take legal action to stop it — call it what it is: a shameless power grab that would give everyone at City Hall — even term-limited Suarez and Joe Carollo — an extra year in office.
It’s strange that Carollo voted against the scheme. But he keeps threatening to run for mayor this year. And he could afford to vote no because it already had three votes. The other no vote was Commissioner Miguel Gabela.
Read related: Miami-Dade Judge: Miami Commission can’t cancel election without public vote
It was kind of unexpected for the city to appeal the Third DCA decision to begin with. Pardo, who pushed the measure because it was tied to his lifetime (but not for everyone) term limits, issued a statement the same day of the ruling, congratulating “those who fought hard” to keep the election in November and saying that he would put the proposed change on the ballot. For voters to decide. “As soon as possible.”
Shortly after that, Chairwoman King also issued a statement indicating she would respect the court’s opinion.
“Alexander Hamilton once said ‘the first duty of society is justice.’ The Court’s decision today allows us to adhere to that duty,” King, who is an attorney herself and should have known better, said in her Instagram post.
“Although I voted in favor of revising our election schedule to increase voter participation based on my understanding that our proposed process was legally sound, the Appellate Court’s decision indicates otherwise,” King wrote. “Our nation was founded on a system of checks and balances that are provided in the Constitution. I appreciate the clarification from the Court and will support our adherence to its direction. As always, I remain committed to serving my constituents.”
Read related: Courts killed Miami commission’s election shuffle, but city wants a do-over
So what the heck happened? One would think that with two of the three votes that set this in motion — the sponsor of the ordinance and the chair, to boot — the issue would be dead. The political will is gone.
But the secret hand guiding this all along has been Mayor Francis Suarez, who really wants to stay another year in the mayor’s office he hardly occupies despite the fact that his dad — former Miami Mayor and Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez — has filed to run for mayor this year. The senior Suarez has even claimed that he gave Gonzalez legal advice in the case.
That’s gonna make Sunday dinners interesting.
Baby X likely convinced City Attorney George Wysong to just give it another try. After all, it’s not the mayor’s money.
The city attorney, who represents the whole commission and the mayor, is allowed to talk to the different commission members without violating the Florida in the Sunshine law. He can’t serve as a go-between but can talk to them and gain his own consensus. In speaking to them, he may have convinced Pardo and King to keep fighting.
Pardo did not return calls and texts Thursday and Friday seeking comment. And he has not issued another statement like the one he posted on social media after the DCA ruled the first time.
Could that be because the city has already decided it will appeal this ruling to the Florida Supreme Court? When will they stop throwing green at this and raise the white flag?
“City of Miami officials are squandering taxpayer money on a losing battle to cling to power,” Gonzalez said Thursday, before the rehearing was denied on Friday. “The courts have spoken clearly: canceling elections and extending terms without voter approval is wrong. Instead of accepting defeat, they are dragging this out, wasting resources that should be improving our schools, streets, and neighborhoods.
It’s sort of ironic because one of the reasons Pardo sponsored the ordinance changing the election was to , save money. Piggybacking off the county and state election ballots, they save about $1 million each election cycle, he said.
But does it have to start now? Can’t city voters elect their officials once they know if their terms are going to be extended, because they themselves changed the date? Actually, Gonzalez and several other candidates have agreed to shorten their terms if voters do decide to move the elections. That certainly make it more palatable.
Meanwhile, the city is paying outside attorneys up to $2,350 an hour for their legal team to make it happen. A contract shows that Dwayne Robinson was hired on July 25 to handle the appeal of Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Valerie Manno Schurr, the first judge to say nananina, Miami. His time is worth $750 an hour. His partners Charles Throckmorton and Brandon Sadowsky get $700 and $600 an hour, respectively, and paralegal Farola St. Remy gets $300 an hour.
It adds up to $2,350 an hour when they work together and Ladra suspects the bill is already pretty high. Now, it’ only going to grow bigger with more billable hours, legal briefs, court filings. Maybe they’ll do another mock trial. It’s going to add up. It’s taxpayer money used to deny those very taxpayers their right to vote, just so officials can stay in power for another year. When does the elusive (read: impossible) end not justify the means anymore?
Read related: Miami Commissioners pass election date change — and steal an extra year
Now, with candidate qualifying just days away (Sept. 5-20), nobody knows yet if the city mayor and city attorney are crazy enough to drag this circus all the way to the Florida Supreme Court. González says the city doesn’t have a prayer. “The chances of them winning there are probably zero,” he said, adding that the city is gambling with public dollars.
“It’s almost like they’re purposely wasting taxpayer money,” Gonzalez said. “City officials are using our tax dollars to undermine democracy.”
Ladra thinks the city’s legal tab is starting to look like a campaign contribution to the incumbents — only it’s being funded straight from the people’s pockets.
Former City Commissioner Ken Russell, who is also running for mayor, said that it had already been a colossal waste of taxpayer money for “selfish reasons,” and that the city should absolutely let it go.
“At this point, the priority should be on clarity for the voters,” he said.
The election is a little more than two months away. Absentee ballots will be start to arrive at voters homes in about a month. There’s no time to keep playing politics with the people’s money in a losing game.
Maybe Miami voters need to get a restraining order.
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Damian Pardo’s Morningside sidewalks in Miami — a $93 million mistake?
Residents mourn the city’s removal of an old oak tree
Morningside neighbors aren’t just angry about Miami Commissioner Damian Pardo’s pet sidewalk project and the 75-year-old oak tree that was cut down without warning — they’re lawyering up.
Residents of the historic bayside neighborhood sent a formal legal warning to City Hall Wednesday, telling Mayor Francis Suarez, the city attorney, the city manager and Pardo himself — as well as cc-ing a bunch of county officials — that this concrete crusade for sidewalks could cost taxpayers up to $93 million under Florida’s Bert Harris Act, which protects property owners when government projects wipe out their property values.
That’s right. A sidewalk project that could bankrupt the city. Because in Pardo’s world, Instagram posts and civic club meetings count as “proper notice.” Pardo said in his social media in July that there had been “extensive outreach” on what he calls the “sidewalk safety project” — because inserting that middle word helps sell it — and that it would be focused on pedestrian safety and “tree preservation.”
An independent appraisal sought by homeowners says the project could slash property values by 10%–30% across 200 homes in Morningside — an average 20% haircut that translates into tens of millions in lost equity for residents.
But wait, it gets worse.
Read related: Miami commissioners vote to negotiate sale of historic Olympia Theater
Three of the impacted homes are in the Morningside Historic District, where the city’s own laws require heightened review. The current design shoves sidewalks within feet of bedroom windows, rips out swale vegetation and increases flooding risk. Great planning, right?
“This Project will deprive owners of the privacy they have long enjoyed, will remove vegetation which has been a great amenity to the area, and in general, will destroy the character of the entire neighborhood,” wrote attorney Kenneth G. Oertel in the letter. “This Project is completely opposed by a majority of directly and many indirectly affected residents in the Morningside community; it is unnecessary and a waste of public funds.
“Properties along the proposed route will suffer permanent loss of privacy and parking, and in some cases, the sidewalk will encroach their residence within inches of their windows and habitable living spaces. The affected residences will no longer benefit from swale vegetation and hedge buffers, both of which currently shield children, pedestrians, and drivers from conflict zones. The elimination of these elements heightens risk to pedestrians and exposes homeowners to decreased utility, increased noise, and greater intrusion. The proposal also introduces new elements of risk by creating unmarked crosswalks.
“When a governmental agency considers a public works project, it often undertakes a cost-benefit analysis. In this instance, the “benefits” are non-existent; the cost implications are monumental. I wish the City to reconsider whether this Project is justified,” Oertel wrote. “The unwanted work combined with the potential liability to the City appears to be risky and one-sided.
Translation: More legal bills for the taxpayers.
Read related: Courts killed Miami commission’s election shuffle, but city wants a do-over
Then there is the fact that the city didn’t even bother sending direct legal notice to property owners. Instead, they relied on flyers, social media and the Morningside Civic Association (MCA), a volunteer group with zero legal standing to bind residents.
“While the Morningside Civic Association is a non-profit Florida corporation that exists to promote the general betterment of the community, it is not a homeowners’ association and does not have authority to make binding decisions on behalf of individual property owners,” the lawyer states. “The directly affected residents, those whose homes, driveways, hedges, and swales abut the proposed sidewalk routes, were never given formal legal notice or engaged in a proper consultation process, despite being the parties who will suffer the most immediate and measurable losses.
“Instead, the City relied on the MCA for outreach, which effectively bypassed the homeowners whose property rights and values are at stake. This failure of notice and engagement undermines the legitimacy of the process and compounds the exposure the City now faces, as the sidewalk project threatens to degrade the historic character of Morningside and substantially reduce property values for directly impacted.”
Ladra would go a step further and say the MCA served as a convenient go-between. Or so Pardo thought. Because he made it evident that he doesn’t care what the residents think when city crews came and ripped out the old oak tree on Northeast 50th Terrace for no good reason while the homeowners were away. The homeowners and their neighbors were devastated.
The suspected 75+ year-old live oak was chopped down last weekend after the city pushed through conflicting permits. First, an arborist report on June 2 said the tree was healthy but had to go to make way for the proposed sidewalk. Then, three weeks later, a new permit magically declared the same tree “sick” — a claim Pardo himself promoted on Instagram.
This tree here does not look sick. But the photos of the discarded tree parts are absolutely sickening.
“I never saw this removal posted online, nor was a large, green Intended Decision poster placed on the tree to notify the public and to allow for an appeal,” wrote Morningside activist Sandy Moise to the city Monday, requesting the arborist’s report. “Furthermore, Commissioner Pardo did not include this tree when on June 24, 2025, he posted the Tree Removal Permit Updates on his Instagram.”
Moise said the residents had previously voiced their opposition for removing this specific live oak to Pardo and Charles Alfaro, the assistant director of the city’s resiliency and public works department. “They claimed their sidewalk project was removing, ‘just one tree.’ We asked for a root bridged to be used instead of removing this tree, or to install the sidewalk around it.”
She had written already to Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Wilton Simpson to ask for the state’s intervention in another case where the city removed a perfectly healthy state-protected Mahogany. So, this is not an isolated incident. It’s a pattern, she says: The city has falsified tree conditions on Intended Decision notices — claiming disease or poor condition when both the city’s arborist and independent arborists confirm they are healthy. It removes trees without following the public notice pattern. And last, but most egregious, the city actually causes mechanical harm to existing trees through maintenance practices, including weed-whacker scarring on roots.
Another tree was cut down in July after the city said it had been hit by lightning twice in a year. So, then, why not get a permit? Think about it. Because that would eliminate any chance for the public to appeal or for an independent arborist to inspect the tree and recommend preservation options. Which is exactly what they did.
Oooops.
Read related: Miami tree removal ordinance changes unnecessary and tainted by lobbyists
Johnson also wrote Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to ask her office to review the plan to see if the city had violated any interlocal agreements regarding traffic calming and to provide assurance that further construction activity will be suspended until the proper process is followed. “The actions of the City of Miami, as led by Commissioner Pardo and Public Works, reflect a disturbing pattern of government overreach, misinformation, and disregard for statutory obligations,” she said. “Miami-Dade County leadership must intervene to ensure that resident rights, environmental protections, and lawful governance are respected.
“This is not simply about one tree. It is about a pattern of disregard for the law, abuse of power, and erosion of public trust.”
The county’s chief operating officer, Jimmy Morales, said he would forward it to the regulatory department to follow up.
It is hard to trust the government when there are so many shifting stories. The city says the tree was sick when it clearly was not. Pardo also the tree removal was a mistake. But only since it was supposed to be cut down later. “It certainly shouldn’t have happened now,” he said on an Instagram post, feigning uprise. It was a longterm plan. Is that supposed to make us feel better?
Pardo and Ralph Gonzalez, the city’s arborist, scrambled on social media to promise the tree will be replaced with other two or three native trees that will provide “similar or better canopy” — in the “near future.” Key word: Future. Like maybe in 15 or 25 years, when they’re fully grown?
“We understand the gravity of the situation,” Gonzalez said. “And our top priority is replacement of this missing canopy with two or three Floria native species of equal size if not greater.”
Residents call it deception. And Ladra has to agree — nothing says “greenwashing” like killing a healthy century-old oak for a sidewalk that nobody asked for and that residents are actually fighting against.
The contradictions don’t stop there. Court transcripts show the city’s own engineer admitting that sidewalks could be built by the road — but that option was “too expensive.” Yet City Hall keeps claiming safety is the reason for pushing concrete closer to homes. Pardo, meanwhile, boasted about his “innovative” use of MCA meetings and door-to-door chats as public notice. Neighbors called that a flat-out lie.
Jessica Johnson, one of the residents now leading the charge, summed it up: “Because of Commissioner Pardo’s poor planning, lack of proper notice, disorganized communications, and failure to follow statutory requirements or basic standards of care, residents are terrified and feel unsafe in their own homes. The sloppy and sacrilegious killing of this century-old oak tree is symbolic of Pardo’s policy in Morningside.”
The Bert Harris Act gives residents the right to compensation if government actions wipe out their property value, even without a constitutional taking. That means if Pardo keeps pushing, the city could be on the hook for tens of millions in damages — all while destroying one of Miami’s most historic neighborhoods.
This isn’t a sidewalk project anymore. It’s a sidewalk scandal. And it could become the most expensive concrete pour in Miami history.
It’s also becoming part of Pardo’s quickly growing negative legacy, along with the election year change, the giveaway of the Olympia Theater, the change to the tree ordinance, the gentrification of Coconut Grove, the deafness on the Downtown Development Authority and the vote to dissolve Bayfront Park.
“Miami’s beauty has always been rooted in its foliage, tree-lined streets, and Biscayne Bay. Morningside, founded in the 1920s by James H. Nunnally and embraced by families like the Burdines, was built as a tropical retreat with Mediterranean Revival homes and a canopy of legacy trees,” said resident Brian Hollenbeck. “For generations, residents have protected that character.
Read related: Miami Commissioner Damian Pardo loses support, inspires recall threats
“Now, Commissioner Damian Pardo is stripping that away — cutting down protected trees and bulldozing front yards under the guise of so-called ‘safety walkways’ that have never gone through proper permits, historical review, or mitigation. He lives just blocks away, yet never notified his neighbors. Instead, he’s pushing a project that looks more like a developer’s land grab than public safety,” said Hollenbeck, who supported Pardo in the 2023 election
“With his election shuffle, the Watson Island deal, the Olympia giveaway, and now this, Pardo’s actions reek of backroom deals and a disregard for transparency. He has lost the trust of the very community he claims to represent, and residents are no longer tolerant of this version of the City’s mismanagement.
“We will hold him accountable.”
“As your elected official, I welcome criticism and accountability,” Pardo posted on the platform formerly known as Twitter in July. “However, spreading false claims or personal attacks doesn’t help move our community forward.”
Pardo did not answer multiple calls from Ladra to his cellphone and district office. He did not respond to texts sent over several days. His chief of staff did not answer calls and texts Thursday. Pardo hasn’t responded in weeks, since Political Cortadito took a stance against the cancellation of this year’s Miami mayoral and commission elections, which he had pushed for.
He also did not answer a question about why his home in Morningside, at 421 NE 51st Street, which is a stone’s throw from Biscayne Boulevard, is suddenly gone from the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s property search website.
That doesn’t feel transparent or accountable.
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Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago blurts out ‘terms’ of confidential agreement
So much for confidentiality.
Less than three weeks after Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago and Actualidad 1040 AM came to a mediated confidential settlement agreement in that weak defamation lawsuit Vinnie filed last year, and four days after both parties filed a “joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice,” which reconfirms that confidentiality, Lago goes and tells everybody.
On Tuesday, Lago put the station on blast at a very public city commission meeting during a discussion about the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center Association — which the city could enter into a legal battle with — just to make a point.
“It’s kind of like my lawsuit against Actualidad Radio,” he said about the need to hire an outside attorney to request the non-profit association’s records (more on that later). “They slander you and say a lie about you, and what you do is, you have to hire an attorney to get an apology letter. Not only do you get an apology letter, you also get a huge payday and also get Mr. Tejera fired from the radio station.”
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago settles petty defamation case vs Actualidad
He was referring to Roberto Rodriguez Tejera, the veteran Miami journalist who spoke with Gables Commissioner Ariel Fernandez on the Spanish-language “Contacto Directo” morning radio show in February 2023 about an ethics investigation of a possible conflict of interest in the aggressive plan to annex Little Gables and the fact that Lago lied when he dramatically signed an affidavit swearing that nobody in his family had any ties with the unincorporated enclave. It was a frivolous and losing case: His brother was a lobbyist for the largest property owner in Little Gables — which may be in the mayor’s sights again (more on that later) — and there was, indeed, an investigation into both the possible conflict of interest brought on relationship and whether or not Lago intentionally lied.
The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust closed the matter saying the “information gathered in this matter is not legally sufficient to commence an investigation,” in August of 2023, six months after Rodriguez-Tejera reported on the investigation. The defamation lawsuit was centered on the ridiculous notion that it was really, technically a “matter under initial review,” which all journalist know is just a fancy way to say investigation. The process is the same. The end result, too.
After two years of back and forth — trying to get the Ethics Commission to disclose the anonymous sources of the complaint, serving subpoenas on union leaders, commissioners and journalists — it was suddenly suddenly all over. No more drama.
Or so we thought.
Tuesday’s little tirade may be a violation of the terms of the agreement, which has the word confidential or confidentiality five times in one paragraph in the joint simulation of dismissal.
Read related: What transparency? 22 reasons NOT to vote for Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago
Both Lago and Actualidad Media notified the court Aug. 22 that they had “reached a settlement in this matter and entered into a confidential settlement agreement, which was sealed “to preserve confidentiality,” the document reads.
“The parties further stipulate that each party shall bear its own attorneys’ fees and court costs and request that the court retain jurisdiction over this action to resolve any disputes arising out of or relating to the confidential settlement agreement and mutual release executed by the parties.”
Is this going to be one of those disputes? That Lago squealed. From the dais?
Wasn’t the settlement supposed to be amicable? If there had been a “huge payday,” why would the station and Lago’s attorney issue a joint statement that basically said they did nothing wrong?
“Actualidad 1040 AM would like to clarify: On February 27, 2023, it was reported on the Contacto Directo radio show on Actualidad 1040 AM that there was an ethics investigation against Mayor Lago. To clarify, the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust had opened a ‘matter under initial review.’ The matter was opened because unnamed concerned individuals had lodged a confidential ethics complaint against Mayor Lago. After undergoing its internal process, on August 23, 2023 the Ethics Commission determined that the complaint was ‘not legally sufficient to commence an investigation’ and closed the matter. The parties have amicably resolved their dispute, and Mayor Lago has agreed to dismiss his lawsuit.”
That settlement was announced earlier this month, which was less than two months after the first judge recused himself and the case was assigned to Circuit Court Judge Javier Enriquez. From Day 1, Enriquez made it clear he wanted to resolve the case already. Wonder what his honor thinks of Lago’s little nonconfidential rant.
Read related: Judge in Vince Lago’s ‘defamation’ lawsuit suddenly recuses himself
Nevermind that it’s not such a flex for a politician to say he got a journalist fired. Like, maybe in Cuba. But the truth is that Robertico, as his friends call him, is still working at Actualidad. He isn’t doing the same show, but everybody says it was choice to take a break after the November elections. He still hosts a show on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. And he still works with the station’s advertising team as the voice of many local brands.
Rodriguez-Tejera is almost synonymous with Actualidad.
Lyin’ Lago is at it again.
Ladra tried calling Gonzalo Dorta, Lago’s attorney in this civil case. After putting me on hold for a few seconds, his secretary came back to say that Dorta said to have my attorney call him. But there is no case anymore. It was settled. Confidentially.
A public records request was also made to the city for the apology letter, but two sources at the radio station say I won’t get it — because it doesn’t exist. It’s almost a sure bet the “huge payday” doesn’t exist either. In fact, Lago — whose attorneys had taken three big losses in court in the prior month — probably settled with a “you go your way, we go ours” settlement so he wouldn’t have to pay the station’s legal fees later.
So, why is Lago boasting like this? Well, this helps him send a message: Look what I can do. And it has been established that he is a bully. This is nothing more than a veiled threat to try to silence anyone who reports the truth about him. And about the ethics investigation on him in 2023.
Looks like he failed.
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Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, allies bully and browbeat Melissa Castro
It’s so painfully obvious she gets under their skin
For almost 12 hours Tuesday, Coral Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro took the hits from her colleagues on the dais like a professional boxer who is used to being in the ring for extra rounds with opponents who don’t fight fair.
And even though she was not able to move a single one of her 10 agenda items forward at the very long commission meeting, Castro said she felt victorious because the board voted to put the election year change on the ballot, rather than making the change by ordinance all by themselves. That is something she has been fighting for since May.
“What I most wanted, I got,” Castro told Political Cortadito Wednesday. “And that is that the people will get to vote on when they have their elections.”
Read related: Coral Gables commissioner Melissa Castro challenges election date change
She didn’t get the date she wanted. Castro — who was censured by her colleagues last month for trying to get an opinion on the election change from the Florida attorney general — would have put the question on the next regularly-scheduled election ballot in April of 2027, when her first term expires. Mayor Vince Lago wants the election to be in April of next year (more on that later), and that’s what he got, of course. He is confident that voters will approve the change and wants the next municipal elections in November of 2026, cutting Castro’s term by five months.
Because he’s really out to get Castro and Commissioner Ariel Fernandez — two underdogs who beat his handpicked candidates in 2023 — gone as quickly as possible. In fact, at one point Tuesday, Lago blurted out that he had polled Castro five times. “You’re below 15%. You’re upside down, two to one.”
Five times! That sounds like an obsession. Unless, you know, he’s just lying. It wouldn’t be the first time.
But “upside down, two to one” suggests that Lago polled Castro against someone in particular. Could it be Ivette Arango O’Doski, the Lago candidate she beat by 18 points two years ago? Rumors have circulated that someone is recruiting Cecilia Slesnick, the daughter-in-law of former Mayor Don Slesnick and the late Commissioner Jeannett Slesnick, to run against Castro (more on that later).
But the commissioner just smiled Tuesday and told Lago to chill out. “Don’t be so worried. Don’t be so preoccupied. I would never go into something I can’t win,” she said, practically winking at him.
It’s also not the first time that Lago behaves obnoxiously and acts aggressively toward Castro. But it’s gone from ignoring or sidelining her at public events and refusing to take photos with her after she won — other electeds apologized for him at an Underline event — to badmouthing and embarrassing Castro at the Carnaval de Barranquilla event in downtown Coral Gables in April, just one day after Lago was sworn in post reelection, calling her a “venomous snake” and “bad news” in front of dignitaries and city staffers. And in front of Castrro’s son.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago lashes out at Commissioner Melissa Castro
And while the commissioner is a fully grown woman who has a master’s degree in industrial-organizational psychology — maybe that’s how she does it — Lago talks down to Castro as if she was a little girl. He openly laughs at her legitimate concerns is if she wasn’t elected by a wider margin than he was last April. It’s a disrespect to the voters, the constituents, the residents.
“Let me provide you with a little clarity,” he tells her, just a variation of the same tone he treats her with in every single commission meeting.
But it wasn’t only L’Ego who took every opportunity Tuesday to bully and harangue Castro, who can’t possibly have a good idea as far as the mayor and his minions are concerned. The expedited permitting for residents who wanted to pay more for the service — which would also have been a new revenue stream — was shot down before they could even start a trial period. On Tuesday, the commission completely shot down her motion to expand the noise ordinance to ban construction in the residential zones before 7:30 a.m., instead of 8 a.m. which is the rule now.
Let that sink in: Castro wanted to give residents one more hour of peace in the mornings. Particularly one elderly handicapped woman who keeps getting woken up by the construction of The Village, a luxury townhome development on Malaga Avenue. And the LALalalala group thought this was a bad idea? Ladra is surprised Commissioner Richard Lara didn’t say that the people elected them to keep the early construction noise going.
That’s their excuse for everything: “The people elected us, so this is what they want.”
“It’s obvious that if I say I have some free bread for the city, they will say no,” Castro said. And it’s become pretty obvious to everyone else that she is right. In fact, Ladra expects them to say the bread would be tainted.
Read related: Coral Gables: Developers, lobbyists lead, giving $753K to elect Richard Lara
Lara sounds like he is chastising her constantly and Lago is dripping with disdain when he addresses Castro. It is so nauseating that at least two residents mentioned it during public comments.
“Please Mayor Lago, I’m disappointed in your frequent condescending of her ideas and comments,” said Lisa Detournay, a resident of the Riviera neighborhood who also added that Castro had asked good questions and that she was unaware of some of the things the commissioner had brought up about the mobility hub (more on that later).
“You guys speak so poorly to Ms. Castro,” said another lady on Zoom. “You may not be raising your voice, but what you say is so embarrassing.”
Castro, who is very much underestimated and smarter than they think — or maybe they know just how smart she is and can’t stand it — just sits there and takes it all in stride. She got very upset and cried publicly after the Carnaval event because she was embarrassed in front of Colombian leaders and her son. Ladra spoke to people there who said the mayor was out of line.
On Tuesday, Castro seemed to just ride it out in stride. She knows she was right about letting the voters decide on the election date. So, she might turn out to be right about some other stuff, too. She can play the long game and watch as Lago and the others — particularly Lago — self destruct.
But the bullies she has to sit with in the meantime are not amusing. They are abusive. Ladra would venture to suggest they are creating a hostile work environment for her.
“I can handle it,” Castro told Ladra. “They’re the ones who are looking terrible.”
The one who looks the worst is Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson. Instead of defending the only other woman from Lago’s and Lara’s intentionally demeaning comments and constant mansplaining — or at least deflecting for her — Anderson joins the bully bandwagon. instead. It sometime looks like Anderson is jealous of Castro. It’s hard to watch.
She should have been Castro’s mentor. Not her nightmare to the right.
Anderson did not return a call from Ladra. She never does. Lago, who doesn’t return calls or texts either, would probably punish her harshly.
But after the long meeting Tuesday, a meeting where Lago took every opportunity he could to disparage Castro, the mayor sent a congratulatory message to his daughter, Catalina, who turns 11 this week. Perhaps he should think of his daughter more when he viciously and needlessly attacks the woman sitting next to him at the commission meetings.
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Partisan politics seize hold of Miami mayoral election already with attacks
Even before Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins officially threw her hat in the ring for the Miami mayoral race, the Miami-Dade Democratic Executive Committee was sending out text messages linking the front-running Republican candidate, former City Manager Emilio González, to Donald Trump.
Then Tuesday, a day after Higgins submitted her resign-to-run resignation at the county, the Republican Party of Miami-Dade came out with a social media post that links her to New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who has served since 2021 as a member of the New York State Assembly from the 36th district, based in Queens. A member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, he is the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City in the 2025 election.
There’s that word: Socialist. Miami voters are in for a brutal campaign season.
And if you think it is too early for partisan politics to be creeping in, remember that there are just over two months until Election Day Nov. 4.
Read related: Eileen Higgins officially resigns Miami-Dade seat to run for Miami mayor
First blood was drawn by the Dems, warning that Gonzalez could be “Miami’s first MAGA mayor.” It cites a Washington Times story from June that calls him a surrogate for Donald Trump.
Gonzalez says he is going to be a mayor for all the people, Democrats included. But there’s no denying his red stripes. He worked in the George W. Bush administration running U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and then returned to Miami-Dade, where he served as CEO of Miami International Airport before coming to Miami as city manager.
He emerged as a major critic of President Joe Biden immigration policy and became a founding member of Veterans for Trump, a bilingual surrogate for candidate Trump, a transition team member for the President-elect and was just named a senior fellow at the Trump-connected America First Policy Institute.
And, most importantly, he was the closest behind Higgins in an internal poll announced by her campaign earlier this month. She led with a high 36%, followed by Gonzalez with 15% and former Commissioner Ken Russell, a onetime Democratic candidate for congress, clocked in at 12%. He’s so far sitting pretty, avoiding any attacks as Emilio and Eileen duke it out.
Not to be outdone, the Miami Republicans posted on their Instagram account a response to the two texts against Gonzalez.
“The Miami-Dade Democratic Party and their candidate Eileen Higgins are running scared — and for good reason. They know voters are fed up with their record of higher taxes, reckless spending, government waste, and misplaced priorities,” reads the message posted Monday. “Instead of defending their failed record, they’ve resorted to smear campaigns and desperate attacks against Republican candidates.
“Miami families deserve honesty and leadership, not fear mongering and political games,” they wrote.
Read related: Poll has Eileen Higgins in Miami mayoral runoff with Emilio Gonzalez
But the very next day, they couldn’t resist to succumb to fear mongering and political games, posting a photo collage of Higgins and Mamdani with a warning: “Miami is a refuge for New Yorkers seeking liberty and freedom. Now, Miami faces the same future as New York City if Eileen Higgins @eileenformiami becomes mayor in November. We cannot afford to turn over our city to a radical liberal lunatic.”
Seriously? Can you say hypocrite?
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