Three municipalities in Miami-Dade are possibly signing up to be inspected by the Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency, the state’s own Elon Musk group —  let’s just call it Baby DOGE — to find and root out waste, inefficiency and fraud.
Last week, the city of Miami Commission voted to ask Baby DOGE “to come to the city of Miami and look for government waste and fraud.” And in Coral Gables, a commissioner wants the state’s DOGE to review the city’s budget “to make recommendations on elimination of government waste” before this year’s budget process begins. They’ll discuss it next month.
They join Hialeah, whose council last month approved a resolution supporting Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ establishment of Baby DOGE and Mayor Esteban “Steve” Bovo invited the governor to come check out the city’s books. What does he care? He was already on his way out to go work in D.C. as a lobbyist, anyway.
DeSantis announced he had established the task force in February to, among other things, “look into local government expenditures by utilizing publicly available county and municipal spending records to expose bloat within local governance.” But, of course, he has asked municipalities to cooperate.
Gables Commissioner Ariel Fernandez has asked the city clerk to put a resolution on the agenda for the May 20 commission meeting to discuss a possible Baby DOGE review with his colleagues. “There may be things that we have not noticed,” he told Political Cortadito.
In Miami, it was Commissioner Joe Carollo‘s pocket item at Thursday’s meeting. Even though Miami’s Chief Financial Officer Larry Spring said that the city did not meet the threshold for DOGE intervention, Carollo said it would be a good idea anyway.
Commissioner Miguel Gabela asked if not meeting the threshold means the city is in good financial health. Um, Spring said, don’t get carried away.

“I’m not gonna use the words ‘good financial health,’” Spring said. “We affirmed what they asked us, which is… have we met any of the criteria [to trigger a review]. And the answer was no.”
Read related: Miami Commission moves forward with Allapattah CRA — sans Joe Carollo
Two speakers from the public were also in favor.
Brenda Betancourt, president of the Calle Ocho Inter-American Chamber of Commerce and a candidate for commission in District 3, dared the commissioners to do it.
“This would be a good way to make sure that every single dollar that is collected from the city of Miami residents are actually invested in the best interest of the residents.” Betancourt, a frequent speaker at public comment, said. “If the city, in the way it has been managed for years, doesn’t have any problems, I don’t see why they can’t have the department of efficiency that can actually prove to the city of Miami residents that we are spending our money correctly.”
And Downtown Neighbors Association President James Torres, who has been on a social media tear against the Downtown Development Authority, was also supportive — and it gave him another opportunity to hit the agency.
“This is an important issue that should be taken up. We do have government waste, especially with the Downtown Development Authority,” he said. “If this agency moves forward, it’s going to do what we’ve been asking for.”
But a third woman said it could wreak havoc, like it’s done at the federal level.
“It concerns me. We need a certain number of employees and we need a certain number of procedures to function as a government,” she said. “This is again move fast and breakl things that’s what scares me. I have a computer science degree. I am a systems thinker. I understand hs concepts,” she said about Musk. “Again, I worry about applying software mentality to people.
“Consider the health of our functioning democracy.”
Read related: Effort to dissolve Miami DDA cites ‘bloated’ salaries, redundancy, UFC gift
It almost seemed like Commission Chairwoman Christine King and Commissioner Damian Pardo were going to do just that.
“I don’t want there to come in and be a swift sweep of whole departments and people are out of work,” King said. “Efficiency? Yes. But just a broad stroke of… and whole departments are gone? I am not in support of that.
“I am always in support of looking at our processes. We should do that just regularly every so couple of years,” King added. “But I will not support a broad stroke of getting rid of whole departments.”
Pardo said he wanted to “remind everyone that we have an inspector general’s office that is kicking in and we do have audits, I believe in forensic audits. if we want to invite further oversight, great,” he said. “But like you, madame chair, if it’s something that’s fast and let’s break things, I will not support it.”
All Carollo had to say, though, was that it was just to identify efficiencies, and that an ultimate decision would come back to the city commission.
“This is an additional set of eyes,” Carollo said, “so the we can truly live on that word that is thrown around so often — transparency.”
At the end of the discussion, it passed unanimously.
Nobody wants to be seen as defending waste and fraud.

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The election in Coral Gables is over, but a new race has begun: Who can bring changes first?
In light of Tuesday’s runoff results, Commissioner Ariel Fernandez, sent an email Thursday that surprised everyone. He said he had asked the city clerk to put items on the agenda for the next scheduled meeting May 20 to do many of the things that his nemesis, Mayor Vince Lago,and Lago’s slate had campaigned on. Well, and a little more, also taking certain things to the voters.
“If this is what residents want, and I am the person saying I put residents first, then I need to react to this election and lead,” Fernandez told Ladra early Thursday.
But that was before Mayor Lago requested a special meeting for next week to discuss the three things that have been core to his campaign. He’ll be damned if Fernandez takes the wind out of his sails, aka credit for moving elections to November or for rolling back commission salaries. The other item is from his miserably failed petition (more on that later), which is to make any spending of the city’s reserve fund require a vote of the super majority.
Lago did not return a call and text to his phone. It’s standard. He just sent what looks like a form text telling me to contact him on his city cell phone, which he didn’t respond to either. But certainly Lago got Fernandez’s email, sent about 10 a.m. Thursday and titled “Your goals, our mission — let’s get it done together,” where Fernandez first commended the mayor, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Elect Richard Lara for their victories Tuesday.
Read related: Coral Gables electeds to be sworn in, will push for November elections
“I look forward to working with you over the next two years advancing the priorities set forth by our residents,” he said.
“Now that the election is over, it is time for us to work together on behalf of you, our residents, and put politics aside,” Fernandez wrote in the email. “You have sent us a clear message on several issues, and I HAVE HEARD YOU. Today, I renew my commitment to you to ensure your priorities are mine.”
Fernandez went further than the mayor did, asking for eight items to be put on the agenda for the next meeting, to:

Roll back the raises commissioners gave themselves in 2023
Create process for selection and dismissal of charter officers — the city manager, city attorney and city clerk — requiring a national search, requiring a 4/5th majority for hiring and firing of a charter officer and setting a formal timeline for the hiring process.
Prepare next year’s budget with options for the Commission that will allow for a reduction of the millage rate by 1% or 2%, before our Budget workshop in July, in order to lower taxes for our residents.
Put charter amendment to move elections to November on the ballot
Put a charter amendment to make future salary increases require a public vote
Put a charter amendment to put an Inspector General on the ballot
Send the municipal budget to the Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) to make recommendations on elimination of government waste.
Formulate a plan that to eliminate the $550 garbage fee.

“Over the coming weeks, I look forward to working with my colleagues on the issues that are important to you and building a Residents First government in our city,” Fernandez wrote in his email, inviting his colleagues to co-sponsor the items “in a show of unity to our residents.”
Apparently, Lago had a different idea.
Several sources at City Hall said Lago has called for a special meeting May 6 and he can do that without getting anyone else to sign on. Only the mayor and the city manager can do that. He may have seen Fernandez’s move on these items as a power grab or an attempt to change the narrative.
“Mayor Lago can take it as whatever,” Fernandez said. “This is an olive branch,”
Half of the items Fernandez asked the city clerk to put on the agenda are definitely taken from Lago’s playbook and seem to be an about-face for the commissioner.
Fernandez had approved and defended the commission salary raises — which had not increased in years and went from $36,488 a year to $65,000 — and voted against the tiny tax decrease that would have saved residents under $100 and given large property owners and developers tens of thousands in tax breaks.
“I did,” Fernandez told Political Cortadito. “And voters voted for the three candidates who said they would lower taxes.”
Read related: Kirk Menendez strikes back at Coral Gables Mayor ‘Lyin’ Vince Lago’
He said the last tax break was sprung on the city without much notice during the budget workshops. This would give the manager time to make the necessary adjustments, Fernandez said. “My goal is to make sure it doesn’t affect services.”
That’s also why he wants to enlist the state’s DOGE office to help identify efficiencies. “There may be things that we have not noticed,” Fernandez said.
He also led the on-the-spot hiring of Amos Rojas, without going through any search or process. He did it again when the commission appointed Alberto Parjus in January after Rojas resigned.
His change of thought comes from listening to the voters, Fernandez said. “Isn’t this the message people sent in the election? This is what the residents want. We have to deliver.”
Fernandez said he was always for taking the election change, the IG and other changes to the voters. “I was waiting for the charter review committee to make a recommendation,” he said Thursday. “We received a draft of their recommendation but they have not concluded their work.”
It was unknown Thursday if Lago intends to take these changes to the voters or implement them through a majority vote, which he has now thanks to the election of his handpicked candidate, Richard Lara.
Commissioner Fernandez said he hasn’t changed his mind on everything.
“I’m still going to stand my ground on development and the issues that residents care about,” Fernandez said. “I’m still going to push for sidewalk repairs, draining projects, infrastructure, historic preservation and City Hall restoration.”
Speaking of which, the special meeting next week might be at the old City Hall, which has been undergoing shoring and other construction work to make it more structurally sound. It’s almost like Lago doesn’t want anybody to be there.
The post Coral Gables Mayor, commissioner clash in rush to roll back salaries, taxes appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Coral Gables Commissioner Ariel Fernandez says there has been a targeted campaign of harassment and threats against him and two other city commissioners almost since he and Commissioner Melissa Castro were elected against two candidates that were endorsed and supported by Mayor Vince Lago. He called it “thuggery” and “mafia tactics.”
Slashed tires, public confrontations, online harassment and threats, stalking.
These events culminated on Tuesday when Fernandez spotted someone following him and police identified the man as a private investigator who used to be a Coral Gables sergeant until he retired in 2014. Police say he wouldn’t say who hired him.
Hang on. Let that sink in. There’s a private investigator tailing a commissioner in Coral Gables and police cannot find out who is doing it? This could be someone who is looking to hurt the commissioner for a vote he took. It could be someone who wants to pressure him to vote some way in the future. It’s a danger to the commissioner and the family and the cops couldn’t do more?
Fernandez says that he believes he has been followed for months.
In February, someone stalked Fernandez at the Belen Jesuit School Tombola event, posting photos with disparaging remarks.
“Imagine spending a Saturday evening with your wife and 9-year-old son at your former high school’s fair — laughing, making memories, just enjoying a peaceful night as a family. Hours later, photos surface on social media proving that someone had been watching you — following your family,” Fernandez said at a press conference Wednesday about “security threats.” With his wife, Monica, standing next to him, he also provided a google drive link to all the images and police reports documenting the threats.
“Imagine stepping out for dinner on Miracle Mile with friends, only to return to find your car’s tires slashed,” he said, referring to an incident that occurred with Commissioner Kirk Menendez‘s wife.
“Imagine taking your 7-year-old son to a restaurant and being physically attacked by someone with a political agenda,” he said, referring to a loud, physical confrontation that the mother of a former city commissioner aligned with Mayor Vince Lago had with Commissioner Castro in Key Biscayne.
“Unfortunately, this is not fiction — this is the reality that Commissioner Kirk Menendez, Commissioner Melissa Castro, and I have been forced to live over the past two years., Fernandez said. “When you take public office, you know there will be sacrifices. You expect criticism, tough conversations, and public scrutiny. But no one prepares you for the fear, the stalking, or the threats — not just against you, but against your family.
“Since taking office in 2023, the attacks on me, Commissioner Castro, Commissioner Menendez, and our families have not only continued — they’ve escalated.” And he listed some of the disturbing incidents.

November 17, 2023: A photo of Commissioner Fernandez’s vehicle, including his license plate, was posted online, which may be a violation of state law. Ladra is pretty sure the photo was taken by and the social media handle was used by Lago buddy and real estate agent Manny Chamizo, who recently was sentenced to probation in a stalking case (more on that later).
January 8, 2024: Commissioner Menendez’s wife’s tires were slashed right outside their home.
February 13, 2024: Due to a credible death threat, the three commissioners had to be escorted by police into City Hall for a commission meeting.
August 31, 2024: Commissioner Castro was physically assaulted and verbally accosted at a restaurant outside the city, in front of her seven-year-old son.
October 8, 2024: Fernandez received what he called “a chilling threat” on social media from an individual, stating: “Cya soon face to face.”
November 16, 2024: While having lunch with my wife and son, a drone hovered overhead, surveilling us before flying away when I attempted to photograph it.
December 15, 2024: Commissioner Castro’s tires were slashed in a city parking garage. The only other similar incident in months? Commissioner Menendez’s car.
February 1, 2025: Fernandez and his family were stalked and photographed at the Belen Tombola. The photos were later posted online by someone using the name “JustinRite” on social media.
February 22, 2025: Commissioner Castro’s car was vandalized while parked on a Coral Gables street

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Incident is the latest in pattern of political harassment
Coral Gables Police have confirmed that Commissioner Ariel Fernandez was being followed Tuesday, while taking his son to school, by a private investigator who was a city police officer until 2014. A statement from the chief said that police don’t know why the PI was following the commissioner — nor who hired him.
Fernandez, who will have a press conference Wednesday to discuss this and other similarly creepy incidents, said it is definitely politically motivated.
“I have no doubt it’s political. I don’t have any enemies outside of politics,” Fernandez told Political Cortadito Tuesday.
He wouldn’t specifically name Mayor Vince Lago, who he has been at odds with since his election two years ago, as the suspect PI’s client. But he did remind Ladra that Lago has repeatedly said he was going to “destroy” him.
Read related: Three Coral Gables commissioners say they have been stalked, threatened
Fernandez thought there was something strange about the dark truck on his street Tuesday morning as he pulled out of his house to take his son to school. It was driving exceedingly slow. Cut-through traffic on the block usually goes by faster, he thought. Moments later, he saw the same truck again at an intersection. His stop. The driver waved him on, twice, then turned behind him and seemed to follow him a few blocks. Fernandez said he tried to get behind the truck to get a license plate, but was unable to.
After he dropped his son off, Fernandez said he approached an officer directing traffic at the school to let him know that he thought he was being followed. Around the same time, the vehicle drove by the school and possibly recorded the interaction between Fernandez and the police officer.
Ariel Fernandez, with wife Monica and son Stephen, as he is sworn in as commissioner two years ago.
“Another dad said, ‘Hey, that guy is taking photos of you,’” Fernandez said.
According to a statement from Chief Ed Hudak, which was released Tuesday afternoon, one of the officers then followed the truck.
“As one of the officers followed the suspect vehicle, the individual pulled off the roadway and flagged down the Coral Gables officer,” reads Hudak’s statement. “The person was identified as a licensed private investigator who was in fact surveilling and following Commissioner Fernandez. The person identified was retired Coral Gables Police Sergeant Alan Matas, who was working as a licensed private investigator for the company he owns. The individual who hired the Private Investigations Company was not disclosed to the responding officer.
“The private investigator was legally conducting surveillance. Therefore, no further action was taken by the officers at the scene,” the statement ended. “The Police Department is continuing to investigate this incident to ascertain if it is related to other incidents that have occurred in the past.”
Incidents in the past include the slashing of tires on both Commissioner Melissa Castro‘s vehicle, which was vandalized again last week, and the vehicle driven by the wife of Commissioner Kirk Menendez. There were also photographs of Commissoner Fernandez taken at the Belen Jesuit School Tombola last month and posted online with disparaging captions and comments.
They were posted by the same trolls who constantly take AI liberties with photographs of the three commissioners dubbed KFC (Kirk, Fernandez and Castro) by the Lago loyalists. These anonymous trolls — and there’s a new one every week — make derogatory and body-shaming remarks, accuse commissioners of drug use, sexual misconduct and pedophile. Some of the posts on Castro could be considered sexual harassment.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago attacks colleagues, manager in citywide email
And Lago, who is the common denominator follower of these trolls’ tiny accounts, knows about them because Ladra — who is also laughably targeted by these online stalkers — has texted him about it and sent him screenshots of some of the most inappropriate posts (I also contacted the Gables Police). The mayor has never had the courtesy to answer.
Fernandez wrote about these comments last month in an op-ed that appeared in Community Newspapers (before it shortly disappeared and then appeared again) called “The politics of intimidation have no place in Coral Gables.” In it, Fernandez accuses Lago of working tirelessly to try to “destroy” him with what he calls a campaign of harassment.
“Political committees usually spring into action during election season. But Mayor Lago’s Coral Gables First PC has functioned as a permanent smear machine,” Fernandez wrote. “Since my election, it has spent over $600,000—not on city improvements, not on community outreach, but on relentless attacks.
“Mailers, text messages, social media ads, and paid canvassers—their sole purpose? To divide our community and tear down those who dare to challenge the Mayor. Worse, Lago has amplified these attacks from his official city accounts, using taxpayer-funded resources to spread hate.
“No social media post goes unnoticed by the Mayor’s network of anonymous trolls. They attack us for our weight, our appearances, and even our families. Commissioner Castro has endured repeated vile sexual harassment. Commissioner Menendez has been falsely and outrageously accused of being a pedophile.
“When we refused to be intimidated, the harassment escalated.
“It wasn’t enough to attack us. Now, they were coming after those closest to us. My wife, my son, my sister-in-law—even my grandfather, who passed away this summer—have all been targeted online. And in a chilling pattern, some of these anonymous accounts are followed by Mayor Lago himself….
“Sometimes, the threats are explicit. A message reading, “See you soon, face to face.” A photo of my car at City Hall posted online with the clear implication: We know where you are.
We’ve turned over all documentation to the State Attorney’s office, but Florida’s laws are still woefully inadequate when it comes to protecting elected officials and their families.”
He reminds us that last year, police had to escort Fernandez and the other two commissioners who are targets of these attacks to a meeting at City Hall after a credible threat.

“This is not the Coral Gables we all love. It is not the Coral Gables my colleagues and I swore an oath to serve,” Fernandez wrote in his op-ed. “Disagreements will always exist. But dissent should never lead to destruction. And leadership should never be weaponized to sow division and fear.
Fernandez told Political Cortadito Tuesday that he wanted to let people know that the intimidation was ongoing.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago: All the wrong people in all the wrong places
“The problem is nobody hears about it, so it’s like it doesn’t exist,” Fernandez said. “Residents have a right to know what their elected officials are going through.”
Meanwhile, the PI, Alan Matas, was a Gables cop and supervisor for more than 26 years, his LinkedIn profile says. He also served on the city’s employee retirement board. Records with the Florida Division of Corporations shows he owns A Matas & Associates LLC and has an address on Key Largo.
Matas was a sergeant in 2006 when he was suspended for 10 days and demoted to patrol for his role in overtime abuse and the illegal narcotics burn — small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and pills — at the Redland property of another Gables officer. The cases uncovered holes in policies that led the department to disband the special investigations unit, taking out half of its personnel at least temporarily until new procedures can be put in place.
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In what turned out to be yet another show of political division in the city of Coral Gables, Deputy City Manager Alberto Parjus was named city manager to replace Amos Rojas, who resigned earlier this month. The appointment will be effective at the next commission meeting Jan. 28, at which the salary and benefits package will be discussed and approved.
The vote was 3-2, of course, with the same dissenting folks as always: Mayor Vince Lago and Vice Mayor Lackey Rhonda Anderson, who now makes all his arguments for him.
“Everybody should have the opportunity to put their name in the hat,” Anderson said, referring to other city employees and managers from other cities that could also want the job. She also reminded everyone that there is an election in three months. “The faces on this commission may be totally different,” she said. (Fingers crossed.)
To which Commissioner Ariel Fernandez asked if they should just take the next three months off and not make any decision.
Read related: Coral Gables City Manager Amos Rojas resigns, leaves next month after one year
Commissioner Melissa Castro, who made the motion, said Parjus “is the leader we need to ensure continued excellence and growth.” She had a powerpoint prepared with slides that show the city has appointed from within more than not.

In fact, activist Maria Cruz pointed out that former manager Peter Iglesias was appointed at a commission meeting on a non-agenda item with three minutes of discussion and no objections.
Iglesias was fired by the new commission majority almost a year after Castro and Fernandez were elected in 2023 (a prior attempt was thwarted) setting in motion a scramble for a new manager that had Miami International Airport Director Albert Cutié named for a day before the commission, at Fernandez’s suggestion, appointed Rojas, a former U.S. Marshal and special agent at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement who was supposed to root out corruption.
He didn’t talk about that during his brief comments about achievements in the year he’s been manager, which included planning the centennial year celebration, beginning the City Hall renovations, the Minorca parking garage office buildups, the purchase and installation of temporary speed tables for traffic calming, expansion of the citywide broadband and public Wi-Fi, improvements in the financial management and property management systems and lobbying efforts that secured $2.7 million in state and federal grant funding.
Rojas also mentioned the negotiations that resulted in new or renewed lease agreements for Birdie Bistro (the old Burger Bob’s), Le Parc Cafe at the Coral Gables Country Club and Fritz and Franz downtown. He also talked about bringing in “top tier talent” such as Assistant City Manager Joe Gomez and Parking and Mobility Director Monica Beltran.
He made no mention of the hostile work environment he’s had to deal with that included allegations of assault against Lago, which were investigated and ultimately found unable to be proven. Nobody could believe that Lago was actually going to hit him.
Read related: Coral Gables Internal Affairs check out mayor’s ‘assault’ incident at City Hall
There was no real talk about a national search, after the last one ended in disaster. The chosen candidate failed a criminal background check and last year — we know thanks to Castro’s research — he was sentenced to federal prison for public corruption. But both Anderson and Lago wanted to advertise the position and get a larger field to choose from. They also scolded Parjus for comments he allegedly made about resigning after Iglesias was fired.
“Clearly your mind was changed, and that’s your right,” Anderson said.
“Going out and testing the waters is not a bad thing. It’s a good thing,” Lago said, adding that Parjus could be let go after the election and get a five month severance. Apparently, he thinks he and his pocket vote candidates are going to win in April.
Said Fernandez: “You’re hoping to see if you can pick up a majority and bring back Peter Iglesias.”
Fernandez also reminded his colleagues that, two years ago, they appointed City Attorney Christina Suarez on the recommendation of the outgoing city attorney. “There was no application process. We trusted the recommendation of the person who was in that top job,” Fernandez said. “There was no objection from anybody.
“This is not a time for dirty political attacks,” Fernandez added. “This is a time for civility, stability and continuity and for our city to move forward.”
He thanked Rojas for his “leadership as City Manager with utmost integrity and for his tireless work to move our City in the right direction,” and said that Parjus had the experience necessary for the job. That includes 35 years at Miami-Dade County, ending as deputy director of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, and a stint as assistant city manager in Miami.
Read related: Ralph Cutié picks Miami-Dade over Coral Gables after PAC text attack
Commissioner Kirk Menendez said what he liked best about Parjus, who was hired by Iglesias, was that his work under both administrations was centered on responding to residents needs. “No matter who it is in the room with you, your focus is public service,” Menendez said.
In a separate 3-2 vote, Menendez was made the negotiator on the Parjus salary and benefits because Castro said she didn’t trust Lago to negotiate in good faith.
Menendez is running against Lago for mayor and this decision will likely become a flash point in the April elections.
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‘Sept. 11 is not a national holiday,’ mayor says

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