Out of nowhere, and more than a year after getting it, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Joseph Perkins last week recused himself from the defamation lawsuit brought by Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago against Actualidad Radio for a 2023 broadcast about an ethics investigation into his signing of an intentionally misleading affidavit, dramatically signed at a public commission meeting, denying his brothers documented business ties with the largest property owner in Little Gables.
Perkins didn’t give a reason for his sudden self recusal on May 19 in what looks like a form letter. “The undersigned Circuit Court Judge hereby recuses himself/herself from further consideration of this case,” it says. “This case shall be reassigned to another section of the Circuit Civil Division in accordance with established procedures.”
No reason. No details. Not even any certainty about how Perkins identifies. This is nearly 18 months after Perkins first got the case, which was filed in December of 2023.
Read related: Vince Lago revenge tour includes witch hunt for critics, confidential sources
There have already been depositions taken and rulings made. There have been case management hearings, motions on discovery. There are 132 dockets on file with the Miami-Dade Clerk’s office (enter “Lago, Vince,” and check the “I am not a robot” box).
This is weird.
Perkins was elected to the 11th Circuit Court in 2020. He mostly self funded his campaign with at least $100,000 in “loans” and another $93,000 or more in “in-kind” contributions, according to his campaign report filed with the Florida Division of Elections. He’s up for re-election next year and filed on April 25, almost a month before he recused himself from this Lago case.
Many political observers wonder if someone threatened to run a candidate against Perkins. A Hispanic candidate. This is not so shocking to anybody who knows anything about the history of judicial races in Miami-Dade. Las malas lenguas say old school political consultant Armando Gutierrez would threaten to run a candidate against you if you didn’t hire him to run your campaign.
This is the same thing: A threat against justice. In this case, it wouldn’t be about using political influence to affect an election. It would be about using political influence to affect a particular civil case.
Read related: Judge dismisses Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago’s defamation lawsuit
Perkins wasn’t necessarily a friendly judge to Lago. He already dismissed the case last August, finding that Lago’s claims were “legally insufficient.” Duh. A public figure cannot bring a defamation case against a journalist or radio station for discussion a very real and pertinent investigation about a statement made at a public meeting, no matter what the mayor wants to call it. The ruling was a response to Actualidad’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit based on the anti-SLAPP provision, which “prohibits lawsuits brought against individuals for exercising their right of free speech in connection with a public issue,” according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Lago’s attorneys baselessly claim that Actualidad’s 4-minute broadcast in February of 2023 was orchestrated by Coral Gables Commissioner Ariel Fernandez and former morning show host Roberto Rodriguez-Tejera to damage his reputation. Tellingly, neither of the two are named in the lawsuit. Because it’s simply an attempt to silence his critics, which include the presidents of the firefighters unions, the publisher of the Miami Herald and Ladra herself, all of whom have been subpoenaed to tell his attorneys who told us about the investigation.
Good luck with that.
There is no case because Lago is a public figure who answers to a constituency and, more importantly, there was, indeed, an investigation, or inquiry, or review into whether or not he knowingly misled the public when he dramatically signed an affidavit at a public meeting swearing that none of his immediate family had any personal or financial interests in Little Gables, which was being considered for annexation, by intentionally leaving “siblings” out of the definition of family. His brother, attorney Carlos Lago, was registered as a lobbyist at the time for the owner of the largest property in Little Gables, which is the trailer park.
The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust did get a complaint and did conduct an investigation, which they call a “matter under initial review,” but is handled the same way, according to the testimony of investigator Karl Ross, whose deposition was taken in March. The investigation basically ended after they found that Lago may have thought that he used the current definition, because it was changed at some point.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago may have conflict of interest in Little Gables
Whatever. If he used the definition of the time, then he took advantage of it because he never had to sign an affidavit in the first place. It was like he was protesting too much.
But when Perkins dismissed the case in August, he left room for Lago’s attorneys to amend the complaint, which they did. And so the lawsuit rages on. But the judge’s sudden exit may lead to some questions of concern. And maybe some opportunity for the Actualidad Radio attorneys.
The new judge who has been assigned the case is Circuit Court Judge Javier Enriquez, who once ran for State Rep. against Jose Javier Rodriguez, and lost, just like Alex Diaz de la Portilla did. He was appointed in 2023 by Gov. Ron DeSantis and sits on the family court bench in the domestic violence division. One can’t help but wonder if he’s been politically influenced.
At the very least, it’s going to take him some time to get up to speed on the case. As stated, there have been a lot of filings already. But there are subpoenas being served all the time now and the next deposition is scheduled for July. So Enriquez better bone up.
The post Judge in Vince Lago’s ‘defamation’ lawsuit suddenly recuses himself appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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In his recently-accelerated revenge tour, Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago is going after his perceived enemies. Like this was Cuba or Venezuela and he can just trample on everyone’s rights.
His baseless defamation lawsuit against Actualidad Radio — for a February, 2023, broadcast about a complaint to the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust — is just a witch hunt to find and harass as many of his critics as he can.
Lago says he wants to know just who complained about his lack of truthfulness to the ethics commission, which then launched an investigation into his possible violation of the truth in government provision because he signed an affidavit swearing nobody in his immediate family had financial interests in the Little Gables annexation into the City Beautiful, which was a lie because his brother was, at the time, listed as the lobbyist for the largest property owner in the unincorporated Miami-Dade enclave, which is the trailer park.
The mayor  just conveniently left the word “siblings” out of the affidavit. That’s not a coincidence. So the investigation sorta bloomed into that: Whether or not there was really a conflict of interest in his desperate push to annex Little Gables.
The complaint was technically a “matter under initial review,” but that’s an investigation, just using other words. This is the crux of Lago’s defamation lawsuit against Actualidad, filed in late 2023, ten months after the broadcast. Lago and his attorneys say it wasn’t technically an investigation and want to know who leaked the investigation, which wasn’t  an investigation, to the radio host, Roberto Rodriguez-Tejera, who then talked about it on his morning radio show.
Lago’s attorneys filed a motion to compel Ethics Commission Investigator Karl Ross to divulge the names of the “three concerned citizens” that made the complaint about the fake affidavit. They already very obviously have their suspicions. In the March deposition taken of Ross, Lago’s attorney asks him if he knows three people, and only these three people: Miami-Dade Firefighters Local 1403 President William “Billy” McAllister, Coral Gables firefighters union president David Perez, y esta que está aquí. But they spelled my name wrong. Phonetically, I guess.
Read related: Judge dismisses Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago’s defamation lawsuit
McAllister was subpoenaed and is scheduled to give his deposition July 2. Ladra, who has also been subpoenaed, can’t wait to read that one.
This is just a fishing expedition. Take note of the long list of perceived enemies on the subpoena to McClatchy. Lago’s attorneys want the publisher of the Miami Herald to produce any documents and communications involving ethics commission proceedings from January 2016 to December 2024 (that’s eight years!) that were copied to:

Democratic political consultant Christian Ulvert
Former or current staff members of the Miami-Dade County Mayor’s office
Former or current officials of AFSCME Local for City and County Employees
Former or current chairpersons of a political party
Former and/or current members of the Miami-Dade Commission, City of Miami Commission, and/or former and/or staff and/or personnel of those members
Former and/or current state prosecutors
Members and/or representatives of the Miami-Dade Fire Union
Members and/or representatives of the Coral Gables Fire Union
William “Billy” McAllister IV
David Perez
Former Miami Herald Writer Sarah Blaskey
Miami Herald super writer Jay Weaver

Furthermore, for the last three years, they want all documents and communications, including text messages and emails sent to or received by the Miami Herald that “discuss, refer to, insinuate, report, and/or allege that Vince Lago was engaged in a bad act, abuse of power, and/or ethical impropriety.” They are listed:

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The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust has dismissed two frivolous complaints against longtime Coral Gables activist Maria Cruz that were filed by proxies for Mayor Vince Lago — and most likely at his behest.
The first complaint was filed by his fundraiser, Brian Goldmeier, and the second by lobbyist Jorge Arrizurieta, who was Lago’s appointment to the city’s board of adjustments — until someone notified the administration that he had moved out of Coral Gables. The commission found no probable cause for the first complaint and no legal sufficiency for the second.
But there is no way that either of them didn’t file the complaint at Lago’s request or, at the very least, with his permission. They seem to be retaliation for last year’s unsuccessful mayoral recall that Cruz spearheaded. Attorney Ben Kuehne, who has represented Lago in separate matters, even went to the commission to argue on the complaint’s behalf.
“It obvious that they are trying to intimidate me,” Cruz, Lago’s loudest critic, told Political Cortadito.
To which Ladra says “Good luck with that!”
In the first complaint, Goldmeier — who recently moved to a home on Aledo Avenue– said Cruz “exploited” her official volunteer position on the city’s code enforcement board to intervene in a case, which she reported, about an orchid that he nailed to a tree in front of the house. She did write a series of emails to follow up and asked why he was issued a warning instead of a ticket. Goldmeier said he felt targeted because of his ties to Lago.
“Because it is known that I am a consultant for many elected officials in Miami-Dade County, some of whom Ms. Cruz does not support, I was concerned about her involvement in the complaint,” Goldmeier wrote in his complaint.
Read related: Mayor Vince Lago’s consultant files complaint vs Coral Gables recall activist
Cruz says she didn’t know it was Goldmeier’s house. Fat chance of that. She knows everything. But Goldmeier did wait six months to make the complaint, which was right after she started a recall against Mayor Lago that fell short by just 117 signatures. And that seems more retaliatory than a legitimate reporting of his orchid mauling.

The Ethics Commission did provide Cruz with a “letter of instruction” as to how to properly recuse herself. While she did recuse herself from vote at the code enforcement board in November, 2023 — where the violation was dismissed — she first went into a long explanation of how she became involved.
“In any such circumstance where recusal is advisable, it is important that the delineated three (3) steps of the recusal process be followed. First, publicly disclose the recusal and the nature of the conflict of interest,” the letter of instruction said. ” Second, leave the meeting while the matter is being discussed and voted upon. Third, file a written disclosure regarding the nature of the conflict with the City of Coral Gables City Clerk.”
In the second complaint, Arrizurieta accused Cruz of being an unregistered lobbyist. It was legally insufficient because it was a lie. Cruz was not a lobbyist because she is not paid to represent any entity. She represents herself and the interest of certain Gables residents. She might be a pain in the, er, neck to some politicos (read: Lago), but she ain’t a lobbyist by any measure. And Ladra suspects that both Arrizurieta and Lago, whose permission he must have sought to file the complaint, know this.
Read related: Coral Gables activist forms PAC to recall former friend, Mayor Vince Lago
Both the Miami-Dade code of ethics and the and the Gables ethics code “provide as an exemption to the definition of lobbyist to allow any person that appears for the purpose of self-representation without compensation of reimbursement, whether direct,
indirect, or contingent, to express support or opposition to any item.”
Nobody is paying Cruz. She is driven, but unpaid.
“The complaint fails to allege that Ms. Cruz worked on behalf of a principal, as is required for her to be considered a lobbyist under both the City and County lobbyist requirements,” the final order reads. “Additionally, if Ms. Cruz was not working on behalf of a principal, then it appears that she would be ‘lobbying’ on behalf of herself, which is exempted by provisions in both the City and County Code. Thus, Ms. Cruz would not be required to register as a lobbyist to speak with a member of the Coral Gables Board of Adjustment to express her opposition to a variance application.”
Ladra can’t help but wonder what their next complaint against Cruz will be. She should sue to recover any legal costs she may have incurred.
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The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust found probable cause that a civilian employee at the Miami Beach Police Department exploited his position and violated the outside employment sections of the county’s conflict of interest code.
Clifford Sparks, the former supervisor of the Crime Analysis Unit, was found to have used his position to facilitate an introduction between lifelong friend and business partner Richard Jerome, owner of Crime Suppression Technologies, and the police department “with the goal of developing a software program for MBPD’s record management system, creating a potential financial benefit for himself,” said a statement from the Ethics Commission last month.
A complaint was filed by the city of Miami Beach Inspector General Joseph Centorino and after a joint investigation with the COE, Sparks admitted to using his subordinates to test CST software during work hours and basically reporting to Jerome, not the chief, “devoting between 15-20 hours per week, including city work hours, in furtherance of CST’s software development,” the statement reads.
He not only worked on the project himself, he also ordered equipment on the city dime to test the project and ordered subordinate employees to test equipment related to that project while on city time.
Sparks also failed to file forms disclosing outside employment and the nature of work being done during two tax years, as required by the county’s Conflict of Interest Code.
For all of this, Sparks — whose last known salary at the city of Miami Beach was $106,000 a year — was fined $1,500 and given a “letter of instruction,” which basically says “don’t do it again.”
The whole investigation began in February when four female civilian employees of the crime analysis unit came to the city’s Office of the Inspector General to file complaints against Sparks, a former police officer who was their supervisor. They accused him of  sexual harassment and misuse of city resources in connection with private business activity.
Some called it his “get rich quick” scheme.

“During the initial and several subsequent meetings with the OIG, the complainants provided details on both matters, including personal observations and experiences, as well as documents such as texts, departmental purchase records, photographs and related material,” wrote Inspector General Joseph Centorino in his report.

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A county judge last week dismissed the defamation lawsuit filed by Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago against Actualidad Media Group for a Spanish-language morning radio broadcast where veteran journalist Roberto Rodriguez Tejera mentioned an investigation by the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust into the mayor’s lack of truthfulness regarding his conflict of interests in the annexation of Little Gables.

The ruling is important because it sends a clear message to Lago that he cannot silence his critics.

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A shortlist of seven will be interviewed next week

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