Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has a new political target in his crosshairs — the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center Association, the decades-old civic group that safeguards the land where the city’s youth center now stands. But it’s only because former Commissioner “Coach Kirk” Menendez, who had the guts to challenge him in the last election, is its president.
Just another stop on Lago’s political revenge tour. And bonus: Maybe the city gets to control the property.
The mayor began questioning the non-profit organization only shortly after he was re-elected in April, beating Menendez in the first round with 55% of the vote. Lago says the association has gone dormant, lost its nonprofit status and failed to meet regularly. But the Florida Division of Corporations shows that it files an annual report each year except for one: 2005. It was reinstated in 2006 and filed last year.
This is more than an extended political grudge, a new battlefield for the mayor to blast Menendez. This looks like a land grab.
Read related: Vince Lago, Rhonda Anderson handily coast to re-election in Coral Gables
That’s why Lago says the reverter clause — the language that gives control of the property back to the association if it is not used exclusively for a youth center — is a “cloud on the title” that needs to be lifted. Y, por supuesto, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara quickly agreed. That’s their role.
But nobody campaigned on this, which is their excuse du jour whenever they want to force something: They “know what voters want” because they just ran for office and won. But nobody remembers them saying they were going to take on the non-profit that safeguards the Youth Center. And it is hard to believe voters want this.
The beloved youth center is not just a bunch of fields and playground equipment and basketball courts. It is practically sacred ground. It is a community gathering place and an iconic piece of growing up in the Gables. There’s hardly anybody in the city who hasn’t been there for something — a workout, a baseball game, summer camp, a performance, a community civic meeting.
And Menendez is almost synonymous with it. He grew up playing soccer there, turned into a coach and has been a staple on those soccer fields for decades. More people know him as Coach Kirk than Commissioner Menendez.
The association was born out of the post–World War II “living memorial” for veterans. It deeded the land to the city in 1958, but not without the reverter clause that says the property would bounce back to them if the city ever tried to repurpose it. And for almost 70 years, the city has honored that. Well, except for that one time in the 1960s, when they wanted to tear down Coral Gables Elementary for an office building and rebuild the school on the Youth Center grounds. A court upheld the reverter clause and slapped commissioners back in line back then.
Now, Lago wants that language gone for whatever reason. And he’s placing a cloud on the organization.
“I want to see all its documents, and I’d like staff to come up with a plan of action to contact the board and ask for bank records,” Lago said in July, sounding more like an evil king who wants the association’s head on a platter. He asked City Attorney Cristina Suarez to dig through the association’s books, history and bank accounts. She is supposed to report back on Tuesday, but what she may report is that she hit a dead end.
Ladra confirmed that Suarez sent the non-profit a list of documents she wants to see, including tax filings, investments information, internal memos — but there is no indication that she got them.
“We’re a private entity,” Menendez told Political Cortadito. “Like the Coral Gables Community Foundation, Friends of Gables High, a floral shop.”
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago scores trifecta on post-election revenge tour
“Removing the protective reverter clause in the Youth Center deed would be like getting rid of the security guards and dismantling the security system of a bank because there hasn’t been a bank robbery there for years,” Menendez said.
Because, again, this is really about a land grab. That is why Lago said that “our cherished youth center should not have any cloud on title.” Remember, he’s also a real estate agent.
The real cloud is on Lago’s motives.
If the association were to dissolve or transfer the land, it could potentially make the property — 8.6 acres in a valuable, central location near the downtown — eligible for redevelopment, though the City has publicly stated it has no intention of repurposing the site. For now, anyway.
Lyin’ Lago swears there are no plans to redevelop the property. “The city will never, in my opinion, knock down and build housing there,” he mayor promised. Okay. But what about offices? A theater? Ladra’s heard enough about land deals in this town to know you never say never in Coral Gables.
And who stands to gain if the city got the property free and clear? That’s the multi-million dollar question.
Beyond real estate, a freed-up title could shift political leverage. If Menendez keeps control, he could maintain his influence in Coral Gables civic circles. Conversely, Lago’s push to clear the title may be aimed at cementing his control and undercutting Menendez’s foothold. This isn’t just about property—it’s a battle over legacy, governance, and civic authority. The reverter clause ties into who steers future programming, who decides the site’s purpose, and who has a stake in one of the city’s most visible public assets.
Menendez said that past generations knew what they were doing when they put the protections in place. And it looks like he is not going down without a fight. Last week, the Gazette reported, he made a presentation before the Rotary Club, a good audience for civic pride, nostalgia, and some rare photos — including a 1947 Life magazine cover. His presentation was even titled “The Youth Center, A Coral Gables Story.”
For now, the Youth Center is still open and bustling. Parents drop off kids for basketball, seniors play bingo, and nobody outside City Hall seems to think there’s a crisis. But with a ‘roid-rage-fueled political grudge and a juicy piece of Gables real estate at stake, you can bet this “cloud on title” is going to rain plenty more drama before the storm is over.

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The post Election fallout: Coral Gables Mayor Lago takes aim at Youth Center group appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Mayor Vince Lago couldn’t help but get some digs in
The house was packed, standing-room only at the investiture ceremony for Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and newly-elected Commissioner Richard Lara — Lago’s handpicked candidates to get back the majority vote — who won in this month’s biannual city election.
“It’s a great day in the city of Coral Gables,” Lago started, practically giddy. “Today, we bid farewell to the 2023-2025 city commission and welcome the 2025-2027 commissioners on board.”
The room erupted in applause when City Clerk Billy Urquia read the results of the election. He also said that the April 8 election was one of the highest in turnout and the runoff Tuesday was the highest ever in turnout in the city’s election history.
“That level of civic engagement does not happen by accident,” he said, thanking staff and the police department for helping to inform the public about the election and early voting. “I believe the turnout we saw was a direct result of their actions.”
Read related: Coral Gables electeds to be sworn in, will push for November elections
Before the electeds were sworn in, Father Richard Vigoa of St. Augustine, Lago’s own pastor, made the invocation, in which he repeatedly said the city needs to be a home for “the spirit of unity and collaboration.” In other words: reign in the toxicity.
“As a religious leader here in this community and someone who loves the community deeply I stand not only in prayer but in solidarity with Coral Gables to raise our voices in hope that respect, that decorum, integrity will define this dais,” Vigoa said. “This is the city beautiful. one of the most sought after places in the whole world to live and we are blessed to live in this city.
“That beauty is not only found in our Mediterranean architecture or our Banyan-lined streets. It’s found in the way we treat each other, in the tone of our civic dialogue and the character of those who are called to lead.”
Wonder if Father Vigoa knows about the anonymous trolls who post hate-filled comments and images on social media to defend his friend Vince. Someone should show him the save screens and tell him that Lago knows about then and tolerates or participates in it.
Among the well-wishers were a bunch of other electeds and former electeds, including Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Commissioners Raquel Regalado, Kionne McGhee and Roberto Gonzalez, former Coral Gables mayors Jim Cason, Don Slesnick, Dorothy Thomson and Raul Valdes-Fauli, former Gables commissioners Jorge Fors and Frank Quesada. Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor Alina Garcia and Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez were also there for a short spell.
They should also get pictures of the anonymous trolls’ posts.
Also there: Former City Manager Peter Iglesias, who the mayor had been telling everyone during the campaign the he would bring back.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago: All the wrong people in all the wrong places
But the event was also notable for others who weren’t there. No Manny Chamizo, a BFF who got a year’s probation for stalking a former client and sending horrible hateful texts messages? No Chelsea Granell, the mayor’s chief of staff of one, who wasn’t even thanked when Lago thanked a whole laundry list of people?
Maybe they went to the reception afterwards at Boucher.
At least former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, arrested in 2023 on charges of bribery and money laundering in Lago pay-for-play park giveaway, came to congratulate his friend. ADLP, who is also reportedly running for Miami mayor, was also there on both victory nights.
Lago was straight forward Friday and extremely transparent about how happy he was with the swearing-in of Lara, which he called “a moment I’ve been waiting for for two years.
“Two long years, I’ve been waiting for this moment,” he said again, for effect. It made his message of unity later sound hollow and fake.
Background: In 2023, Lago supported two commission candidates who lost to Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez. Within months, and likely due to his bitter and aggressive attitude toward them, then-Commissioner and swing vote Commissioner Kirk Menendez — who later challenged Lago in the mayor race and lost in the first round — went from being a swing vote to voting consistently with Castro and Fernandez. That’s when Lago lost the majority — and his cool.
U.S. District Court Judge Federico Moreno administered the oath to Lara, who had not voted in a Coral Gables election since 1999, Moreno, a neighbor of Lara’s, said he was a great trial lawyer. “He persevered always with that perennial simile that he has all the time, win or lose,” Moreno said. Lara nervously stumbled through his oath, but did smile almost the whole time.
“This moment is not about one individual. It’s about a community ready for a new chapter,” Lara said later, after he took a seat o the dais. “I chose to run because I believe the city needed a course correction. We needed to find a way back to something deeper than policies and plans, back to fellowship, unity and respect.”
He sounded a little self-righteous.
“I know how special this place is. But somewhere along the way, we lost that shared spirit. Today, in the midst of our centennial year, we have a rare, powerful opportunity to turn the page and recommit ourselves to building community. My priority as your commissioner is simple — to lead and to listen. We are elected not to impose our will, but to carry out yours, to reflect your concerns, your hopes, your vision for the city. I’m here to represent every voice and to help restore the public’s trust in how decisions are made and why they matter.
Read related: Vince Lago scores with Richard Lara’s Coral Gables commission runoff win
“This is a new day in Coral Gables. let’s be clear. We’re going to move forward, not as factions, but as neighbors,” Lara said. “Let us celebrate what makes this city beautiful, let us never forget what makes it truly great. It is our shared belief in community.”
Let us also hold him to those words. It would really be great if Lara turned out to be an independent voice and not just another Lago puppet, like Anderson.

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Barbara Areces swore Rhonda Anderson in, saying it was well deserved. “This victory is not just a reflection of votes, its a resounding affirmation of your unwavering dedication, your integrity and your deep, sincere interest in doing what is best for Coral Gables,” Aceres told Anderson.
Anderson said she was moved by the overwhelming,ing support. She won every precinct.
“It was a reaffirmation of shared values and common vision for the future of Coral Gables. Thank you for placing your trust in me once again,” she said, adding that she would start her second term with “gratitude and resolve” and the same energy for protecting green space, tree canopy and “our unique sense of scale
“Coral Gables is a city defined by its beauty, its history and its people. We are stewards of a legacy that demands that we balance progress with preservation, growth with greenery, and change with care.”
Ladra loves the alliteration.
“This election was not about promises. It was about priorities. And the message I heard loud and clear is that you want a city and government that listens and acts with transparency and that leads with integrity,” Anderson said, adding that she, too, wants to “work together” with the commission to take steps toward that. “Steps that include restoring public trust, respecting our residents’ voices and ensuring fiscal responsibility. Leadership is not just about making decisions, its about protecting our values.”
Maybe it’s just me, but that sounded like a dig.
But nobody grandstands better than L’Ego, who was also sworn in by Judge Moreno and then got up from his seat for a big bear hug with Lara before he sat down again. Is Lara the new Mike Mena?
First, he just had to read a letter he got from Sen. Ashley Moody, the former state attorney general, calling him a great leader and then he thanked his family, supporters and city employees, even the fire and police departments, whose unions supported Menendez. He also congratulated Anderson and Commissioner Lara, which he said, “has a very nice ring to it.”
Then he started going into a whiny tirade about how difficult this election was.
“This campaign was unlike any other I’ve ever experienced in my life,” said Lago, who is entering his third term as mayor and was a commissioner for two terms before that. “It was marked not just by challenges of communicating our message to all our residents across this great city, but by an unprecedented level of discord, personal attacks, falsehoods and intimidation orchestrated by my opponents and those [unintelligable] forces with whom they found common sense, or cause.”
Say, what? ¡Que descarado!
The negative personal attacks, falsehoods and intimidation came in texts were sent by his political action committee. The whisper campaigns and vulgar social media posts were orchestrated by his supporters. This is the kind of gaslighting that Lyin’ Lago is very good at. We’re going to see a lot more of it now that he has a majority vote on the commission.
“Yet, through this trying time,” he said again, as if it were another pandemic or something, “the spirit of our great city remained unbroken. the good people of Coral Gables, drawing upon that timeless wisdom that has guided Americans through every trial, distinguished truth from falsehood, and chose the path of progress over the political feud. In their wisdom they stood strong, saw through the noise and voted for a track record and vision rooted in civility, transparency and service. This victory, therefore, is not just mine. It belongs to each and every resident who believes in a respectful, fact-based discourse and a government that puts residents first, not just in words, but in actions.”
Wow. There he goes again. That’s a direct dig at the “residents first” motto used by Fernandez.
“While others continue to play politics, we have never stopped working for the people of Coral Gables,” Lago said. “And I won’t stop. This victory is not only a mandate — let me repeat that, a mandate — to continue the progress we’ve made, it is also a clear referendum on the last two years of disfunction, poor decisions and misplaced priorities by the commission majority.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has a terrible track record with public safety
“The residents of Coral Gables have spoken with one clear voice. They want a return to transparency, stability and leadership the puts people before politics. With that in mind, I’m committed to working with my colleagues, old and new, to restore trust, focus on solutions and move our city forward.
“I look forward to our very next meting, where we will gather to begin this important work, not as factions divided by yesterday’s campaign, but as neighbors united in tomorrow’s purpose. So we go forward today as a community not divided by political gamesmanship but united by a shared commitment to progress.
“I extend my hand to all my colleagues on the commission and invite them, to join me in truly and faithfully putting residents first,” Lago said. Then he snubbed Fernandez and wouldn’t shake his hand. That’s how he extends his hand?
But first he told the audience about the special meeting he called on May 6 to move elections to November, put a referendum on the ballot for an inspector general and repeal the “unethical 101% salary increases and car allowances,” which was met by wild applause and whooping. “I call upon each of my colleagues to join in this necessary act of good governance, for unanimity will send a clear message through City Hall that this body serves not itself, but the noble citizens who have entrusted us with their hopes and hard earned dollars.
“The time has come to rededicate ourselves to the position that government exists to serve the people, not the other way around.”
Ouch. How’s that for extending his hand to his colleagues.
Fernandez congratulated the mayor and welcomed Lara, who he said he met at Le Parc Cafe and always found to have a smile and a positive attitude. “I think that what residents saw as you campaigned. You and your wife knocked on thousands of doors.
“I welcome your sentiments of trying to find common ground and unity toward working toward what the residents have asked for,” said Fernandez, who lasts week offered an “olive branch” by immediately moving to put the mayor’s big issues — raises, moving the election, selecting the city manager —  on the next ballot. But the mayor wants to beat him to it with the special meeting.
Commissioner Fernandez also downplayed the friction between them. “There’s been a lot of talk about division and things that we disagree on, but the fact is, almost 92% of the time we have voted unanimously as a body, and that will continue moving forward,” he said.
“I look forward to working with all of you on the issues we agree on and working through the ones we disagree on and finding common ground, consensus that will benefit the residents of our great city.”
In a fairly mushy farewell speech, Menendez thanked his family, supporters and the employees of the city.
“To the residents of Coral Gables, you inspire me to be a better person every day; you always have. And for that and so much more, I’m forever grateful.” Menendez said. “I have been blessed to live 62 years, my entire life, in this great City. It’s the city that supported my mother and me when my father passed away back in 1973. It’s the city that gave me the opportunity to be Coach Kirk to thousands of kids for more than 3 decades. It’s the city that embraced my wife Maria Teresa and me as we raised our children Lydia and Kirky in our City Beautiful. And it’s the city that welcomed me as Commissioner Menendez in 2021.
“I mention these things to highlight the essence of what it means to be a part of this amazing community. The heart and soul of our community goes beyond the architecture, it goes beyond the decisions made on this dais and it goes beyond the political cycles that come and go like ocean waves rolling upon our shores. The heart and soul of Coral Gables are the people who give of themselves to make the lives of others better.
Read related: Vince Lago, Rhonda Anderson handily coast to re-election in Coral Gables
“It’s the volunteers at places like thenMerrick House that do their best to make others feel welcomed. It’s the men and women of organizations like the Rotary Club and the Garden Club that find the time to give back to enrich our community. It’s the teachers and coaches who help establish a foundation of goodness and hope in the lives of our children. It’s the brave men and women who sacrifice their lives everyday to make sure our families are safe, always.”
Menendez mentioned the death of Pope Francis last week. “He often went against the grain to make sure that everyone was welcomed and everyone was served. He led with humility and he specifically sought out those voices that desperately cried out for support and compassion.
“As the city moves forward into its next 100 years, let’s promise each other that we will always be a city of compassion, a city for all of the people and a city that will never turn its back on the lives and voices of its residents no matter how quiet their whispers or how humble their hearts.”
He ended his speech with a call for the community to unite.
And he got just a smattering of applause.
So much for “unity.”
The post Coral Gables electeds sworn in; pledge unity, stability after bitter divisions appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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It was over in Coral Gables in about 15 minutes.
After months of campaigning and negative attacks, it only took the first results that trickled in after the 7 p.m. closing of polls Tuesday to know that Mayor Vince Lago and Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson won re-election with comfortable margins their opponents would never bounce back from.
Lago, who is now on his third term, got more than 55% of the vote in the mayoral race next to Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who got almost 38%. Michael Anthony Abbott‘s nearly 7% of the vote wouldn’t have made a difference. Anderson did even better, with more than 58% of voters returning her to office over architect Felix Pardo, who got a little more than 37%, and Laureano Cancio, who got 4%.
Anderson’s strong support was the biggest surprise for many on Tuesday, seeing as how she had seemingly lost a lot of her base as far back as two years ago when she became what many call Lago’s luckiest lackey. Ladra is going to go out on a limb here and say that maybe people found Pardo to be a little pushy.
Did anybody notice that 52 more people voted in the mayor’s race than in the vice mayor’s race? What’s up with that?
The turnout for Tuesday’s city election was more than 29%, which is more than the 20% that participated in the 2023 election — where there was no mayoral race because Lago had no opponent — and more than the almost 29% that participated in 2021, where there were three contentious races, like now.
If the votes are a referendum on Lago and his administration, and many said this election would be, then the mayor may have just gotten a mandate. And if we thought he was an arrogant jerk before, he is really going to be insufferable now. Insoportable.
Read related: What transparency? 22 reasons NOT to vote for Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago
“The city has spoken, the residents have spoken. Your mayor is back,” Lago said in a short clip on the A Day In Miami podcast’s instagram account. His election night watch party was to be at Wolfe’s Wine Shoppe on Miracle Mile, and the video captures his friends and campaign workers high-fiving it and yucking it up in the background.
“Thank you for your support. Thank you for your trust in me. It’s an honor to serve you for the next two years,” Lago says.
So, what happened? Some people were shaking their heads Tuesday night, flabbergasted that the results would be so lopsided. They expected it to be closer. Ladra is among them. People were given hope by the outcome of the 2023 election, when the two underdogs funded and supported by Lago and his loyalists lost to Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez.
But those two seem to have benefited from the mayor’s absence on the ballot two years ago. And it was a wrong move by Menendez and Pardo to lean so heavily on the anti-Lago vote and the positive reaction they got when they were door-knocking.
Lago pulls. How else could anyone explain the 47% pole position enjoyed by Richard Lara, Lago’s handpicked candidate in the Group 3 race, going into the runoff with attorney Tom Wells, who was the anti-Lago candidate. Folks agree Lara is a lousy pocket vote candidate. Worse than Alex Bucelo, someone said.
If Lara wins, then Lago will have scored the trifecta (more on that next).
Also, Menendez could not get above the flood of messaging Lago paid for with a hefty campaign treasure chest. According to the latest campaign finance reports, tracking contributions and spending through April 3, Lago had nearly half a million in his campaign account (including a last minute $1,000 from former Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who is now a lobbyist for billboards). He also spent another half a million from his political action committee, Coral Gables First, since January of last year.
Read related: Fundraising for Coral Gables election slows, incumbents count on max gifts
And that $467,000 or so spent by the PAC is only through December. The next report, for the first quarter of 2025, is due later this week. Ladra is willing to bet it doubled.
The Lago campaign was organized and relentless. A drip, drip, drip that started more than a year ago and ended in a barrage that was not about how great a mayor he has been for the past four years, but rather how bad a choice Menendez would be after having voted for commission raises and the hasty firing and hiring of a city manager or two and against a tiny tax break and inspector general. The text messages, mailers, emails and social media posts were almost daily. Like a hammer.
And Menendez, while he blew those issues out of the water in live forum events and wherever he spoke, was not able to counter Lago’s messaging across to more voters. The former assistant Miami city attorney turned real estate agent raised a mere $41,000 in his campaign account. Lago likely spent more than that just on text messages. And how do you message against a “101% raise” headline anyway? It’s complicated.

Menendez also has a PAC, The Coral Gables Way, with zero funds raised as of the end of December and a report that is also due later this week. But Ladra suspects it will not be much. Because he could not amplify his message.
Tuesday evening, the one-term commissioner — he beat Bucelo then won a runoff against Javier Baños with 52% (a 358 vote margin) in 2021 — thanked his family and volunteers at a small gathering at Burger Bob’s, er, Birdie’s Bistro, “not just for being here, but for your friendship, your support, for being such an important part of my life.
“Tonight is not an end,” Menendez said. “It’s just a continuation of what we’ve all done, which is give back to our community, serve our community. It’s not about the politics, it’s about how we can make the lives of others better. And that’s why I ran. And that’s why I was a commissioner. And that’s why you all supported me in this campaign.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago camp uses Jesus image to hit Kirk Menendez
“As they say, God has a plan. And what that plan is, I’m sure will manifest itself sooner or later.”
Menendez said he would likely stay involved in the city as a non-elected.
“The result is not what I think any of us thought. We saw a path forward that we all wanted the city to go. I think that path is still there. It will always be there. And we don’t lose hope. We stay working together, making sure our voices are heard… for a better Coral Gables.
“Not a better Coral Gables for some, but a better Coral Gables for everyone.”
Certainly, Wednesday will see a better Coral Gables for Vince Lago and Rhonda Anderson.
The post Vince Lago, Rhonda Anderson handily coast to re-election in Coral Gables appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Incumbent Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago talks a lot about transparency, but the guy is anything but. He thinks that having open office hours for photo ops with foreign visitors and town halls attended mostly by city staff snd his lackeys means transparency. Or he thinks that Gables voters are stupid and will believe that’s being transparent.
From his personal life, to his business ties and official actions taken as an elected mayor, Lago has been secretive and deceitful.
Remember when he dramatically signed an affidavit at a public meeting swearing not to have any conflicts of interests through himself or any member of his immediate family with the annexation of Little Gables? Remember how the definition of immediate family, purportedly taken from the Miami-Dade Code of Ethics definition, did not mention siblings and step siblings and half siblings. That was not an innocent omission. The mayor’s brother, Carlos Lago, was at one time the registered lobbyist for the largest Little Gables property owner, which owns the trailer park and has plans for a major real estate project. A Moorish village.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago may have conflict of interest in Little Gables
That’s being the opposite of transparent. That is intentionally misleading or hiding the truth. He’s been misleading people ever since, saying that he was never investigated about owning property in Little Gables when nobody ever said he owned property there. He’s very crafty with words.
Let’s make that the first reason why not to vote to re-elect Vince Lago as the mayor in this election that ends Tuesday, April 8. As early voting is about to begin Saturday, here are some more:

He intentionally left the words “siblings” out of the affidavit he dramatically and publicly signed about conflicts of interest in Little Gables, trying to pull one over on voters.
Lago will not say that he won’t keep trying to annex Little Gables — despite the fact that 63% of Gables voters do not want to pay the $23 million cost just over the first five years — and, in fact, many suspect he still has that goal in his sights.
For years, Lago has often said that he only works for BDI Construction. But in a candidate forum recently, he said he was a “private business owner,” with “50 plus employees in my engineering and construction management firm.” Curious, Ladra searched the Florida Division of Corporation records for BDI Construction, where Lago says he is a partner with 33%. But he is not listed in the principals. It is owned by Carlos and Teobaldo Rossell III.
For years, Lago misled residents about police staffing. The police union, representing the officers, had to make public statements to correct his lies. The city is still more than 20 officers short. Recruitment and retention is a problem with lots of agencies. But Lago doesn’t have to lie about it. Thursday, the city manager sent his first email out to residents citywide providing them with his assurances that the police and fire departments couldn’t be stronger. It smells like a political campaign statement, which would be wholly inappropriate.
City Hall fell apart on his watch. He didn’t even want to hear about the safety issues when they did come up last year. Basically, Lago was forced out of the building. If it were up to Lago, the commission would still be meeting in chambers on the second floor of City Hall.
Lago nearly got into a fistfight with the former city manager, Amos Rojas. While a police investigation found that there was no real assault committed, because, allegedly, Rojas never really thought the mayor was capable of striking him, nobody says there wasn’t an argument that escalated and that Lago threw off his jacket, put up his dukes and called Rojas a coward. And nobody has said what the fight was about, but sources told Ladra it was because Lago wanted to go around the process to install a particular piece of art in a public place.
Steroids are bad for your health.
The mayor got part of a $640,000 commission in the 2023 sale of a Ponce De Leon Boulevard lot where real estate developer Rishi Kapoor — who was later investigated by the FBI after paying Lago pal and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez $170,000 in “consulting fees” while seeking development approvals there — planned to build a luxury high-rise, for which he likely needed zoning variances. The payment went to a brokerage firm owned by former Hialeah Councilman Oscar De La Rosa which listed only five real estate agents hanging their licenses there, including Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo, lobbyist Bill Riley (who was arrested with former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla on public corruption charges in 2023), Lago and his chief of staff at Coral Gables City Hall, Chelsea Granell.
Lago and his partners — including Baby X cousin Esteban Suarez — also rented a retail space, a former karate studio across the street from the Ponce development site, to Kapoor for about $12,500, according to sources cited by the Miami Herald. Kapoor rented the space shortly after Lago and his partners bought it in order to open a sales office for the luxury condo he wanted to build at 1505 Ponce de Leon and paid more than $152,000. But the space sat empty all the while.
Lago gave $5,000 from his political action committee to another PAC run by Alex Diaz de la Portilla in 2023, just six weeks before the latter was arrested on public corruption charges, bribery and money laundering, for a negotiated deal to give away a public park for more than $300,000 in cash and in-kind political campaign contributions. ADLP was at the mayor’s 2021 Victory Party, looking a bit disheveled.
While Lago complains about the salary increases that commissioners voted to give themselves, he also created a non-existing and completely unnecessary position of chief of staff for his aide, which elevates her multiple pay grades at once, for a current salary of more than $90,000, to oversee a staff of none, now that the part-timer has left after just a couple months.
Hypocrisy is relevant. It is further evidence that Lago is a political opportunist who sees every relationship as transactional and doesn’t understand anyone who might do anything just because it is the right thing.
The part timer only lasted a couple of months.
The mayor pushed for a “tax cut” that would have benefited developers and large property owners with huge savings while netting most homeowners less than $100 a year and would have almost certainly led to service cuts.
Lago condones (or directs) the trolls on social media that attack the three commissioners he disagrees with (and yours truly, and Billy Corben, and The Miami Herald), using body shaming and discriminatory comments and arguably sexually harassing Commissioner Melissa Castro. He knows about these trolls, one of whom was already proven to be his friend, Manny Chamizo, who is a waterfront committee board member and just got probation on a criminal stalking case (more on that later). These hate speech cyber threats have been reported to Coral Gables Police and brought to his attention on several occasions. Ladra herself has texted him and sent him screenshots of the cruelly insulting and defamatory remarks to be met by crickets. He’s either tolerant of these kind of baseless, dehumanizing attacks or complicit. It’s hard to believe that his friends would be doing this without his permission.
He has friends like Manny Chamizo and Alex Diaz de la Portilla. Dime con quien andas…
He lied, or at least stretched the truth, about the alleged FP Journe clock that he so dramatically installed on Miracle Mile — remember he wanted to do it on September 11 — which seems like a knock off. He said it was a $100,000 clock being donated to the city, and he would pay the installation himself (receipts?). But according to emails to the city from employees at Electric Time Company in Massachusetts, they built the clock, stuck an FP Journe sticker on it, and it would cost $23,000 to replace. Not $100,o00. FP Journe letter lago clock
He wanted to unveil the Miracle Mile clock on Sept. 11, saying it was “not a national holiday.”
Lago’s petition to put three charter amendments on the ballot failed so miserably, having thousands of signed petitions rejected as invalid (more on that later). Was it fraud or just carelessness?
The mayor, or rather his proxies, have weaponized the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, making complaints against his political enemies. Two complaints were filed against activist Maria Cruz, who spearheaded the unsuccessful recall effort against Lago, were dismissed in recent months. The first was filed by Lago’s campaign fundraiser, Brian Goldmeier, who accused Cruz of targeting his home on a code enforcement violation, and the second by lobbyist Jorge Arrizurieta, Lago’s appointment to the city’s board of adjustments — until someone notified the administration that he had moved out of Coral Gables — who said that Cruz acted as a lobbyist without registering. The ethics commission found no probable cause for the first complaint and no legal sufficiency for the second, because it was an obvious lie. There was no legal sufficiency, either, for three complaints filed last November by Gonzalo Sanabria, one of his most loyal lackeys, against Commissioners Melissa Castro, Ariel Fernandez and Kirk Menendez “alleging unspecified” of the ethics code and city’s hiring practices in hiring of former City Manage Amos Rojas. Sanabria said it was a violation of the city’s hiring procedures and the item was not on the agenda for the Feb. 27 meeting. But it was on the agenda. Also, why did Sanabria wait more than eight months to make the complaint in November? There’s no way these complaints were not made with, at the very least, Lago’s permission, or, at the very most, his direct orders.
Lago has threatened to sue Ladra for defamation and libel for reporting the truth, while he knowingly falsely claims in both public commission meetings and on public podcasts and other media programs that she is pay-to-play. He also filed a meritless, frivolous lawsuit against Actualidad Radio. He just wants to silence his critics.
Instead of saying what every p0litician knows is the right thing to say — “I condemn these acts… blah blah blah…” — Lago accused Commissioner Fernandez of a “campaign stunt” when the latter blasted what he called recent security threats against his family and the other two commissioners. There are police reports about these incidents — which culminated Tuesday when police stopped a private investigator who had been hired to follow Fernandez. By who? We don’t know.

Ladra is sure she could come up with more reasons. This list started with 12 then went to 17 and there are things I’m leaving out because they don’t live up to the others or they are unconfirmed and I ran out of time.
But readers are invited to please feel free to add their own reasons in the comments below.
Maria Cruz, you will be cut off after three comments so think about it!
The post What transparency? 22 reasons NOT to vote for Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Almost one week before the end of the Coral Gables city elections for mayor and two commissioners April 8, and each of the races is looking more like a tight, nail-biting contest that could go either way. The smart money is on runoffs for all three.
Even if fat chance mayoral candidate Michael Abbott, who is suing the city and claims the police violated his rights, only gets 5% of the vote — the people who don’t like incumbent Mayor Vince Lago or just want a change and think that Commissioner Kirk Menendez is not serious enough, so there’s an alternative — there could be a runoff. Some observers who spoke to Ladra say that Menendez — who performed well at the Gables Good Government forum, but was not smart enough to record it — isn’t campaigning hard enough. That he’s counting on the anti-Lago vote to get him over the top. That might not be enough.
He’s killing it at public appearances, by all accounts, but needs to get his message out to more voters.
Meanwhile, “muscle headed” Lago — that’s a term a voter actually used — is “angry all the time,” and boring people with his same ol’, same ol’ schtick about the salaries and the city managers and moving the election to November, blah, blah, blah. These are the three things on which he has failed to lead, frankly. Even his petition drive failed miserably, with thousands of invalid signatures (more on that later). This is his agenda, not the people’s. But no matter what the question is, Lago pivots to one of these things because they are campaign red meat and because it distracts from his arrogant, demeaning behavior, conflicts of interest and public temper tantrums.
Menendez has been direct and far more factual about the salaries, which were raised for the first time in decades to $65,000. Lago didn’t get to hear when Menendez explained it at the GGG event because the mayor left right after he spoke. Maybe Lago’s campaign manager, Jesse Manzano — hanging out in the back of the room “like a stalker” — told him about it afterwards.
Everyone who spoke with Ladra agrees that Lago must have taken a Xanax, or he was given one or two by his handlers, because of how calm and even-headed he was, given several opportunities to fly off his sensitive handle. “It was surreal, unsettling knowing how amped up he’s been,” a voter said.
It’s incredibly sad that nobody recorded it for so many reasons.
Also, none of the 118 people on the Zoom meet-and-greet last week hosted by the Coral Gables Neighbors Association with their chosen candidates asked about the salaries or the changes of city managers. Not one. Because who cares?

The CGNA has endorsed, along with Menendez: Tom Wells, who is running in the commission race to fill Kirk’s seat, and architect Felix Pardo, who is running against Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, a Lago loyalist who has lost her anti-development base and must count on the Lago vote to win her first re-election. Good luck with that.
In Anderson’s Group 2 race, Laureano Cancio is also running, so he’s the reason there could be a runoff, but he won’t be in it. Not because he’s not a good guy with good ideas. He is. He just doesn’t have the community presence of the other two.
Pardo and Menendez also have the the endorsement from the fire union and the police union. While Wells is getting help from the Coral Gables Democratic Club against Richard Lara, the Republican mayor’s handpicked Seguro Que Yes vote, and FreeBee transit lobbyist Claudia Miro — officially vice president of business development –who once worked with former Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff. Miro has already lost one commission race, to Anderson in 2021.
Interestingly, her campaign manager is Tania Cruz Gimenez, who also ran in that same 2021 race and last year helped newly-elected Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz win that historic race. Wells is being helped by the Coral Gables Democratic Club. Members had volunteered to canvass for Wells in North Gables Sunday afternoon.
Ladra suspects that Miro, who has the Miami Herald endorsement, is going to be in the runoff, the question is with who.
So, it’s very possible that the April 8 election is just practice for the real thing, which would then be April 22. But the first round of early voting is from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, this weekend.
The post Each Coral Gables race in the April 8 election could end up in a runoff appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Bringing political campaigns to an all new low — or is it a new high? — a Coral Gables supporter or supporters of Mayor Vince Lago posted a photo on social media earlier this month that morphed the face of Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who is running against the incumbent for mayor, with an image of Jesus Christ.
The message beneath the post by Aesop Gables, a known surrogate for Lago: “Whoever has the Kirk, has life; whoever does not have the Kirk does not have life.” It cites the book of George. Merrick?
Was this mocking Menendez’s strong faith and longtime active involvement in the church? How does this help the Lago campaign? Is the incumbent mayor appealing to people who hate Christ?
Whatever the message was, it has backfired some. Las viejitas in Coral Gables (read: senior voters) are clutching their pearls. The shocked reaction forced the Lago campaign — not Lago, but the campaign — to issue a statement denying association to the image. But it seemed really like a self-promotional plug. Not an apology or even a disassociation.

“The Vince Lago campaign strongly condemns the use of religious imagery for political attacks,” his handlers posted on social media. “Mayor Vince Lago is a proud Catholic, as is his family. His faith is personal, not political. His daughters attend Catholic School, and like many in our community, he believes faith should unite, and not divide.
“Let’s keep this campaign about the issues that matter to our residents,” the post read, listing the issues that really don’t matter to many or maybe most residents, “… not cheap shots and religious attacks.”
All he had to do was make a phone call. Because the one who made the cheap religious attack was Aesop Gables, a blogger long known to be a strong Lago supporter and surrogate. It would be insane to think that Aesop posted that image of the Kirk Christ without Lago’s permission or, at the very least, knowledge.
The post Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago camp uses Jesus image to hit Kirk Menendez appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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