Rollback of commission salary increases also coming
What happened in Coral Gables Tuesday has been described by some as a “red wave.” While the biannual city election is officially non partisan, it has increasingly become so in nature and some have openly feared what they call the “MAGAfication” of the City Beautiful.
Mayor Vince Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, and newly-elected Commissioner Richard Lara — who will all be sworn in on Friday — each ran their campaigns on issues that matter to Republicans, namely lowering taxes and reigning in government spending. They also promised to move the elections to November, which will certainly make the elections even more partisan.
There are already the anonymous, venomous online trolls and the frivolous defamation lawsuits, and threats, like in MAGA.
The first thing this new crew might try to do is roll back the salary increases that the commissioners gave themselves in 2023, less than five months after two new commissioners were elected earlier that year. It was a campaign promise hammered by both Lago and Lara. It’s been a thorn in the mayor’s side. All they need is a 3-2 vote, which they have now.
Some people think that they won’t roll the salaries back, that because Lago and Anderson got the raise, too — and won’t tell anyone what “charity” they donated it to — they won’t give it up so easy now. But that’s gonna be awkward after everything they said during the campaign.
Read related: Vince Lago scores with Richard Lara’s Coral Gables commission runoff win
Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez better start making the necessary budget cuts in their personal finances. Get new cars. Or find side jobs, like Lago has.
The new majority will also likely, and rather quickly, push to move the elections from April to November. They can either move it themselves — because the charter doesn’t seem to be clear on that — or vote to put it on the ballot. If they are truly for “accountability and transparency,” as they claim, they will do the latter .
Fernandez said his concern with the November election is that it will make the local races even more partisan. “It takes away the focus of the local issues,” he told Political Cortadito.
But Lara said moving the elections to November was among his priorities in an email sent Wednesday morning, thanking voters for their support and pledging to deliver on the promises he made during the campaign.
“I’m proud to share that — thanks to you — we won,” Lara wrote. “With the highest run-off election turnout in over five years, Coral Gables residents sent a clear message: we are ready for civility, for accountability, and for a commission that puts residents first.
“This victory is not just mine — it belongs to all of us who believe in honest leadership and a better future for our City Beautiful.”
He said that his mandate is to roll back the salary increases, move elections to November, and put tax dollars back into the community — all Lago issues that were key to his election.
Tom Wells, who lost the runoff with 45% of the vote Tuesday, send his own email thanking supporters and saying that the city can do other things to generate more voter participation, before they consider moving the election a November ballot. The trolleys could add a stop at the library during early voting days (why doesn’t it stop at the library all the time?), and there could be electronic signage to announce voting dates. Wells, who got campaign support from the Coral Gables Democratic Club, also says candidates should be allowed to purchase booths at the Farmers Market events and have city-sponsored forums for residents to meet the candidates.
“I would like the City to encourage voter engagement for April elections before bundling our local election with so many other elections in November like the City of Miami,” Wells said. “Coral Gables is so important that we deserve to be the only issue on the ballot as we have done for the last 100 years.”
Lara also said in his email that he would fight overdevelopment, “restore transparency and public trust,”  “end dysfunction and chaos at City Hall,” and focus on “real results, not political theater.”
For those things, Ladra suggests he talk to his buddy, Vince.
Read related: Coral Gables commission considers moving elections to November
Lago is going to be setting up his priorities now that he has a clear path for his agenda with the majority on the vote. But that means he is also going to be under additional pressure, said Fernandez, who came into office as part of a minority and says that more than 90% of the commission votes are unanimous, anyway.
“Now, he’s in the driver’s seat, so he can’t blame somebody else for issues,” Fernandez said. “He’s got to deliver results.”
The induction ceremony begins at 11:30 a.m. Friday in the community meeting room of the Coral Gables Police and Fire Headquarters, 2151 Salzedo St. There will be a reception immediately after at the Bachour Coral Gables Courtyard. Ladra is not sure if it is open to the public. City spokeswoman Martha Pantin did not get back to Political Cortadito with the answer Wednesday, which was the deadline to RSVP anyway.
The first meeting of the new Coral Gables commission will be on May 20.
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Congresswoman Frederica Wilson will be the first member of Congress to get a tour of the Krome Detention Center in West Miami-Dade after reports of overcrowded, dangerous, unsanitary and inhumane conditions in the wake of the mass immigrant detentions and deportations by the new Donald Trump administration.
Wilson sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem earlier this month asking for access and a walk through. Her office announced Wednesday that she would get an hour inside on Thursday afternoon. She will be available for the press afterwards, around 2 p.m. So will representatives from Americans for Immigration Justice, which has joined the ACLU Florida on the federal lawsuit to challenge a Florida law that authorizes state and local authorities to jail people solely on immigration status, “powers the Constitution reserves exclusively to the federal government.”6
The congresswoman, who represents Florida’s 24th district — which includes Little Haiti, Biscayne Park, Miami Gardens, North Miami, Opa-Locka and the southern part of Broward County — has received letters and phone calls from constituents who have relatives in the detention center, said Alvaro Perpuly, Wilson’s press secretary. Or who were in the detention center. One such detainee has already been moved elsewhere, so Wilson won’t be able to check on him, Perpuly said.
Read related: Cuban American congress members stay silent on TPS, immigrant detention
“She’s trying to set up individual meetings, but it’s kind of hard to know who’s really there because they keep moving people around,” Perpuly told Political Cortadito.
The visit was not coordinated through Noem, but rather the detention center facility itself, Perpuly said. “By law, they cannot prevent a member of Congress from entering. They have more leeway with other electeds on the state and local level.”
That might be why Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has not received an answer to her own request on April 3 for a tour. A staffer said she had been invited by the congresswoman. “ICE informed her office that per their protocol, the mayor would need to schedule a separate time to tour the facility, which we hope to coordinate as swiftly as possible,” said Deputy Chief of Staff Rachel Johnson.
But what is stopping Congressman Carlos Gimenez, Mario Diaz-Balart or Maria Elvira Salazar from checking the place out themselves? The three Cuban-American legislators have come under fire for their silence in the face of the community’s fear and uncertainty. There have been billboards and video ads to blast them for their complicity.
Even a full page ad “open letter” from healthcare mogul and habitual campaign donor Mike Fernandez didn’t seem to move the dial.
Calls to Gimenez representatives at his district and Washington offices were not returned.
Detainees are seen sleeping on the floor next to each other or in chairs in a viral video that was taken, obviously under cover, by a Mexican detainee near tears and provided to NBC6 Miami. Some detainees have had to sleep outside. They have reportedly not been allowed to communicate with loved ones or legal representation regularly. Some family members of detainees say they are not given enough food or even water. In February, a Ukranian immigrant died at a nearby hospital after getting sick at Krome.
Read related: Video blasts U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez for silence on ending TPS, deportations
“The increase in detainees being sent to the Krome Processing Center has caused conditions to deteriorate, creating an unsafe and inhumane detention environment,” Levine Cava wrote in the letter to Noem. “Allegations of substandard conditions include inadequate access to water and food, unsanitary confinement, medical neglect and abuse such as prolonged shackling.”
Wilson, who will be going with members of her team, knows that she may not see those things.
“She’s very aware they’re going to clean up a bit and make it look nicer,” Perpuly said.
“She wants to see where the detainees are actually being held, talk to some of the folks there, see if there are any women there, and just generally see what’s going on.”
Stay tuned. Political Cortadito will follow up on Thursday.
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Magnum Brickell, Quail Roost Station add 600+ units
As the White House considers major cuts to federal housing programs, like Section 8, for next year’s budget, according to the New York Times, Miami-Dade is making strides in providing more affordable units through transit-oriented developments.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Commissioner Kionne McGhee will celebrate the grand opening Thursday of the first phase of Quail Roost Station, a 200-unit development that brings affordable housing for seniors to Cutler Bay (in the featured photo above).
Next week, the same duo will preside over the groundbreaking of the new and improved Homestead Gardens Phase I, the first part of a new affordable housing community being developed through the conversion of an existing aging affordable complex that was built in Homestead in 1977.
This comes on the heels last week of the opening of Magnus Brickell, touted as the largest single-phase mixed-income venture in the county — at least so far. The 465-residences are available for rent at blended affordable housing, workforce housing and market-rate housing rates, and is a public-private partnership between Related Urban, the county’s housing and community development department and Miami-Dade Public Schools.
And last month, developers broke ground on the 47-acre Upland Park, a transit-oriented, mixed use project that is expected to transform the Dolphin Park-and-Ride terminal into a major multimodal transit hub. It will have more than 2,000 mid-rise and garden-style apartments, 282,000 square feet of retail and 414,000 square feet of commercial space near Doral.
“Upland Park is a prime example of how we are continuing to build a better community for all and a future-ready Miami-Dade County,” Levine Cava said last month. “Located alongside the 836 Expressway, which features a dedicated bus lane, this development will provide residents with seamless and efficient transit options, further integrating smart mobility solutions into our growing region.”
Read related: Doral seeks input on update to city transit plan, expanded trolley service
There are at least three more transit-oriented projects in the pipeline including Meridian Point at Goulds Station, which broke ground in January and will be funded with $2.6 million in surtax funds. The development offers 113 apartments in two, buildings — a seven-story, 80-unit building and a three-story 33-unit “garden building” — for families with incomes ranging from 30% to 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Sixty-eight units are reserved for families currently residing at the nearby Cutler Manor Apartments, which is slated for redevelopment into a mixed-income affordable community.
“These developments provide public transportation connections to employment centers, schools, arts and culture, and healthcare, making it easier for residents to access essential services and opportunities,” Levine Cava has said.
In Downtown Miami
Located in the heart of Brickell, the Magnus project, at 201 SW 10th St., is unique for workforce housing in that it features top-tier amenities such as an expansive sun deck, resort-style swimming pool, state-of-the-art fitness center, pet-friendly spaces, a podcast studio, Wi-Fi-enabled co-working spaces, and panoramic views of the iconic Brickell skyline.
All for rents starting at under $300 a month!
That’s the starting rate for some, depending on resident income, of the 93 affordable or low-income housing units that were built under the Rental Assistance Demonstration program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Claudia Gonzalez, a spokesperson for Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, who attended the opening. “In RAD, units move to a Section 8 platform with a long-term contract that, by law, must be renewed in perpetuity,” the HUD website says. “A Use Agreement is also recorded under RAD further enforcing HUD’s long-term interest. This ensures that the units remain permanently affordable to low-income households.”
The building also has 70 workforce housing units for folks making 120% Area Medium Income (AMI) and below — so maximum salary for residents is $95,400 for one person — which seems like a lot — and $108,960 combined for two people, which sounds much more “workforce” to Ladra than $95K for one. The AMI is set yearly by US HUD and is currently at $79,400 in Miami-Dade.
Rents are listed between $2,783 and $4,720 on the realtor.com website. The marketplace rates are what allows such quality affordable housing, officials say.
“This project is about creating homes for families who need them the most,” Commissioner Higgins said in a statement. “With 93 units for very low-income residents and 70 for workforce families, we are taking a big step toward ensuring that everyone in our community, regardless of income, has access to a place they can truly call home.
“Located just steps away from transit options, Magnus Brickell connects residents to better job opportunities, healthcare, and schools. And with a new K-8 school right next door, it’s the perfect place for children and families to thrive,” said Higgins, who is running (maybe) for Miami mayor. “This is what progress looks like, and I’m excited for what’s to come.”
Read related: Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins could join Miami Mayor’s race
She was a little too effusive of the developers: “We extend our heartfelt thanks to Related Group for being exceptional partners in this endeavor,” Higgins said in her statement. “Their dedication to getting things done is inspiring, and we look forward to continuing our work together on future projects that will further address our County’s housing needs.”
In South Miami-Dade
Quail Roost Station is a six-phase redevelopment plan alongside the Bus Rapid Transit busway parallel to U.S. 1. Approved by the county commission WHEN, it is supposed to be an example transit oriented development for seniors. It is connected via a covered walkway to the brand-new BRT station on Southwest 184th Street, one of the new 14 BRT stations along the South Dade TransitWay, where service is scheduled to start this summer. Phase one is done and phase two broke ground in August 2024 with expected completion by end of this year.
Located on approximately 2.3 or 8.5 acres on SW 184th Street, just west of U.S. 1, Quail Roost Station, at 18505 Homestead Ave., will eventually provide 200 units for seniors and their families. According to a Miami-Dade County press release, there will be 33 studios, 132 one-bedrooms, 23 two-bedrooms, 8 three-bedrooms, 3 four-bedrooms, and 1 five-bedroom apartments. The property features a community room, business center, fitness center, and on-site laundry facilities.
There may also be adult literacy classes, employment assistance, and financial management program classes will also be offered to residents on site.
All affordable housing units are set at 22% to 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). That means that rental prices, today, would range from $737 – $2,065.
Studies have consistently shown that residents of affordable and workforce housing use public transit at a higher rate than the general population.
“With this transit-oriented community, we are not just building a structure, we’re building a future that honors our older adults,” Levine Cava said in a statement when the county broke ground last August. “Quail Roost Station will stand as a testament to our commitment to creating spaces where older adults can thrive, and where accessibility, connection, and care come together.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Commissioner Kionne McGhee at last year’s groundbreaking for Quail Roost Station.
“This is more than just a development. It’s a promise to support and enrich the lives of those who have laid the foundation for our community,” Levine Cava said.
McGhee, who was not an early fan of BRT, could not be reached for comment.
Read related: Kionne McGhee pulls the brakes on Miami-Dade BRT for South corridor
Miami-based Atlantic Pacific Communities has a deal to lease the site from, the county, which in 2020 approved $5 million in monies from the Documentary Stamp Surtax Program, named for the stamp of approval applied to local property transfers.
“Quail Roost Station is another signal that transit-oriented communities, which are also affordable communities, are on the rise and very much needed,” said Kenneth Naylor, president of development for Atlantic Pacific Communities, in a statement.
In the city of Homestead
Homestead Gardens Phase I apartments will consist of 162 residences at 1542 SW 4th Street, where the old Homestead Gardens (or Gardens of Homestead)  is now. Half the units are under the RAD program, which replaces existing public housing units one-for-one with Section 8 “project-based voucher units meant for returning public housing residents and qualifying residents with incomes of 30% and 50% of the AMI in Miami-Dade County. The other half will be affordable and mixed-income housing units.
This residential community, expected to open by the end of 2026, will be built with sustainable materials and systems and will be green certified. Amenities will include a community room for residents — which will have a heating kitchen — a gym, bicycle storage room, outdoor playground and community gardens. All apartments will include central air conditioning systems and washer and dryers.
What? No podcast studio?
This project is the first of three phases that Miami-Dade County and DBC Procida are working on to redevelop the 150 units of Miami-Dade County managed affordable public housing located at the existing Homestead Gardens campus. These photos show the old, outdated complex and the new, modern one.

Homestead Gardens got $2 million from county surtax funding and $2 million from the county HOME program funds. The project also includes Low-Income Housing Tax Credit equity sourced through National Equity Fund, a construction loan from Bank of America, and Freddie Mac permanent financing through Greystone.
Elsewhere in Miami-Dade
Platform 3750 is at 3750 South Dixie Highway, on 2.1 acres leased from the county near the Douglas Road Metrorail Station. Developed by Hollywood-based Cornerstone Group and its partners, it has 113 market rate and 78 affordable apartments, 222,950 square feet of retail space, and 27,500 square feet of office space. It is eight stories tall and includes a pedestrian bridge to the Metrorail station. Amenities also include a rooftop pool and an interior drop off area, an on-site Aldi and an on-site Starbuck’s. Commissioners approved giving that project $6.5 million from the county’s surtax dollars.
District 7 has added 850 affordable housing units to the inventory in the last four years, said Commissioner Raquel Regalado. Another 800 or so have been or are being rehabilitated. “We all know that it’s getting more difficult of rising land costs, rising labor costs and construction materials,” Regalado said. “But ensuring families have access to safe, stable, and affordable homes is key to strengthening our community.”

Metro Grande III Apartments, located at 2005 West Okeechobee Road, near the Okeechobee Metrorail Station in Hialeah, has 202 senior housing units, 84 workforce housing units and 3,189 square feet of retail. Cornerstone Group also leased this property from the county, which committed $2 million from the surtax monies to fund it. Miami-Dade has wanted to turn this 1.5 acres into housing for more than two decades.
These projects not only address the housing crisis in Miami-Dade, officials say, they are also offering commercial and community space that address the needs of the area’s residents.

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Loyal readers of Political Cortadito have come to expect our “winners and losers” post in the wake of every local election, highlighting those people and entities who scored or got hammered, other than the candidates.
After the April 8 re-election in Coral Gables of Mayor Vince Lago and Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, there were already some obvious winners and losers. But it was only safe to wait until after the runoff, where Lago got his handpicked candidate, Richard Lara, over the finish line, to be sure. And thorough.
Read related: Vince Lago scores with Richard Lara’s Coral Gables commission runoff win
So, without any further blah, blah, blah, the winners and losers from this year’s biannual Coral Gables election are:
WINNERS

Jesse Manzano and Brian Goldmeier, Lago’s campaign manager and professional fundraiser. These two have another notch on their belt and a fatter bank account to show for it. Manzano overcame some heavy negatives with consistent messaging about how bad Commissioner Kirk Menendez would be because of the decisions he’s made in the past (raises, city managers, November vote, etc.). It was brilliant. Evil, but brilliant. Goldmeier is just richer.
The sick anonymous trolls who like to attack on Lago’s behalf with vulgar language and inappropriate images on social media. They have been having a field day.
Developers, real estate investors and construction industry people who donated to the Lago and Lara campaigns like it was buying precious eggs, and now stand to benefit from a consolidated 3-2 vote that seems development friendly.
Chelsea Granell, the mayor’s chief of staff of none, who gets to keep her job and her $91,165 annual salary plus benefits.
Former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, a Lago supporter, who is likely to tell people that he was the one who got the mayor and his slate elected. Some may have heard he had breakfast recently with Manzano, so they’ll believe it.

LOSERS

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Newly-elected Coral Gables Commissioner Richard Lara, who won a runoff Tuesday against attorney Tom Wells, isn’t the only one who is celebrating his victory. Mayor Vince Lago, who handpicked Lara and supported him throughout, wins back his majority on the city commission — meaning that he’ll get to move his agenda forward.
It also means there is going to be hell to pay for anyone who opposed him.
Lara beat Wells with a solid 10-point lead, just over 55% of the vote, an 847-vote difference, according to the Miami-Dade Elections Department’s published results. The general counsel for Spanish Broadcasting Systems led in all three categories — absentee or vote-by-mail ballots, early voting and Election Day, although the last was a smaller gap (less than 100 votes).

We have to wonder if one of those votes was his own, seeing as how Lara hadn’t voted in the Gables city elections since 1999 before this year.
Turnout was a little more than 23%, which is lower than Election Day’s 29% but higher than some expected for a runoff after Easter Sunday.
Read related: Coral Gables mayor’s power hinges on runoff — Richard Lara vs Tom Wells
Lara was always the favorite after coming in with 47% in the first round April 8. Wells got 39% and lobbyist Claudia Miro, who later endorsed Lara, came in with 13%, which forced the runoff. Lago also won solidly April 8 and so did Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, who also endorsed Lara.
Wells got the endorsement of The Miami Herald, which did him as good as it did Claudia Miro in the first round, and the Coral Gables Neighborhood Association, which did him as good as it did Felix Pardo, who lost against Anderson, and Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who lost against Lago.
This last victory Tuesday will change the dynamics on the commission, giving Lago the third vote he needs to get whatever he wants done. The mayor had been on the losing side of several 3-2 votes since shortly after the 2023 victories of commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez, who might have been crying Tuesday night, who were elected against Lago’s wishes and money. The mayor’s behavior towards the two newbies pushed Menendez a former Lago ally who lost his mayoral bid earlier this month, to quickly become a swing vote for them and against Lago.
Lara was always intended to restore Lago’s third vote. He announced his run for office during public comments at a commission meeting in February of last year, way before Menendez moved to the mayoral race. In fact, las malas lenguas say he switched because a poll showed Lara was a threat to Menendez on the salary and city manager issues, which were both Lago’s and Lara’s platform. Kirk decided he could do better against Lago, who certainly has his share of detractors and he could draw on that.
Meanwhile, Lara was an unknown. But he had many of the mayor’s same supporters flood his campaign account with almost $272,000, including $103,000 in just eight days after the first round — and Lago’s political action committee, Coral Gables First, which sent text messages and mailers to voters. Lara had more of everything — more mailers, more phone banking, more people knocking on doors.
Read related: Coral Gables election choice is a Vince Lago yes vote or an independent voice
That’s iffy right there. For a mayor to be so invested in a commission candidate’s victory. Lago is not only going to be insoportable, he’s also going to be unstoppable. Look for things like the mobility hub and the annexation of Little Gables to rear their ugly heads again. Maybe not immediately, but eventually.
Wells self funded his campaign, to the tune of about $19,000, and just did not have enough to counter the hammering he got from Lago, er, Lara (read: both), which included 11th hour whisper campaigns about Wells traveling to a golf tournament in Georgia (he didn’t) and some backroom deal to hire Menendez as the city a manager (laughable).
Wells emailed Lara a concession message late Tuesday, after the results were in.
“Congratulations on winning the Coral Gables Commissioner Group III seat,” Wells told him. “I wish you luck in navigating the issues of serving the City as an elected official and look forward to your campaign promise of voting independently and restoring civility and transparency as to each issue for the benefit of Coral Gables.”
But somehow, Ladra doubts it. Because he would have to be willing to, sometimes, vote against his benefactor.
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WORKING STORY: It’s in their DNA.
Jose Regalado, the son of former Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado and brother of Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado, resigned from his job as the assistant building director with the city of Miami Monday to run for commission in District 4, where there is a vacancy created by the death of Manolo Reyes.
“This decision was not made lightly,” Regalado wrote to City Manager Art Noriega. “I had hoped to continue contributing to the work ahead, but sometimes the call to serve takes a different form than expected. After thoughtful reflection, I’ve decided to pursue the opportunity to serve the city in a different capacity by seeking the vacant commission seat in District 4.”
Regalado was born and raised in District 4 and steeped in Miami politics his whole life. He was a deep sea photographer before he decided to become a public servant, but he always worked on his father’s and sister’s campaigns. He was hired as chief policy advisor for District 4 in 2017, just as Reyes was elected. He stayed there for almost two years before he became the chief of staff to the deputy city manager in 2019. After five months, he became the assistant to the city manager, where he coordinated the mobile COVID-19 vaccination program for elderly, homebound residents and co-created the COVID-19 restaurant recovery program. In 2021, he was promoted to assistant building director.
“When I chose to enter public service, it was with the clear intention of contributing to the community that shaped me,” he wrote in his resignation letter. “I came to local government because I believe it’s where the most immediate and lasting impact can be made, where decisions affect people’s daily lives in real time, and where trust is built or broken not with rhetoric, but with action.”
His resignation is effective immediately, but Regalado offered to stay on as long as needed for a smooth transition.
Regalado’s salary at the city was $152,417 a year. As a city commissioner, he will be paid a salary of about $58,000, but with added benefits like car and cell phone allowances it gets closer to $100K. It’s still a deep pay cut.
This is a working story. Details will be added as more reporting is done throughout the day. Please check back later.
 
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