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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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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The post Coral Gables electeds to be sworn in, will push for November elections 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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The race for the Coral Gables commission seat in Group 2, now occupied by Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, is as much a referendum on Mayor Vince Lago as it is a performance evaluation for the incumbent, who is facing her first re-election. The decision will likely come down to the difference between the anti-development vote and the list of Lago loyalists.
Residents in the anti-development base that helped Anderson secure her victory in a crowded field in 2021 had been disappointed — that’s the word heard the most — and turned against her even before they got a legitimate and uniquely qualified alternative in Felix Pardo, an architect who has been active on city boards and issues for more than three decades. Pardo currently serves on the Gables planning and zoning board where he has been a stalwart steward of the city’s zoning code.
Pardo has hammering down on the overdevelopment that has happened in the Gables under Anderson’s watch.
“Over the past decade, unwelcomed change has been chipping away at our great city. Seemingly, the city has been up for sale,” Pardo wrote in an email blast, using caps and bold letters that give it his voice. “Special interests have been given the keys to the city.
Read related: Each Coral Gables race in the April 8 election could end up in a runoff
“You see it in the unbridled and incompatible development, the choking traffic and the lack of resources to be able to fulfill our residents’ immediate needs. Some neighborhoods have become unrecognizable as part of Coral Gables. Awful decisions by some politicians have brought us to the brink of losing what has made this place special for one hundred years,” Pardo said, explaining why he decided to run. “I cannot continue to watch while our city disintegrates right before our eyes.
“I have chosen to seek elected office to correct the assault on our residents through the poor leadership of others,” he says, adding that Anderson “is responsible for many of the incompatible developments, misdirected priorities, negative impact on existing neighborhoods, and a lack of action in addressing residents’ concerns.”
Specifically, both he and the Coral Gables Neighborhood Association — which helped elect Anderson four years ago — have cited the 18-story Regency Parc building, which was granted more height in exchange for less density. Anderson calls it a win. Residents call it a “monstrosity” that “dwarfs the downtown post office and surrounding properties.”
Rhonda pushed for a “carve-out” in the city’s zoning code to allow the developer to build taller than the zoning code allows. To add insult to injury, the city repurposed a travel lane for pick-up and drop-off at the building, increasing traffic congestion.
“This was not in our zoning code, but Rhonda made it happen,” Pardo says in one of his super short YouTube videos, standing in front of the construction of the building. “If you vote for me, this will not happen again.”
Other short video feature damage at the historic water tower and the emergency, much needed renovations at historic City Hall, which is arguably an unsafe structure, as city commission meetings have been held in the Public Safety Building for the past recent months.
“There is a big difference between deferred maintenance and neglect,” Pardo says.
There was also some backlash to Anderson’s use of a photo from a meeting as purported evidence that residents approved the 2022nchange she sponsored. The problem? The photo is from a public meeting organized by the CGNA in 2021 to introduce the newly-elected commissioner to residents.
“Rhonda never mentioned her “concept” at that meeting or any meeting organized by the CGNA. If she had, she would have been booed out of the room,” a CGNA email says. “Her audacity to use this picture and say that ‘all residents approved…’ is a blatant example of Rhonda Anderson deceiving and lying to residents.”
CGNA President Sue Kawalerski told Political Cortadito that Anderson is misrepresenting herself.
“Rhonda Anderson lies,” Kawalerski told Ladra. “First, she took a picture from a meeting with residents that I organized four years ago and said it was a different meeting. She deceived the public with false representation.
“And, secondly, residents didn’t approve anything.”
Read related: A Coral Gables runoff between Claudia Miro and Tom Wells would be nice
Besides, Anderson sounds like Lago’s mouthpiece. Remember how she made that robocall for his chosen candidates in 2023 — and then later was named vice mayor? And when she booted Claudia Miro, now in her second run for office, off the planning and zoning board because she didn’t vote how the mayor wanted? It seems that Rhonda has tied her trailer to Lago’s horse.
Lately, she has taken to bashing every one of Commissioner Melissa Castro‘s ideas — even no-brainers like a residential parking rate pilot program and a expedited permitting review for residents — as if it were her assigned role. Notice how Lago has backed off Castro? Maybe he realized it looked like he was bullying her. Anderson sounds more and more like she’s doing his dirty work and that hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Pardo’s drumbeat on overdevelopment — in addition to Anderson’s capitulation to Lago and her demeaning, know-it-all way of talking to residents — is what drove the CGNA to endorse him in this race. In an email, the group says that Lago and Anderson are “tied at the hip” and “due for replacement.” A third candidate in the Group 2 race, Laureano Cancio (no relation), is a very nice man who is going to do nothing more than, maybe, force a runoff. His campaign, which is the only one to include establishing the city’s own public school system, is just not reaching people like the other two are.
That could be because he is not doing a lot of campaign outside walking and knocking on doors. Cancio is self-funding his run, with almost $4,300 spent so far. Among his expenses are seven registrations for two 5K races and the Manhattan College Coral Gables dinner for $120. Pardo, meanwhile, has spent $9,786 of the $29.5K he has raised since the beginning of February (including a $5,000 loan from himself).
As the incumbent, it’s no surprise that Anderson has more campaign money, with $77,480 raised since January of last year. Campaign finance records indicate that she has spent $35,500, more than half of which have gone to consultant Emiliano Antuñez, of Dark Horse Strategies, for canvassing, consulting and a mailer. Antuñez also does work for Lago’s political action committee, Coral Gables First.
This might be a good time to remind readers that the two commission seats two years ago were won against better funded candidates who had the mayor’s unwavering support. Just sayin’.

Anderson is endorsed by Mayor L’Ego and has a pretty good website that doesn’t bash anyone but lays out her achievements — of course, the Salvatore dog park is in there, because she is the queen of dog parks — and her priorities. She also cites her experience lobbying in Tallahassee for legislators to lower future windstorm insurance costs.
Pardo’s homepage boasts the endorsements from all the city employees, though the fire union, the police union and the Teamsters local, which represents the general employees. The police and fire union sent out an email blast last week blasting Anderson and (and Lago) for making “false claims” during their campaigning. In Rhonda’s Report email, the vice mayor says there were 700 applications for police receive and 17 new officers hired since last June. The police union president says that the 17 new hires has been offset by 12 officers leaving for one reason or another and that the department is still 30 officers short (more on that later).
In an email blast just days ago, Pardo lists a slew of longtime, active Gables residents who support him. “As someone who was born and raised in Coral Gables and worked as a professional in the city for over 40 years, I have witnessed many commissioners and mayors who have served our city.  I proudly endorse Felix Pardo, who unequivocally is the most knowledgeable, qualified, honest, and decent candidate to ever run for a city commission seat,” said Gordon Solokoff, a well-known dentist.
“Coral Gables will benefit greatly by having Felix Pardo as our next commissioner.”
Read related: Absentee ballots land in Coral Gables mailboxes — and so do the hit pieces
Former City Manager Jack Eads is also quoted as saying that he was pleased to learn that Felix decided to run. “His continuous outstanding record of service to the City is exemplary. Residents of Coral Gables deserve the quality of service Felix can provide.”
Pardo also has the support of some solid waste employees — probably because Anderson insulted them. She said “None of the current sanitation workers have the aspiration,” according to an email from Pardo. Eddie Coard Jr., a solid waste operator II, took it to heart. A 12-year employee, he said he has always felt appreciated by residents.

“Our team works day in and day out, on holidays, weekends if we need to, in the hot sun, in the rain, no matter what, we are here doing our part to keep Coral Gables Beautiful,” Coard says in the email blast. “When I heard those comments made about me and my team during that Commission meeting, I was hurt. How could someone put us down by saying we have no aspirations?
“We can’t have someone on the Commission that talks about us like that,” the email states. “Today, I am asking you to stand up for your solid waste team by supporting someone who has always treated us with respect and has never talked down to us like Rhonda did.”
It’s not just you, Mr. Coard. Anderson talks down to everyone. She still has the monotone energy of a cardboard box, which is what Ladra thought four years ago when she first ran. But now it’s a box that thinks it’s better than you.
Whether overdevelopment is an issue for them or not, voters should remind Anderson that she is not better than them.
Contrary to what Mayor Lago says about Ladra, and we appreciate the publicity, Political Cortadito is not paid to post stories in favor or against any candidates. Longtime knowledge and history covering Coral Gables, an elected’s history with voting and the public and the access to records and documents are what impact my decisions. But I do appreciate the financial backing from those who appreciate the analyses here and wish to support independent, grassroots journalism at the micro local level. Make a donation here. And thank you!
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Kirk Menendez already has important endorsements
Three is the magic number in Coral Gables as that is how many candidates officially qualified last week in each of the three elections in the city’s April 8 election.
Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson will face Felix Pardo and Laureano Cancio while three other candidates vie for the open seat left by Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who is running for mayor. They are Richard Lara, the hand-picked candidate by Mayor Vince Lago, Claudia Miro, a transportation lobbyist who lost a commission race in 2021, and attorney Thomas “Tom” Wells, an active speaker at commission meetings who sits on the charter review board.
Read related: Two more candidates say they will run for Coral Gables commission in April
But everybody is going to be looking at and taking about the mayor’s race between Lago and Menendez. A third candidate, Michael Abbott, doesn’t really count.
Speaking of count, turnout is going to be key in this race. There are just over 37,200 registered voters in Coral Gables, according to the city clerk. As of last week, there were 3,135 requests for absentee or vote-by-mail ballots, according to Miami-Dade Elections spokesperson Roberto Rodriguez.
That’s a huge increase from the 204 VBM requests on file as of Jan. 16. But not a huge surprise, Rodriguez said.
“Our office has been sending text messages and emails to voters who had a vote-by-mail request on file and provided contact information,” Rodriguez told Political Cortadito, adding that election specific messages would be sent to voters who have upcoming elections.

The deadline to request an absentee ballot for the April 8 election is March 27. The deadline to register to vote in the municipal election is March 10.
Most of the voters who participated in the 2023 election cast their ballots by mail. Of the 6,700 or 6,800 who voted in the two commission races, more than 4,100 were absentee. Turnout could have been low due to the lack of a mayoral race — Lago had no opponent two years ago — but the commission races were both high profile because the mayor was behind two candidates who ultimately lost.
That’s what makes this election so interesting. Lago is not only trying to win. He is trying to get his majority back. He has to not only win his own seat back, which is not a gimme, but also keep Anderson, which is the most certain of the three races, and get Lara into the open seat. It’s definitely a slate, and one can tell by the yard signs along San Amaro Drive, which is the mayor’s neighborhood.
Mayor Lago showed the biggest haul in his last campaign finance report with $$108,750 collected in just the first two weeks of February, almost exclusively in maximum $1,000 checks, according to the campaign documents filed with the city clerk. That’s the largest amount in a single report since the $166K collected last year in the second quarter — which is over three months not two weeks. He also has another $150,000 left sitting in his political action committee, which has its last report through Dec. 31 and we won’t know how much more it has raised until after the election. But Ladra suspects it will be a lot.
In comparison, Menendez has raised less than $18,000.
Read related: Kirk Menendez runs for Coral Gables mayor against city bully Vince Lago
But the last election showed that money does not equal votes in The City Beautiful when commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez beat better-funded candidates who had the mayor’s backing. It may not have officially happened, but Menendez will most certainly have their support. He already has the firefighters’ support and probably will get the police union.

Gables Neighbors United, which some argue helped elect Castro and Fernandez, were quick to come out with their endorsements over the weekend: Menendez and Pardo.
They are holding back, apparently, on the open seat race. But Ladra will bet real money it ain’t Lara.
“Make no mistake about it: Mayor Vince Lago and Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson are tied at the hip,” reads an email from the homeowners group. “It’s a quid-pro-quo relationship. Lago: ‘You stand by me and vote the way I want you to vote and I’ll introduce you to the people who can make you ‘whole’ and keep you in power. Let’s start with naming you vice mayor!’ ”
Ouch.
“Rhonda: ‘You got it BOSS!’
“While the wording may not be exact, the meaning is. Both are power and money hungry and feeding from the hands of developers and special interests,” the email says.
Which is how the election is going to framed for voters, as usual: Development interests versus resident interests.
But that’s not all. There’s a new issue this year.
“Civility and Stabiliity is his motto,” says the email about Menendez. “We could use a lot of both.
“Divisive behavior and even threats of harm to colleagues and disrepect for residents by Lago have been the tipping points for us, well beyond the favoritism to developers and special interests, to seek a candidate who can once again lead with a calm hand and move the city forward.
“For the past almost-four years, we have witnessed Commissioner Menendez‘ thoughtful approach to oftentimes difficult issues and watched him render solutions that benefit residents and the good of the city,” the email states. “Kirk is a peacemaker and a leader and for these reasons, we join the Coral Gables Fire union in backing Kirk Menendez for Mayor.”
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Campaign finance reports filed last week by the candidates for Coral Gables mayor and commissioner show that nobody did very well in the final quarter of 2024. Donations slowed down big time.
Mayor Vince Lago actually gave money back instead of raising any. His campaign report shows zero contributions, but that he returned two $1,000 checks from Pumayana, a residential developer and investor with projects in the city, and C2S Construction Solutions, an interior renovations firm based in Sunny Isles Beach. We don’t know why those checks, given in June, were returned on Nov. 19. But it’s not because they were duplicates. Political Cortadito checked.
Lago’s political action committee, Coral Gables First, also reported zero contributions and also returned a $2,500 check to Pumayana, as well as two $1,000 checks to Bahama Sunrise Development, which, according to the Florida Department of Corporations, is partially owned by Pumayana. Those contributions were also refunded on Nov. 19.
Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who decided in December to challenge the mayor instead of running for reelection, isn’t doing much better. Menendez, who raised almost $15,000 last year as a commission candidate, only raised $2,550 more in the last quarter.
But Menendez is also spending less, hundreds compared to $40,700 spent so far by Lago, more than half of which ($28K) went to his campaign manager, Jesse Manzano.
Read related: Kirk Menendez runs for Coral Gables mayor against city bully Vince Lago
Still Coach Kirk has raised a total only $17,550 compared to $167,000 raised by Lago just in his campaign account, not including the PAC. Of course, that’s thanks to many maximum contributions of $1,000. Of the 201 contributors listed on Lago’s campaign report, a whopping 151 have given the most that they can. Those include checks from Benjamin Leon, who Donald Trump has named as ambassador to Spain, and a whole football team of lobbyists, including former Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla and South Miami Mayor Javier Fernandez.

In comparison, of Menendez’s 40 contributors, only eight gave the maximum $1,000 donation.
Lago also has a bunch of bundles, like $15K in 15 maximum checks from real estate investor Tomas Cabrerizo‘s multiple companies, and $11,000 from developer Allen Morris, who got a his 10-story Ponce Park Residences project approved unanimously by the commission in May. Lago praised the project, and the developer, who reduced the size and density of the luxury condominium, which was originally planned for 16 stories. The $11K came in 11 separate checks on June 12, less than a month after the approval.
Leon gave another $5,000 from his companies and Lago also got $5,000 from JustWell Health, which is a healthcare and a real estate holdings firm.
Vice Mayor Rhonda Anne Anderson has reported raising only $$11,550 from 14 donors — 11 of those contributed the maximum $1,000, including herself. She also got two $1,000 checks from former Commissioner Wayne Withers, but only $250 from former Mayor Don Slesnick. Anderson’s campaign account shows she has spent $1,600 so far.
Attorney Richard Lara, Lago’s pick to run for commission against Menendez (now an open seat) has raised more than Anderson, an incumbent, with a reported total of $63,350.70 from 139 donors. Of those, 32 gave the maximum $1,000. Lara’s support has also waned since he announced at a commission meeting last February. He reported only $1,750 raised in the final quarter of 2024, after reporting $3,080 in the third quarter.
But he’s spending like the campaign was a shopping spree, with almost $23,700 spent so far, including $1,500 monthly consulting fees to Nicolas Cabrera, son of former Commissioner Ralph Cabrera and lackey of Lago. He’s also paid Alex Miranda, the former chief of staff and campaign spokesman for former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine (a Democrat who ran for governor), $3,000.
Running against Lara is attorney Thomas “Tom” Wells, a Menendez ally who has, so far, paid for everything himself. A total of $2,878 on signs, door hangers, a website, business cards and campaign buttons. Wells, who is the vice chair of the charter review committee, is a regular at Birdie’s Bistro, formerly Burger Bob’s, and is a well known entity in the City Beautiful. Unlike Lara. So maybe he doesn’t need so much money. It also appears, from the 2023 election, where both of Lago’s well-funded candidates lost, that money doesn’t matter as much in the Gables as in other cities.

Laureano Cancio, who is running against Anderson, is also counting on that. Cancio, like Michael Anthony Abbot — a fat chance candidate for mayor — has raised $100 to pay bank fees.
“The last election was won by people who didn’t have the most money. You can win without money,” Cancio told Political Cortadito, adding that he’s counting on the Lago backlash to hurt his sidekick, the vice mayor. “The mayor is pretty much hated by everybody,” he said.
“I’m spending the least amount of money I can and I’m not beholden to anybody,” Cancio added.
But he is concerned about the Lago/Anderson/Lara slate. “These three candidates seem to be running as a team and, if the trend is not reversed by Election Day, it is very possible that they might take the majority control of the commission, to the delight of Lago who lost that control two years ago.”
Cancio is counting on forums and other public speaking engagements to reach voters and while he is the only candidate, so far, to bring up education needs and the idea of the city running it’s own school system — in light of all the development — he recognizes that the biggest issue will be that very development.
“Overdevelopment seems to be the issue most likely to prevent the troika of Lago, Lara, and Anderson from walking away with victory,” he told Political Cortadito this week. “Coral Gables voters have identified this issue as being of critical concern for the community. Lago’s critics have even predicted that the issue could become the mayor’s Waterloo.”
Ladra love how he talks.
Two new candidates who announced last week, Felix Pardo and Claudia Miro, don’t have any financial reports yet.
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