Like a petulant brat who doesn’t like to be told “no,” Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago defied everyone and betrayed both his colleagues and his constituents this week when he displayed an Israeli flag in his window at City Hall, even though the commission had voted against raising the flag because of the outpouring of community opposition.
This should prove that he doesn’t care what anybody thinks.
Read related: Coral Gables commission backs off Israeli flag at City Hall after backlash
Lago hung a U.S. flag morphed with the Israeli one in the historic window of his office on the second floor Tuesday. He was so proud of defying the community sentiment that he posted a photo of it on Instagram, along with a photo of three young men — Ladra suspects his podcast pals — with Israeli flags prancing around at the park across the street.
“On October 7th, 2023 the world witnessed an unspeakable, heinous act as 1,200 innocent men, women and children were killed and 250 people were taken hostage by Hamas. It was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Lago wrote. “Today, we remember them and celebrate their lives as sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, neighbors and friends. Lives forever altered in an instant, by hatred and a lack of tolerance.

“We will always stand on the side of justice and our allies (Israel), never forgetting the freedoms we have as Americans.”
He also felt a need to make sure that everybody knows the “first photo is of the Mayor’s office over looking the front of city hall.”
Was that for the benefit of the Isreali consulate and embassy in Miami? After all, they were invited to “collaborate” on the post.
It certainly looks like the park protest was coordinated with the mayor’s office. There was no permit needed, said Gables spokeswoman Martha Pantin. “Individuals do not require a permit to display items such as flags, provided they do not block ingress, egress, or interfere with traffic flow,” she wrote in an email responding to a question.
Guess that means that anyone can show up tomorrow with flags from Palestine, Iraq, China, Russia, Libya. In fact, employees are also free to display another country’s flag from the windows of their offices and city vehicles, Pantin said.
“We do not have specific personnel rules regarding the display of personal items like flags, as long as they are not offensive in nature. Any items deemed offensive would be addressed in accordance with our standard policies.”
Perhaps they’ll tweak the official definition of “offensive.”
Read related: City raising an Israeli flag causes fuss and fury at Coral Gables City Hall
Pantin said “after checking with dispatch and the manager’s office, no calls or complaints were received regarding this matter.”
That was in an email sent at 4:51 p.m. It is not Pantin’s fault that she hadn’t yet seen the email sent 20 minutes earlier by Katherine Shehadeh, a resident who spoke at both public meetings against raising the Israeli flag on public property at a time when the world was denouncing what many — even inside Israel — are calling a genocide of the Palestinian people.
“In advance of next week’s meeting, where I know there will be further discussion on this point, I want to be sure everyone is aware of this post on the mayor’s official Coral Gables account that he made jointly with the Israeli Consul General, a foreign official, tagging a number of Coral Gables media outlets and his political action committee,” Shehadeh wrote in her email to Lago and the commissioners. “I want everyone to consider the moral and ethical implications of using their public office this way, particularly on a matter that was already addressed democratically and respectfully within the commission’s chambers.”
And that’s is the issue here. If Lago had posted an Israeli flag on his personal social media and raised a flag at his house on San Amaro Drive, there would be no problem. Like when Palmetto Bay Councilman Steve Cody posted something about the assassination of Charlie Kirk being ironic because of his stance on the Second Amendment. People wanted to skin Cody alive and demanded his resignation — which he has politely declined — but he wasn’t speaking as a commissioner.
Not only was Lago’s post on his official city profile, he went ahead and did this after a great deal of public debate — overwhelmingly against his idea of solidarity only with Israel — and his colleagues on the commission agreed to have some non-political show of remembrance instead. This is in your face defiance. More proof that Mayor L’Ego, who did not return calls and texts from Ladra, is a sour loser and a bully who only wants to get his way.
Is he always going to do whatever he wants despite what the commission votes democratically? Isn’t that what a dictator is?
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, allies bully and browbeat Melissa Castro
“It’s troubling to see the mayor once again ignore both the comission’s decision and the clear message from residents who asked us to keep City Hall neutral,” Commission Melissa Castro told Political Cortadito. “This isn’t leadership. It’s self promotion.
“Time and again, he’s shown that it’s not about residents want, it’s about what he wants,” Castro added. “Coral Gables residents came to City Hall twice to express their desire for neutrality, and the commission listened. We made a collective decision to keep our government impartial and focused on unity, not politics.
“When the mayor defies that vote and uses City Hall to advance personal agendas, it undermines public trust. A mayor should lead by example, not by personal ambition.”

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Coral Gables Vince Lago gave his fifth State of the City address last month week and, true to form, it was all about him. Except the parts that were about his political enemies, as he made the annual speech an opportunity to attack them. Again.
Speaking to a room full of people at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast, it was almost predictable for him to make it all about the business community. But L’Ego also made it sound like his administration is some sort of Harvard case study in leadership and economic development. He even opened with a Warren Buffett and Bill Gates anecdote about “focus” — because he desperately wants people to put him in their company.
“Focus is what makes Coral Gables special,” he said. And here we thought it was the history-laden Mediterranean architecture and the strict zoning and Miracle Mile and the people. Silly us.
Ladra has heard Lago’s focus speech before. He’s focused on telling you how “fiscally conservative” he is while quietly shoveling tax breaks and red-carpet concierge services to developers and big business. He’s focused on touting “civility and transparency” while using City Hall and his pulpit to attack his political enemies. And now, he’s focused on getting voters to move city elections from April in odd-numbered years to November in even-numbered years — which sounds like more democracy, but also conveniently means that, as an incumbent with tons of money, he’ll have advantages that grass-roots candidates won’t.
The mayor almost didn’t make it to his big speech Thursday, he said. First, he awoke to a flat tire and had to Uber his way to the Biltmore. “And as I stepped out of the Uber, the skies fell on me,” he told the crowd, with a little “how dare they?” in his tone.
Maybe a little foreshadowing, no?
Because once he dried himself off, “in the bathroom,” and got behind the podium, Lago showed us some storm clouds of his own. “Good morning,” he said, and was immediately disappointed with the lack of animated greeting in response. “Either the coffee is not too strong or everybody’s still asleep.”
He never considered the third option: They’re not that excited to see him.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago caves on election change; wants public vote

Yes, he dutifully rattled off accomplishments and buzzwords about “innovation” and “resilience,” he reminded everyone about rolling back the commission raises and even name-checked the city’s $4 million annual fund for sea level rise. He called Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara extremely talented attorneys dedicated to public service — and someone at table 10 almost choked on their bread — and showered City Manager Peter Iglesias with compliments.
“It is a privilege having this gentleman running our city,” Lago said.
But he also slipped into unscripted moments that were darker than usual, even for him. “Everybody wants to be my friend now,” he said, acknowledging he has “yes men” who don’t tell him the truth. “But I’m pretty sure that in four years, 99 percent of people who speak to me, probably won’t speak to me.”
Whoa. Somebody’s feeling the weight of the office. But Ladra’s got news for Vince. Not everybody wants to be his friend now.
Maybe it’s because he’s such a sore winner. Lago once again reminded everyone that he rolled back the commission’s “unjustified” 101% salary hike — which is more dramatic than saying they went from $36,488 to $65,000 a year, which doesn’t seem like a lot. The argument in favor was that the salaries were too low and had not been raised for years and that a higher pay would attract better, less corruptible, candidates — which make sense.
But saying 101% makes it look like they get a six figure salary, which is what Lago wants.
And he is sounding like a broken record. Lago won’t move on because he’s trying to squeeze more election juice out of that for his referendum and to hurt Commissioners Ariel Fernandez — who might not even run again — and Melissa Castro, who definitely should.
The mayor bragged about millage stability, even though the Gables cash cow is long fattened on some of the priciest property values in the county, not by the grace of his genius. He crowed about bond ratings, infrastructure modernization, and acknowledgements for the city’s technical prowess. And, of course, peppered the speech with side eye digs.
“As an elected official, you are required to run this like a business. Some people do, some people don’t. They see it as their own personal piggy bank,” L’Ego said, adding that he will look back in pride at his fiscal responsibility, for “always taking into consideration how hard it is for you to make payroll every two weeks.
“We should make every decision thinking about the bottom line.”
He sure knows his crowd.
He name-dropped some of the city’s technical contractors and the large businesses that have relocated to the City Beautiful, like Apple and Ryder. “Coral gables now holds over 8,000 businesses and over 140 multinationals,” Lago said. “Not just because of our locations, but because of our leadership, because of our planning and because of our incredible focus in regards to quality of life.”
He invoked George Merrick in saying the city had and talked about the University of Miami being “a cornerstone of our identity of growth.” He gave kudos to the tech director for “smart city” projects and patted himself on the back “for raising the bar in customer experience,” adding 20 new permitting staffers — because nothing says efficiency like hiring more bureaucrats.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has more city business than we thought
Ladra can’t help but wonder how many of those are going to be specific to the new Permitting Assistance Program, a concierge service to help businesses “open faster.” That must be real music to developers’ ears. It’s not for residents who still have to wait 10 months to get a fence approved. No, it’s another shortcut for friends with projects to get rubber-stamped while neighbors who don’t like the latest oversized box on their block get left holding the bag.
Vince Lago and Mark Trowbridge during the COVID pandemic.
Lago got misty remembering the late Chamber CEO Mark Trowbridge , who died in February after battling blood cancer, and even proposed naming a new downtown park after him, the location of which will be determined later after consulting with Trowbridge’s family. The mayor called it “a symbolic gesture to recognize his extraordinary impact… someone who helped shape the heart of our city.”
It was a touching moment. One touching moment.
Then, he welcomed lobbyist Jorge Arrizurieta as the Chamber’s new boss. Yes, that Jorge Arrizurieta — Lago’s buddy and longtime political insider who has “big shoes” to fill — probably with PAC money and influence-peddling.
Arrizurieta has served on the board of directors for the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and was a Trustee of the Miami-Dade County Public Health Trust. He was Lago’s appointment to the city’s board of adjustments — until someone notified them that he no longer lives in Coral Gables. He is so in Lago’s pocket that he once filed an ethics complaint against activist Maria Cruz, accusing her, of all things, of being an unregistered lobbyist.
It was legally insufficient because it was a lie. Cruz was not a lobbyist because she is not paid to represent any entity. She represents herself and the interest of certain Gables residents. She might be a pain in the, er, neck to some politicos (read: Lago), but she ain’t a lobbyist by any measure. And Ladra suspects that both Arrizurieta and Lago, whose permission he must have sought to file the complaint, know this.
But the people in the audience at the Biltmore Sept. 18 probably don’t know anything about it.
Lago also welcomed attorney Maria Garcia — a partner at Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton — as the chamber’s new chair and presented former chair, Addys Kuryla, with a key to the city.
And of course, the mayor wrapped it all in centennial bunting.
“As we enter our second century, we do so with clarity of purpose. I will continue to lead with civility and transparency,” he said, then went off script. “But I will not bend the knee when I see something wrong. I will continue to lead as I believe the city deserves leadership. We must be strong and make the decisions that are sometimes unpopular.
“No matter the pressure, no matter what they say and what they do.”
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago scores trifecta on post-election revenge tour
Ladra half expected him to give Political Cortadito and the Coral Gables Gazette a shout-out, like he does at every commission meeting.
So, the gist is that the City Beautiful is 100, and in Lago’s telling, that’s thanks to his civility, transparency, and “focus.” What he didn’t mention is his reputation for hardball politics, his cozy developer ties, or his barely disguised itch for higher office.
So yeah, the state of the city — at least the part Lago wants you to see — is business-friendly, developer-friendly, and Lago-friendly. The rest of us are just supposed to clap politely.

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RTZ overlay is for a student housing project: The Mark
The latest chapter in the Coral Gables zoning soap opera will play out in Miami-Dade Commission Chambers this week. It started last Tuesday when County Commissioner Raquel Regalado took her Rapid Transit Zoning show on the road — to City Hall.
Regalado showed up to the Aug. 26 Coral Gables Commission meeting to advocate for her pet project: expanding the county’s Rapid Transit Zone (RTZ) to create a new University Station Subzone around the UM Metrorail stop  That overlay would pave the way for The Mark, a hulking student housing project that has some neighbors concerned.
The Miami-Dade County Commission will vote Wednesday on the a proposed RTZ expansion and University Station subzone that extends to properties within a quarter mile of the University Metrorail Station. Translation: The county will have zoning jurisdiction, not the city. And that clears the path for high-density, mixed-use projects.
Read related: Critics say Miami’s new transit zoning ordinance = loophole for developers
Developers who purchased the University Shopping Center in 2023, where the Bagel Emporium and TGI Fridays is, want to build a $70-million, sprawling mixed-use apartment complex, called The Mark, which will have 146 one-bedroom units, 99 two-bedroom units, and 151 three-bedroom units in two eight-story towers, connected by a bridge on the fifth floor. The ground floor will have restaurant and retail spaces.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, for her part, is cheerleading the move. Her memo in support of the ordinance talks about “equitable development,” “shorter trips,” and “visual compatibility with Coral Gables” — complete with “generous height allowances” and “enhanced landscaping.” Translation: Taller buildings with more trees in front of them.
“The Subzone aims to promote high-density, mixed-use development within a quarter-mile radius of the University Station, while integrating land use and transportation planning. The ordinance addresses the CDMP’s objective of integrating land use with transportation to attract transit ridership, produce shorter trips, and minimize transfers,” Levine Cava wrote. “This code amendment will facilitate the development of additional residential density and commercial development adjacent to the mass transit system.”
La Alcaldesa also says that there will be a city representative on the Rapid Transit Developmental Impact Committee (RTDIC) and that the county will coordinate with the city “on a potential interlocal agreement to address future concerns and align regulatory processes.”
Good luck with that.
To the folks who actually live near University Station and the Bagel Emporium plaza that will be replaced with two residential towers, it sounds less like equitable development and more like a takeover. They say they’ve been blindsided by the scale of the proposal and worry that the neighborhood will be flooded with traffic and end up looking more like Brickell than the City Beautiful.
This is the same fight that’s already spilled over into Coral Gables’ Planning and Zoning Board, where longtime neighborhood activist and P&Z member Sue Kawalerski grilled Regalado so hard about the RTZ zoning superseding the city’s own code that the commissioner snapped back. Weeks after that public meeting, Kawalerski was unceremoniously bounced — another casualty of Mayor Vince Lago’s revenge tour. She has been blamed for forcing the developer to go to the county and apply RTZ criteria, which is more generous than the city’s code.
Read related: Coral Gables moves to ‘fire’ longtime activist from planning zoning board
Regalado, who doesn’t need anybody to defend her, has been one of the prime proponents of RTZ. And she says the Gables needs housing and the area around the university is perfect for it.
“I don’t agree with demonizing student housing,” she told the Gables commissioners last week, and cited the Vox 1, 2, 3 and 4 projects in South Miami as an example of a student housing project done right. It also resolved a problem with students “cutting up” rented housing, living 10 or more at a time.
“Students need a place to live,” Regalado said. “UM is a partner. They are doing their part on campus… [But] the transit corridor is the place to house students.” She noted that the location for The Mark is right where the university has their pedestrian bridge over U.S. 1.
“The concept that this is not a place for student housing, to me, is mind blowing,” she said. “I’m not saying it’s appropriate everywhere, but you might want to decide where it’s appropriate.”
Kawalerski has said it is not about student housing, per se, but the gradual changing of the neighborhood’s character.
Regalado told the Gables Commission that she would amend the item going before the county commission this week to include the lighting and open space requirements “to give everyone a little more comfort.” But both she and Lago waved the ugly specter of Live Local — the Florida law that allows even more density to promote affordable or workforce housing (which is really not that affordable for the workforce).
It’s convenient for Lago to throw the blame somewhere else for the runaway development he has ushered into the Gables.
“The city has no control,” he said, referring to RTZ and Live Local. “That train has left the station.”
But if you think that The Mark is the only stop on this route, think again. City Manager Peter Iglesias said this overlay is specific for that particular student housing project, it includes that property alone, but not another proposed development for the nearby Gables Waterway.
“We need to expand that overlay and work on something new,” Iglesias said.
The post Miami-Dade Commission takes over Coral Gables zoning near UM Metrorail appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Four months after he got sworn in as Coral Gables’ newest commissioner, Richard Lara is finally bringing his first resolution to the dais. You’d think it might be some bold policy idea to set the tone for his term. Maybe something on development, zoning, traffic — or even trees.
Nope. Item F-17 on Tuesday’s agenda is… a street naming. And it’s not even his idea.
Lara is sponsoring a resolution to support the co-designation of a portion of SW 57th Avenue, from Calle Ocho to Coral Way, as “Wayne Russell and Jimmy Fabbricatore Way.” That’s a mouthful. Try to ask directions to that and let’s see what happens.
The naming is to honor the longtime owners and operators of the beloved Duffy’s Tavern — which was done last month by Miami-Dade Commissioner Natalie Milian Orbis. Duffy’s Tavern is technically in West Miami, where Milian Orbis was a commissioner before she was appointed by the county commission months ago to replace Kevin Cabrera, the new U.S. Ambassador to Panama.
Can’t Lara, who has so far been an echo chamber for Mayor Vince Lago, have an original thought?
Read related: Richard Lara sought repayment for gala ticket bought before Gables election
Don’t get Ladra wrong: Russell and Fabbricatore are both respected names in local history and may very well deserve recognition. But the timing makes it look like Lara is borrowing from the county playbook rather than drafting something of his own. After four months in office, Lara’s first big idea is… someone else’s.

The street naming is to highlight significant role Duffy’s Tavern has played in the local community for over 40 years, serving as a gathering place for residents and fans of various sports teams like the Miami Dolphins, Miami Heat, Miami Marlins, Inter Miami, and the University of Miami Hurricanes. It is a way to acknowledge the contributions of Russell and Fabbricatore in building the neighborhood spirit and recognizing Duffy’s Tavern as more than just a restaurant but a cherished landmark.
Duffy’s first opened in 1955 by Martin Duffy. But it might not be there for long. This honor comes a little more than a year after Russell and Fabbricatore sold the property, 2108 SW 57th Ave., and the automotive shop next to it for $4.5 million to Doral real estate agent and petroleum dealer Marwan Shihadeh.
We don’t know what he plans to do with it, but whatever development he plans will have a Duffy-esque address: 2100 Wayne Russell and Jimmy Fabbricatore Way.

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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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Well, vecinos, it looks like the Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has finally found a way to get rid of Planning & Zoning Board member Sue Kawalerski — the only member who regularly sides with residents over developers. All it takes is three votes of the commission on Tuesday in what could be an unprecedented move.
They’re going to use the excuse of a dustup last month between Kawalerski and Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado on the rapid transit zone overlay that gives the county final say on height and density on projects near the MetroRail stations. But make no mistake, that July 2 meeting is just the golden ticket. As if Regalado needs someone to defend her. ¡Por favor!
The Gables commission has always respected a commissioner’s appointee. When Lago needed to punish former commissioner candidate Claudia Miro — who has since kissed the ring to make up — for her vote on the board in a particular item, he got Anderson to remove her appointee for some bogus attendance reason. But when Commissioner Melissa Castro refused the “recommendation” by City Manager Peter Iglesias, he put it on the agenda as a favor to Lago, who doesn’t want his name on it. Be sure that Iglesias wouldn’t have done this on his own.
“I understand that the commission has the votes to remove my appointee, Sue, but I want to be clear bout why I appointed her in the first place,” Castro told Political Cortadito. “She is resident-focused, she asks the questions that need to be asked, and she represents the concerns of the residents who often feel unheard in these processes.
“Every board is made up of individuals with different personalities and different points of view, that is the very essence of democracy,” she said. “We don’t have to agree on style to recognize the value of substance. Sue’s perspective is rooted in advocating for residents, not developers or special interests, and that perspective is exactly what our boards and our city need.”
As president of the Coral Gables Neighbors Association, Kawalerski has been a thorn in L’Ego’s side for years. She and her group supported the election of the two 2023 underdogs who won against the mayor’s puppet candidates and the three candidates who lost this year’s election. She sends out regular emails that inform residents about what is happening at City Hall (shame!).
Read related: Felix Pardo nabs anti-development base from Rhonda Anderson in Coral Gables
Kawalerski, a one-woman defense line against the Brickellization of The City Beautiful, was initially appointed to serve as a member of the zoning board for a two-year term by Castro in 2023 and was reappointed to a second term this past June.
But on Tuesday, Iglesias (read: Lago) will try to paint Sue as “rude” and “abrasive” so they can boot her from the board. Ladra translation: She asked too many questions about a controversial rapid transit zoning overlay at the Bagel Emporium plaza on U.S. 1, where developers plan to build a large student housing complex — like why did some resident say they weren’t notified and why were they approving this over the summer — questions the city manager and commission should have been asking months ago.
Sure, she was a little smarmy about it. She kept interrupting and challenging Regalado’s answers. Some other planning board members said she was “interrogating” the county commissioner and was inappropriate. But Regalado was giving her the runaround with political speak and development buzzwords. “We weren’t getting answers,” Kawalerski said.
Regalado was at the meeting at the invitation of Iglesias to help the city develop its own RTZ overlay. But Kawalerski brought up the student housing project that developer plans to build on the site of the University Shopping Center, which it purchased in 2023, across from the University Metrorail Station. The proposed $70-million, sprawling mixed-use apartment complex, called The Mark, will have 146 one-bedroom units, 99 two-bedroom units, and 151 three-bedroom units in two eight-story towers, which are connected by a bridge on the fifth floor. The ground floor will have restaurant and retail spaces.

Landmark Properties, along with the architects Behar Font and Partners, presented the project to the Coral Gables Development Review Committee in June 2023. The P&Z board heard the developers, which were asking for more height and density, months ago. Residents at that meeting were concerned about the parking and traffic that would be created. The board suggested some changes and asked the developers to come back and try again. But they went to the county instead, under the RTZ.
They completely pre-empted the city because the county would give them what they want.
The project was not on the July 2 agenda. Regalado was there to help explain a different item: a University Transit District overlay as a way to work with the county and still have some control. Several residents spoke about their concerns and urged the board and the city to maintain control over the zoning and hold the line. Kawlerski says the “compromise” was just window dressing, so it looked like they were still in the driver’s seat. She used the Mark project as an example — she had earlier said the Georgia-based developer was a “carpetbagger” — as an example of what the RTZ zoning could do, pre-empting the Gables zoning code.
The county commissioner has been to several if not all the cities along the U.S. 1 corridor in District 7 to explain RTZ and how it’s better than Live Local Act, a Florida law passed in 2023 that is designed to increase the supply of workforce and affordable housing by giving developers incentives like height and density exemptions and tax breaks. It totally obliterates local zoning laws.
“I really have done everything to have Coral Gables’ participation, just as I did with South Miami and just like I did with all my cities,” Regalado said.
Read related: Miami approves TSND zones to bring ‘affordable’ housing to transit hubs
But she also sounded like a cheerleader for the project, saying that it solved myriad problems and would prevent students from invading residential neighborhoods and dividing single family homes up into dormitories.
Kawalerski — who did support former Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner against Regalado in the D7 race — kept pressing Regalado at the July 2 meeting, telling her that people didn’t know about it and that it was the middle of summer, when everyone is on vacation. She asked her to slow the project down. “Now that you are hearing from the people who will be affected.”
“Respectfully, Sue, I hear from people all the time… but if we were to stop a governmental process just because someone says that they did not know about it government would not function, and you should know this as a county employee,” Regalado said, and that sounded a bit like a threat, bringing up her day job. Kawalerski, a former journalist, is now works as a county manager.
“So, you are going to take these comments and say ‘Tough luck,”” Kawalerski shot back.
“No, we have a public hearing,” Regalado answered, staying cool as a cucumber. She is unfazeable. “There’s plenty of opportunities to speak to all the stakeholders. The only time they will not be allowed to speak to stakeholders is if this developer decides to go Live Local, and then we’re all out of the conversation.”‘
“So, the answer to my question is ‘No.’ You’re not going to slow down the process,” Sue said.
“Your characterization is incorrect and I disagree with you, respectfully,” Raquelita shot back.
See? Regalado — who eventually did defer the item from the July 16 county commission meeting to September — doesn’t need Lago or Iglesias to come to her defense. She’s a big girl who can handle herself and give as good as she gets.
But it’s not for her. She’s just the handy excuse. Lago has decided to seize the moment and do a solid for his developer-friendly campaign contributors.
So now, Iglesias has prepared a highlight reel of Sue’s greatest hits — her sharp critiques of bad projects and even some humorous comments — to try to make her look “disrespectful.” The manager did not call Ladra back but instead referred questions to city spokeswoman and Lago ally Martha Pantin, who said the video was produced by Coral Gables Television from existing public meeting footage. “No outside vendor, work order, or additional cost was involved.”
But that doesn’t tell us who asked for Gables TV to produce the short video.
There’s going to be a clip of Kawalerski allegedly calling students “locusts,” but it might be taken out of context as she was talking about the shelves at Publix before a hurricane — or a Hurricane game.
Why don’t we make a highlight reel of Lago’s greatest hits? You know, the insults and obnoxious comments launched against the firefighter union leaders David Perez and William “Billy” McAllister, the disdain dripping from his chin and the daggers flying from his eyes when he talks to activist Maria Cruz, the misogynistic side comments to Commissioner Castro, the digs against Commissioner Ariel Fernandez, and the lies about Billy Corben and yours truly. Basically anyone he disagrees with. There has to be plenty of raw material to work with.
Is L’Ego’s the example of civility that we all need to follow?
Sue calls it what it is — scapegoating. She said they will blame her now for the size of the new project. “Their justification for firing me will be framed like this: ‘We were trying to get Commissioner Regalado to soften her stance on taking over our US 1 corridor but Sue blew it for us,’” Kawalerski wrote in an email to the 16,500 or so residents that the CGNA represents. “You see, they will use me as their scapegoat for their neglect of duty and obligation to protect the city and the residents.”
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago caves on election change; wants public vote
This is about more than one board member. It’s about silencing dissent, again, so the commission can keep approving density projects under the radar, and keeping residents in the dark.
The timing is no accident. Developers want those parcels freed up, the county wants to flex RTZ, and city leaders don’t want any more uncomfortable questions about who’s really steering an unprecedented growth in the Gables. This is not about removing Kawalerski because of her behavior. This is about a plan to get massive projects rubber-stamped by the P&Z board — with new members like former Miami-Dade Transit Director Alice Bravo (more on that later) — and keep residents in the dark until it’s too late.
It’s also a warning to everyone else who sits on a city board: Don’t get cute. Don’t get curious. Don’t get independent.
“Removing her does not just remove a board member, it removes a resident’s voice at the table,” Castro told Political Cortadito. “That is a step backward for transparency, accountability and the democratic process that should guide every decision in Coral Gables.”
But it’s a step forward for Lago and his developer friends.
The post Coral Gables moves to ‘fire’ longtime activist from planning zoning board appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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