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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It’s good to have friends at City Hall. Just ask Chelsea Granell.
The longtime Coral Gables staffer — who was Mayor Vince Lago‘s chief of staff with no staff — quietly got another sweet little promotion in June. She’s now the director of Governmental Affairs  — basically the city’s chief lobbyist — leading legislative the municipality’s strategy at the local, state, and federal levels. The position gives her direct access to the movers and shakers in Tallahassee and D.C. She’ll be the city’s point person on legislative funding, preemption threats, and policy alignment.
The title bump comes with a pay bump of 10%. Granell, now makes $110,300 a year. She previously made $91,165 as chief of staff, a position that Lago invented just for her, because he really had no staff. One part-timer for a few months but that’s it.
Granell also had the inside track for the city lobbyist job. There was no job posting. No pool of candidates. City Manager Peter Iglesias — who was brought back to his position by Lago in May — just handed her the job. It was a direct appointment. Was he paying back the favor?
This move also puts her under the supervision of the city manager. So Lago is no longer her boss — directly. But he is Iglesias’ boss.
City spokeswoman Martha Pantin told the Coral Gables Gazette, which first broke the story, that this is “strictly a title change.” Yeah, a title change with a 10% raise. City Hall says the pay bump is “customary.” Tell that to the cops and firefighters. The guys who pick up the garbage and fill the potholes.
But even if it is some automatic HR policy, what might not be so customary is changing  the job description dramatically to make your preferred candidate eligible.
Because the old job description for the previous version of this job — Government Affairs Manager, back when it was held by Fernando Weiner and before him Naomi Levi Garcia — required a Juris Doctor from an ABA-accredited law school. In other words, a law degree. A requirement was that one had to be a lawyer.
But for Granell’s appointment? Poof. That requirement disappeared. Now all you need is a bachelor’s in poli sci or something “related.” How convenient.
Read related: Mayor Vince Lago brings Peter Iglesias back as Coral Gables city manager
Instead, Granell holds a real estate license. Maybe that swung in her favor?
Chelsea Granell and Vince Lago at the Alhambra Parc launch event earlier this year.
Remember, she was one of the real estate agents, with Lago, who hung their license at Rosa Commercial Real Estate, the brokerage firm owned by former Hialeah Councilman Oscar de la Rosa, stepson of Hialeah Mayor Esteban “Stevie” Bovo, and that got a $640,000 commission for the sale of a Ponce de Leon building to Location Ventures and developer Rishi Kapoor, who we was also paying Miami Mayor Francis Suarez at least $170,000 for “consulting” while seeking approvals for a development in Miami.
To be fair, Granell also has a Master of Public Administration from FIU. And she is no City Hall newbie. She’s been climbing the Gables ladder since 2014, from senior commission liaison to chief of community engagement (are those two jobs really different?) to her recent post managing the mayor, er, Ladra means his office. Before going to the Gables, according to her LinkedIn profile, Granell worked for a year as a special projects analyst at Miami-Dade County’s housing department.
According to the city’s website, she led Coral Gables’ participation in the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge in 2018, netting the city a $100,000 innovation grant. She’s also not new to the sausage-making machine in Tallahassee, and reportedly helped secure $2.5 million in state funding in 2022. So that’s what earned her this position? Something she did three years ago?
Maybe it’s because she was a judge in the Miss Miami Competition earlier this year?
Read related: Mayor Vince Lago’s personal affair with chief of staff becomes campaign fodder
None of that explains why the bar was quietly lowered — unless, of course, to make her eligible because they don’t want anyone else.
“Chelsea has been employed by the City since 2014 and has developed a deep institutional knowledge,” Iglesias wrote in a Human Resources form justifying the direct appointment. “She has gained policy expertise, legislative insight, and stakeholder-management skills that closely mirror those required for the Governmental Affairs Director position.”
In other words: “She’s one of ours.”
Granell’s closeness to Mayor Lago — and rampant rumors that she is more than just his staffer — might be a better explanation. Las malas lenguas are split on this: It’s either a reward for good behavior or a payment for silence and amnesia.
Meanwhile, Granell isn’t just climbing in the Gables. She also sits on the Florida League of Cities’ Municipal Operations Committee, the Miami-Dade Commission for Women (she was Kevin Cabrera‘s appointment and, perhaps, as another favor to Lago. and is a card-carrying member of the American Society for Public Administration. Her resume has all the right acronyms. Ladra suspects she may run for office.
And what about the role she left behind? According to the Gazette, Lago hired two new staffers to split Granell’s former duties — Lora Lastra as Chief of Community Outreach and Nicole Guevara as an administrative assistant — at a combined cost of $119,000.
But what’s got eyebrows raised — except Vince Lago’s perfectly coifed ones — it’s how quietly this was done, and why the legal requirement was changed without so much as a peep to the public. Key words: Personal palanca.
Because in Coral Gables, transparency is optional, loyalty is currency, and the mayor’s favorites get special treatment.
The post In Coral Gables, mayor Vince Lago’s chief of staff gets promotion, pay bump appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Melissa Castro suggests ballot language for referendum
The city of Miami’s court battle to move municipal elections from odd to even years — effectively cancelling this year’s mayoral and commission races and extending electeds’ terms by a year — may have reverberations in Coral Gables, where the commission voted to move the elections from April of odd years to November of even years.
Same sin. Different direction.
Miami-Dade Judge Valerie Manno Schurr — in a lawsuit brought by former Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who is running for Miami mayor — already ruled last week that the city violated its own charter and the county charter when commissioners approved an ordinance changing the election date. The city appealed, but the reaction to oral arguments heard Tuesday indicate that they are going to lose that, too.
Read related: Third DCA seems skeptical of Miami city election change, cancellation
Manno Schurr’s ruling hinged on one self-evident truth: You don’t mess with the lengths of electeds’ terms without going to the people who put them in office in the first place. Period. Whether you’re adding months or shaving them off, it’s not up to mayors and commissioners with itchy calendar fingers. It’s up to the voters.
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, and Commissioners Ariel Fernandez and Richard Lara voted in May to move the next municipal election from April 2027 to November 2026 — skipping a referendum entirely, just like Miami did. Except now Miami’s in legal hot water, maybe The City Beautiful should reconsider.
Nope, they doubled down, instead. Lago, Anderson and Lara, did anyway. While Fernandez was away for health reasons, the commission last month discussed joining with other cities to rebuff any legal challenges from the state.
City Attorney Cristina Suarez has issued a formal legal opinion stating that the change is “legally sufficient in accordance with applicable law.” But it is a non-binding and advisory opinion only. Is that her way of saying it won’t hold up in court?
Read related: Miami-Dade Judge: Miami Commission can’t cancel election without public vote
Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro, the lone holdout on the vote to change the election — the same one who got censured by her “colleagues” for having the independent gumption to ask the Florida Attorney General about it (how dare she!) — wants the commission to reconsider. She told Political Cortadito she was not going to back down.
“Elected officials just deciding on their own that they are going to serve a year more or a year less? What is that? That’s a very dangerous precedent, that’s what it is,” Castro said.
“People — not politicians — have the sole right to decide when elections are held,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “It was the voters who put officials in office, and it is the voters alone who must decide if and when election dates change. Bypassing the people and moving elections without their approval is not only unethical, it’s illegal and unconstitutional under the Miami-Dade County Charter and Florida Constitution.
“I will fight tirelessly to defend your right to vote and ensure your voice is never silenced by political maneuvering,” she said, referring to the censure, which is like a slap on the wrist from elected colleagues. Unenforceable, but meant to chill dissent.
“Democracy belongs to the people, and I will never back down from protecting it,” Castro said.
She asked the city attorney on Tuesday to a draft a resolution for the first August meeting directing that a ballot question be presented to the electorate, asking whether they prefer Coral Gables municipal elections to continue being held in April, as has been the tradition for nearly 100 years, or be moved to November.
“The question must be binding, and the result should determine the city’s future election schedule,” Castro wrote in an email. And in order to make it super easy and trnsparent, she wants the ballot language to be simple: Under the title “Selection of Municipal Election Date,” voters will be asked to check a box for when they want to have future municipal elections — in April “dedicated local election focused on city issues” or November “combined with national and state elections.”
Read related: Coral Gables commissioner Melissa Castro challenges election date change
And what if someone blocks her or censures her again? Well, she might just take it to Gov. DeSantis.
“I won’t hesitate to take it further,” Castro wrote in an email to Gables residents last week. “I will continue siding firmly on the side of the law, transparency and, most importantly, the people.”
But let’s be real: Coral Gables doesn’t need Tallahassee swooping in to clean up its mess. What it needs is a little bit of spine and a whole lot of common sense.
Because even if the reasons for the change — higher turnout, lower costs, civic alignment — are legit, process still matters. Democracy doesn’t get waived for convenience. And a 4-1 commission vote deciding for 46,000 Gables voters when their elections happen? That’s not leadership. That’s laziness.
Gables commissioners have a choice. They can dig in their heels and go into a losing legal battle. Or they can put their trust in the people who elected them and let the voters decide, in a way that they know their next elected is going to serve a shorter term.
Ladra knows which one smells more like sunshine and less like naranja agria. Does Mayor Lago?
Because if the commission doesn’t do it now, a judge might do it later — and by then, it could be messier. And costlier.
Just ask the folks at Miami City Hall. (Assuming they’re not too busy appealing everything.)
The post Judge calls Miami election change unconstitutional; is Coral Gables next? appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Looks like Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago was playing with fire when he went on a full verbal assault of the firefighters union president at a public commission meeting earlier this month. And what are firefighters good at? Putting out fires that are out of control.
IAFF Local 1210, the city’s firefighter union, just slapped the mayor with a cease-and-desist letter (posted below) that should douse the hothead with a good jarra de agua fria. Apparently, L’Ego’s July 1 rant — where he lobbed insult after insult at union President David Perez (who, by the way, wasn’t even there to defend himself) — got their attention.
And, also, a nice, formal legal warning from one of the most respected firefighter labor attorneys in the state, who must have taken a Tums after he watched the video of the meeting and called the tirade what it is: sour grapes and political retaliation.
“It is clear from the video that you are upset the Local 1210 failed to endorse you in your last political campaign. That disappointment does not, however, justify these unlawful personal attacks,” wrote attorney James Brantley, who’s been doing this kind of work for over 45 years — longer than Lago’s been in politics, though maybe not longer than he’s been dyeing his hair.
In a three-page letter, Brantley, who was a firefighter for 28 years, says the mayor’s behavior was not only “unprofessional and threatening,” but it “creates a hostile work environment” and could easily be interpreted as union-busting.
“Most disturbing is that these comments were made by you, in your official capacity as Mayor of the City of Coral Gables, against an active employee of the City. These comments were understood as a threat,” Brantly wrote.
Florida’s Public Employees Relations Act was written to prevent elected officials from interfering in union representation.
But Vinnie doesn’t let labor law or democracy stop him from running his mouth, does he?
Read related: Coral Gables fire department flunks reaccreditation attempt — for now
Let’s recap what Lyin’ Lago said at the dais on July 1, shall we?
“This is what you call politics. Politics at its finest,” Lago said. And he’s right about that. But it’s him who is playing political theater. He brought up the union at the meeting because of a true and accurate story in the resurrected Coral Gables Gazette about the fire department’s deferred reaccreditation. Rather than address the legitimate concerns, Lago decided it was an opportunity to unload on Perez in a public meeting — without rebuttal, without facts, and, most importantly, without class.
“This is David Perez, the head of the union, the same guy who goes out there and goes scorched earth on people, on their family. He went home by home spreading rumors about me, handing out ridiculous flyers,” Lago said about Perez and the union endorsement of his opponent, former Commissioner Kirk Menendez, Because, you know, democracy. Ladra didn’t see any flyers, btw, that attacked his family.
“We have amazing firefighters in this community, they are not represented by David Perez,” Lago said, because now he’s just delusional. And disrespectful to them because they did choose him. “The union should wise up and get rid of David Perez and move on.
“David Perez is a disservice to the city. He’s not a professional. He’s a disservice to the fire union. He’s a disservice to the fire brand. And all he does is hurt himself and hurt this community,” Lago went on, for almost four minutes. “He thinks that by attacking and attacking and attacking and attacking, he’s going to achieve some sort of goal for the fire department. All he does is embarrass the fire department and himself.”
And Ladra says Lago should look in the mirror.
“He’s shown time and time again that he’s nothing but a mere pathetic individual who is desperate for attention,” he said.
He must own a couple of mirrors, doesn’t he?
Okay, now, let’s set the vampire’s record straight:

Lie: Lago called Perez a “pathetic individual,” and accused him of “hiding in the shadows.” Truth: Lago does not return Ladra’s calls and hides his attacks on his opponents through a political action committee. Perez has been to the city commission to speak and publicly confront Lago about his lies on several occasions. What’s pathetic was Lago’s show.
Lie: Lago claimed Perez “puts out falsehoods.” Truth: Lago is the one who sends misleading texts to voters through his PAC and has repeatedly lied to residents about shortages at the police and fire departments. He also dramatically signed an affidavit swearing to have no family members tied to Little Gables when his brother was a lobbyist for the largest property owner in the unincorporated Miami-Dade enclave that the mayor was desperately trying to annex into the city. That is putting out real falsehoods. The lies became so egregious during the campaign, that the fire union and police union issued a joint statement to set the record straight.
Lie: The mayor flat-out declared that Perez “does not represent the fire union.” Truth: Much as Lago was elected by the voters, Perez was elected by a majority of the firefighters to represent them. In fact, he represents them so well that they elected him twice. Perhaps Lago’s hate only helps Perez keep getting elected.
Lie: Lago says all Perez does “is hurt himself and this community.” Truth: Perez has been a firefighter in Coral Gables for almost 15 years. Before that he worked at the county’s emergency management department. He only helps the community. Lago wants to force the annexation of Little Gables down the city taxpayers’ throats, even though overwhelmingly rejected it.

Read related: Coral Gables police, fire union: Lying Vince Lago is no pal of public safety
Brantley didn’t mince words in the July 24 missive to the mayor, which reads more like a legal flamethrower than a letter.
“Your public comment suggesting that the men and women of the Coral Gables Fire Department should ‘wise up and get rid of David Perez’ was clearly intended to interfere with the rights of Coral Gables Fire Department bargaining unit employees to be represented by a union of their choosing, a right that includes the right to select the union leadership of their choosing,” he wrote.
The letter also references the Firefighter Bill of Rights. Apparently, someone could infer, from Lago’s words, that Perez is under investigation when he is not. And saying so in a public meeting that is broadcast live and recorded for anyone to see later is illegal.
Brantley said the union had gone as far as to make a public records request for any complaints or investigations into Perez. To see, you know, if Lago was bluffing. “If, on the other hand, no such records exist, then accept this letter as a demand that your comments suggesting otherwise cease immediately.”
Because he knows what all his favorite servers at Bachour know: That his  diatribe from the dais was nothing more than part of the his revenge tour, targeting everyone who didn’t support him and his lackeys in April’s election, including IAFF Local 1210. In fact, Perez drove around with Menendez in a golf cart during the campaign. Because, you know, democracy.
And while that may have bruised his fragile ego (and his vote count), it doesn’t give the mayor a license to trash the union’s elected leader on the dais like it’s open mic night at Versailles.
Let’s not forget the backup singer on this track: Commissioner Richard Lara, who chimed in with his own carefully considered suggestion — after little more than two months in office — that Perez should “resign his employment.”
What a lovely duet. They could bring in Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, who called the article “fear mongering,” and name the band Political Retaliation. It’s a whole new genre. Instead of grunge, it’s called grudge.
Brantley also referred to Lara in his letter, saying the commissioner’s words “were intended to chill employee support for [Perez] as a Union leader, and therefore also serve to violate Section 447.501, Florida Statutes.”
The letter from the IAFF attorney was copied to City Manager Peter Iglesias, Fire Chief Marcos De La Rosa, — who had his own long brown-nosing speech on July 1 — Human Resources Director Raquel Elejabarrieta, and City Attorney Cristina Suarez, who might be stocking up on Maalox right about now (someone should forward it to PERC). It warns that the fire union is ready to “defend itself and its elected leaders to the full extent available under the law.”
Plus, this is the only warning the city is going to get. If Lago continues to violate labor laws and create a hostile work environment for Perez, there may not be another letter. Just a subpeona.
The union sees it as part of a pattern of retaliation: first the budget fights, then the policy shifts, and now this. It isn’t just another spat between the mayor and the firefighters union. This is about intimidation, abuse of power, and the absolute tone-deafness of a mayor who should know better.
Lago didn’t just pick a fight with a union leader. He picked a fight with an entire department of beloved firefighters — the very people who run into burning buildings while politicians throw gasoline on arguments.
This could be the fuel that finally leads Lago’s political career to go up in smoke.
Prende una velita.
Cease & desist to Gables Mayor Lago by Political Cortadito on Scribd

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The latest campaign finance reports for the Coral Gables election show that newly-elected Commissioner Richard Lara spent more than three quarters of a million dollars to win the race for Group 3, which went into a runoff in April against activist and attorney Tom Wells. Between his own campaign account and Coral Gables First, which is Mayor Vince Lago‘s political action committee, Lara raised more than $813,000 and spent at least $753,650, according to the reports.
Lara won with 55% of the vote. He had 4,359 of the city’s registered voters cast ballots for him. That means he spent $173 on each vote. At least it’s less than in Miami’s special election last month to replace the late commissioner Manolo Reyes, where Ralph Rosado’s campaign spent about $545 per vote (more on that later).
Meanwhile, in the City Beautiful, Wells spent about $5.50 a vote.
Money doesn’t always win these races. We’ve seen that in the Gables with the 2023 election of commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez, who were outspent by their opponents, both of whom also got the support of the mayor’s PAC. But this year, the dollars did count.
Lara spent almost $200,000 on advertising through consultant Alex Miranda. He also gave Nicolas Cabrera, son of former Commissioner Ralph Cabrera, $1,500 as a campaign consultant, but he was really a body man, which is a personal assistant who provides close, on-the-ground support, handling logistical and personal needs. Maybe Cabrera posted the pics on Instagram. But he was not the campaign consultant.
That honor goes to Jesse Mazano, Lago’s own political consultant, whose firm Berthier Group got paid $76,747 from the Gables First PAC. More than $35,000 of that was for text messaging. Voters told Ladra they were getting texts daily at one point.
The PAC also spent almost $34,000 on direct mail, which were reportedly also arriving daily toward the end of the runoff.
That’s almost twice as much as Wells spent on his entire campaign, which was $19,421 — all out of his own pocket. Wells spent $5,656 on mail-outs, $3,080 on yard signs and a whole $244.57 on text messaging, according to his report.
But who really paid for Lara’s victory? Well, a quick analysis of the latest contribution show that developers and lobbyists were particularly generous. Between the PAC and the bundles of maximum $1,000 checks to the campaign, the big donors include:

Developer Stuart Miller, executive chairman and co-chief executive officer of Lennar Corporation, gave $50,000
Dagrosa Capital Partners, the real estate developing firm where Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is senior partner, gave $25,000.
Developer Tomas Cabrerizo, who sold his Gables home in March for $14 million, gave at least $25,000 — $20K to the PAC and $5,000 in bundled checks to the Lara campaign.
Benjamin Leon, the medicare mogul recently appointed ambassador to Spain by President Donald Trump, and a serial campaign contributor, gave at least $17,000 through his companies and relatives to both the PAC and the Lara campaign.
Developer Allan Morris, whose firm is building the luxury residential Ponce Park Residences tower, gave $10,000 to the PAC
Jorge Mas, the developer of, among other things, Miami Freedom Park, gave $15,000 from his multiple companies.
Companies linked to developer Armando Codina gave $10,000 between the PAC and the Lara campaign
Lobbyist Manny Kadre gave $10,000 to the PAC between his own money and his firm’s.
Alex Pirez, who owns MOCCA Construction, gave $8,000
Saulo Perez, real estate investor and broker, gave $5,000.
Developer Ignazio Caltagirone, who is building a luxury townhome project on Palermo Avenue, gave $5,000.
Tatiana Pino, the widow of developer Sergio Pino — who committed suicide last year during a police investigation about hiring a hitman to kill his wife — gave $3,000 through the companies she now controls.
Developer Rogelio Tovar gave $3,000 in bundled checks to the Lara campaign.

Everybody knows that there is now way that Lara would have raised more than $813,000 all by himself. He would not have gotten most of those campaign funds if not for L’Ego, who pushed him to run.
Well, so far, Lara has been nothing but an echo for both the mayor and Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson. He hasn’t added anything new to the conversation about anything or offered any new and different ideas.
It seems people got what they paid for.
The post Coral Gables: Developers, lobbyists lead, giving $753K to elect Richard Lara appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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‘Conflicting data’ and lack of strategic plan cited
The Coral Gables Fire Department has flunked a national assessment that evaluates the agency’s performance, response and delivery of fire emergency services to the community, resulting in the failure to get re-accreditation for the first time in decades.
But the mayor and the fire chief say it’s no big deal. The city can take the test again in about a year.
The department’s reaccreditation — which marks an agency’s commitment to excellence — was denied in April. Deferred is the official term. Which is government speak for denied for now.
In a very polite but unmistakably scathing letter, the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (that’s the big leagues, gente) let Fire Chief Marcos De La Rosa know that the Coral Gables Fire Department’s bid for reaccreditation was — how do we say this gently? — a big nananina.
People should not believe the hype at last week’s city commission meeting from De La Rosa, who acted like an administration cheerleader rattling off a far too long monologue of achievements — this many hires, that many fire stations built — and “the greatest fire enhancement since 1993.” He said that with a straight face. Just like  how the department “led in the response and recovery of COVID.” Which was in 2020.
Shouldn’t they have more recent wins?
De La Rosa — who at one point wanted to fire 40% of the fire department as the fire chief in Hialeah (2009-2013) — was there at the request of Commissioner Melissa Castro, who fielded concerns after a story on the letter was published in the new, resurrected Coral Gables Gazette, which has already earned the ire and disapproval of Mayor Vince Lago — so you know they’re doing something right.
The fire chief said the deferral didn’t have any real life effect on the residents or businesses in the city. It does not affect insurance rates or the city’s ability to get grants, he said. That might be true. The city still has accreditation, after all. And insurance rates are based on the ISO (Insurance Service Office) classification, and the Gables is still a Class A.
But that’s completely irrelevant. Neither the letter nor the story mentioned insurance rates or grants.
And it seemed, from the language and tone of the statement that de la Rosa read from the podium, that his response was written by Lago himself.
“It is unfortunate that the very process that we use to push ourselves to be the best… is misrepresented with a political rhetoric of unsubstantiated allegations that have been presented time and time again in various venues,” De La Rosa read, adding that he was there “to address some of the allegations that were made in the post that were, frankly, made to create community concern and outcry.”
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago scores trifecta on post-election revenge tour
He was really there, however, to give Lago a match to light under the union leadership, specifically President David Perez, something the mayor has done repeatedly and increasingly as they have supported his political opponents. In a long-winded attack, Lago blamed Perez for disclosing the letter, which Perez told Political Cortadito on Wednesday that he knew nothing about until it was published in the Gazette. It doesn’t matter. This gives the mayor political cover to go after him. He even got his shiny new puppet, newly-elected Commissioner Richard Lara, who has been in office for ten minutes, to suggest Perez resign from the department if he was the one that leaked the letter.
Huh? This letter is supposed to be a secret? Of course it is. What else does Lara not want Gables residents to know?
Let’s blame everybody else and keep the attention away from the contents of the letter, shall we? Because the official letter from CFAI, which is posted below, speaks for itself. Here are some Ladra-picked highlights:
After reviewing the department’s self-assessment, community risk analysis, and so-called “strategic plan,” the CFAI team unanimously decided that they’d rather not waste the gas on a site visit. Not this year, thank you. Not with those documents.
“Supportive materials lacked detail,” wrote Jim White, CFAI program manager at the Center for Public Safety Excellence.
Translation? Y’all made it up and hoped we wouldn’t notice.
They also pointed out that the department still hasn’t implemented annual program appraisals they were already told to do in a prior recommendation. So, either nobody read the last report, or someone at Station 1 is allergic to calendars.
Then there’s the strategic plan — or should we say, the strategic suggestion list? According to CFAI, the Gables Fire Department’s plan is really just a mishmash of city-wide goals and some loose program ideas duct-taped together and labeled “strategy.”
Apparently, asking people what they want before writing goals would’ve helped, too. The department’s “stakeholder engagement” process was so informal, it probably involved someone shouting questions from the new public safety building to pedestrians across the street.
Wait, there’s more.
The “Community Risk Assessment/Standards of Cover,” which is supposed to show how the fire department protects actual people based on real risk, was riddled with inconsistencies and contradictions.
The planning zones? Not fully defined.
The benchmarks? Based on geography — not population density.
The data? “Conflicting” numbers about response times, call volumes, and demographics. Which is super comforting, especially if your house is on fire. Let’s hope and pray someone read the right spreadsheet.
Read related: Coral Gables police, fire union: Lying Vince Lago is no pal of public safety
And while the CFAI folks were gracious enough to offer a second chance — with a Sept. 30 deadline to update those shoddy documents (or, if they really can’t get it together, March 31, 2026) — it seems evident that unless the department brings receipts, references, and something resembling accuracy, this accreditation train won’t be making a stop in Coral Gables, even next year.
The city has been instructed to “track changes” between now and then, because, well, nothing says professional fire safety planning like Microsoft Word’s editing tools, am I right?
De La Rosa blamed the findings on the lack of documentation — a real Sherlock Holmes, here — and called the criticism “an administrative deferral that gave us more time to meet” requirements or criteria. “Specifically an internal departmental strategic plan and an enhanced community risk assessment.”
Oh? Is that all?
Pero, por supuesto, the fire chief didn’t address any of those concerns. His speech was more like a pep rally or campaign stump than an actual response to the issues raised in the letter. There was lots of talk about the “core mission” being public safety and the “public trust” that the men and women of the department hold dear. Lots of talk about the “Coral Gables brand,” which De La Rosa is quick to instill in every veteran and new recruit.
He even had stickers printed up to hand out.
De La Rosa also failed to mention any problems with the city’s newish $4 million computer-aided dispatch system, installed in 2023 that, sources say, could be the reason for the “conflicting data” and documentation issues.
But hey, now that the public is aware of and heated about the fire department’s performance and assessment, maybe it will spark some real discussion that isn’t a blame game and political theater.
Or maybe it all goes up in smoke.
Coral Gables Fire Department FL Letter of Deferral by Political Cortadito on Scribd

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