Mayor proposes paying commissioners $1 a year
If the voters in Coral Gables thought that the animosity on the commission and the toxic rhetoric from the mayor was going to end with last month’s election, they have another thing coming. Freshly re-elected with a solid 55% of the vote, Mayor Vince Lago, emboldened by his and his slate’s victories, is doubling down on the hate and disrespect, seemingly hellbent on revenge.
Such a sore winner.
It’s not just because he’s going to roll back the raises and car allowances that commissioners gave themselves in 2023. That was a campaign promise. If that’s what the voters want, and he’s following through.
But Lago wants to go further.
There are two items on the commission salary in Tuesday’s agenda. One of them will roll the salaries back to what it was  before the trio of Commissioners Melissa Castro, Ariel Fernandez and former Commissioner Kirk Menendez, approved the raises in the 2023 budget. But just so that readers know what this means financially: The mayor’s salary will go from $69,000 a year back to $47,400. The vice mayor’s will go from $67,000 back to $41,475 and the commissioners’ pay will go from getting $65,000 annually to $38,500. That’s a total savings of $75,625 a year,
And you get what you pay for.
Read related: Vince Lago, Rhonda Anderson handily coast to re-election in Coral Gables
But the other “proposed ordinance” would cut their salaries to $1 a year — starting with the very next paycheck.
That’s not political retaliation? Is that what voters want, too? This is more than just “elections have consequences.” It is why Lago doesn’t mention the $1 option in a self-aggrandizing piece he wrote for Community Newspapers.
And for whoever thinks that is not targeting Fernandez and Castro, a single mother that Lago has repeatedly disrespected in public, take a look at the second part of the ordinance: “Beginning October 1, 2026 the compensation would revert to the 2022-2023 fiscal year salary and expense allowances, including those increases tied to the annual increases in the CPI-W as provided in section 2-29 of the City Code.”
So, the mayor and the commissioners get their old salaries back with regular raises — 17 months from now — and for the six months or so that Castro and Fernandez will have left in office before their term is up. That sounds fair and non retaliatory at all.
Because it seems way too harsh, some have speculated that Lago is using that option as leverage to get the other items passed, which include the elimination of the car allowance, a requirement to get a four-fifths vote prior to spending any general reserve monies (unless there is a declared state of emergency), the addition of two new members to the charter review committee, to be appointed by the city manager and city attorney, and a rollback of commission expense accounts from $10,000 too $5,000 a year — for a whopping savings of $25,000.
But, wait. Lago goes further on this one, too.
The resolution also “amends the policy for allowable uses,” it says. Those uses include event tickets and donations to schools, which are understandable, but it also includes mass mailings and the printing of materials — like, say, the welcome packets that Castro gives to new homeowners with a lot of useful information.
Seems really petty. And certainly not in the best interest of the city. This is all revenge. The cost of opposing the great Lago.
There’s also an item to change the rules on public comments. That one may as well be called the Maria Cruz ordinance because it aims to limit public comments to only specific items on the agenda or the public comment period. Maria Cruz is a gadfly activist that speaks on many issues, sometimes too many issues. She used to be Lago’s buddy, but has become one of his most outspoken critics and led the failed recall against him last year. This is just a way to silence her. And others.
But remember, Lago is all about transparency.
Read related: Vince Lago scores with Richard Lara’s Coral Gables commission runoff win
As usual, Lago did not return calls and texts to his phone. But in that Community Newspaper piece, he writes his proposed changes will “bring clarity and decorum back to our public meetings.”
Lago also wants to put two questions on the ballot: One would ask citizens if they want to establish an Inspector General and the other would ask them if they want to convene a charter review committee every 10 years beginning in 2035 — which sounds like a way to get rid of the charter review committee for 10 years. Aren’t they supposed to convene after every U.S. Census?
But the mayor won’t risk the election date change on a referendum. He will try to do that by ordinance on Tuesday. Because he really doesn’t care whether the people of Coral Gables want it or not, and he’s not going to take the same chance as he did with the annexation of Little Gables, which voters overwhelmingly rejected. He’s not going to leave it up to them.
That item on the agenda Tuesday would change the date of the next general election from April 13, 2027 to November 03, 2026, and moving all subsequent elections to November. This would result in a four-month reduction for everyone. But for Castro and Fernandez, first. It would also expand the runoff period from two weeks to four and move the swearing-in date to five weeks after the election. Both the next election and the ballot questions would be on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot.
So, basically, by the end of Tuesday, Coral Gables may change the way it’s elected its commission for 100 years. Happy centennial!
Unless, that is, either Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and newly-elected Commissioner Richard Lara — who Lago thinks he has in his pocket — insist on this going to the voters. As said in Political Cortadito before, this will be Lara’s first test. Lago is not wasting any time testing his loyalty. Will herbier stamp everything? Or push back a little?
It’s possible that Lara is the only option. Anderson was heard telling someone who asked her to let bygones be bygones that “you reap what you sow.”
That means Richard Lara could very quickly become the most powerful person on the city commission as the swing vote. Both sides will rely on him for support.
There’s also a discussion item on the city manager, which was a central point of Lago’s re-election campaign — and his revenge tour.
Read related: Coral Gables Vince Lago may move to bring back City Manager Peter Iglesias
Several people have tried to convince Lago not to fire City Manager Alberto Parjus and hire former city manager Peter Iglesias back. “But he was my mentor,” Lago reportedly whined to the city clerk in the parking lot at the flag raising ceremony for the centennial, where a business leader took Lago aside for a word of advice: Stop it. Okay, two words.
Several city employees and supporters — including his campaign manager Jesse Manzano and former Miami-Dade Commissioner Kevin Cabrera, before he left for his post as U.S. Ambassador to Panama — reportedly asked him to keep his cool and, specifically, not to fire Parjus. They said he’s not feeling it and would rather “blow everything up.”
“He’s off the rails,” is what one Gables insider said.
In other words, he’s going nuclear. Scorched Earth mode.
L’Ego isn’t letting up on the public meltdowns and personal attacks on Commissioner Castro, either. The incident at El Carnaval de Barranquilla last weekend — where Lago called her names in front of her 8-year-old son and refused to stand on stage with her and the organizers — was not an isolated event. On Thursday, at the ribbon cutting for Plenitude Spa on Aragon Avenue, Lago made a repeat performance — refusing to stand with and walking away from a group photo with Castro — and even told someone, in captured cellphone video, that he was not going to stop behaving like a toddler and disrespecting her.
“This is the way it’s going to be from now on, until the next election,” he is heard saying to someone. Ladra thinks it is Belkys Perez, the city’s Economic Development Director. “This is the way it’s going to be.”
Somehow, Ladra doesn’t think this is what the voters wanted when they returned him to office.
The next election is in 2027 and the mayor just threatened to humiliate and embarrass an opposing commissioner for two years.
Oh, wait. Shave four months off that.
Earlier, when he was standing at one end of the group photo and Castro at the other, Lago broke out of the line, like a true diva. “I can’t. I can’t. I won’t,” he said, and you could almost see him bring the back of his hand to his forehead. Oh, the agony!
“Listen, Belkys, Belkys, I will not take any pictures unless they’re…” and the cellphone video sound trails off because Lago is not the focus of the event. Even though he thinks he ought to be. The mayor is heard again when he raises his voice to direct the show. “So, let’s take a picture the three of us and then take a picture with the commissioner after. Let’s respect that. Let’s do that.”
People look uncomfortable.
He also refused to cut the ribbon with Castro. “There has to be a standard here,” Lago is heard saying. “You can either have the actual mayor or you can have the commissioner.
But you’re not going to have both.”
¡Que pena! What a show!
Just outside the door, as Castro is taking her pictures, is when he is caught in the background, talking to Perez, probably. “Nope. You do enough damage to my family, to my wife and my kids, I gotta draw the line,” Lago said.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago lashes out at Commissioner Melissa Castro
Castro doesn’t know what he’s talking about. She has seen Mrs. Lago maybe twice ever — the woman is not as visible as Mrs. Francis Suarez — and never uttered a word to her or his daughters, she said.
“Mayor Lago has made it clear both through his actions and his words that he intends to wear me down,” Castro told Political Cortadito. “He even said he was going to have me at ‘pico y pala.’ That phrase is used to describe someone being broken down bit by bit. This is not just disrespected, it’s targeted, intentional and deeply inappropriate behavior from someone in pubic office.
“When the mayor says he’s going to have me ‘a pico y pala,’ he’s admitting what so many of us already see: This is about power, not service,” Castro said. “It’s about breaking a woman down, not building a city up. But I was elected by the people and I will not let anyone chip away at my voice.
“He intends to wear me down, humiliate me repeatedly or break my spirit little by little,” Castro said. “These public power plays only hurt the very people we’re here to support — our residents and local businesses.
“It’s upsetting to be treated this way in front of our community, especially as a woman, a mother and an elected official.”
Ironically, when Lago went to say a few words at last week’s ribbon cutting — he went on and on about how much he respects women. “I always like to see women entrepreneurs,” he said to the women who own and operate the spa. “And as the father of two young girls I’m pushing them to be exactly like you.
“We need strong women who do the right thing, take risks and start a business,” he said.
Ladra half expected him to be struck by lightning.
The post Post-election Vince Lago revenge tour in Coral Gables = political retaliation appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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The seven items that newly re-elected Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago asked the city clerk to put on the agenda for next week’s special meeting of the city commission include “addressing current city manager and protocols for hiring charter officers.”
Many have speculated that this means Lago will bring back former City Manager Peter Iglesias, who was unceremoniously fired in February of last year at Lago’s loud objections by a new majority on the commission that may have been reversed with this month’s elections. Iglesias has been spotted at high profile events lately — like the swearing-in ceremony, where Lago thanked him, and the centennial gala Tuesday night, where he was hobnobbing with the mayor through the crowd.
Las malas lenguas say that Lago campaigned on bringing Iglesias back. It’s ironic because there was a whisper campaign against attorney and Gables activist Tom Wells, who lost against Lara, that said he had made a deal to name former Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who lost the mayoral race to Lago in the first round April 8, the city manager.
It’s ridiculous. Or maybe it was projection.
At the swearing-in Friday, which was at the Coral Gables Police and Fire headquarters while City Hall undergoes renovations, the mayor — who beat Menendez and resident Michael Abbott — thanked his friends and supporters and then told Iglesias to “please stand to be recognized,” which he did and got applauded by the Lago-friendly, standing-room only crowd.
Then he proceeded to really lay it on thick.
“You embody everything that is right in government. You are the human spirit. You and I have disagreed, prior to you even being in the city of Coral Gables,” Lago said, referring to Iglesias prior job at the city of Miami and Vinnie’s private sector job in construction. “But you were always right because you did things humbly and you did things for the right reason.
“I am honored to be by your side.”
Be by your side? Not have been, but be?
By then, Lago had already told City Clerk Billy Urquia to schedule the special meeting.
Read related: Coral Gables manager fired, MIA Director Ralph Cutie could replace him
“Per my conversation with the City Attorney yesterday, April 23rd, I would like to call for a special commission meeting on May 6th to take up the following items,” Lago wrote to the city clerk on Thursday, two days attorney Richard Lara won the runoff. He numbered the items:

Commission meeting procedures/legislative protocols for sponsorship
Address Commission salaries
City election date
inspector general
Addressing current city manager and protocols for hiring charter officers
Addressing current Charter review
City reserves

Urquia told Ladra that the agenda will be posted on the city’s website on Thursday.
Three of those things on Lago’s list are similar to items that he tried but failed miserably to get on a referendum last year via petition — rescinding the salary increases approved in 2023, moving the municipal election from April to November and needing a super majority to dip into the reserves for operational or capital expenses.
But the first item, “commission meeting procedures/legislative protocols for sponsorship,” sounds like L’Ego is trying to further control the commissioners he doesn’t like by controlling when and how they can put items on the agenda. What else could it be?
Anderson, Lago and Lara — the new commission majority — at the centennial celebration this week.
Everyone, even Lago, thinks that Lara is going to be the mayor’s needed third vote to move his agenda along. They both campaigned on the same things. But one of those things was having a process for the selection of the city manager. If Lago fires City Manager Albert Parjus, or demotes him and rehires Iglesias, isn’t he doing the same thing he accused rival commissioners Melissa Castro, Ariel Fernandez and Menendez of doing?
Read related: Coral Gables skips search, hires new city manager Amos Rojas on the spot
How many times did he repeat the message that the city “has seen three city managers in two years”? He’s going to make it four?
Neither Lara nor Lago returned calls from Ladra, but several people close to Lago told Political Cortadito that they had advised him not to rock the boat by hiring Iglesias and to tone down the rhetoric.
This will be Lara’s first true test. The first-time elected said during the campaign that the Gables should have a process for the hiring of a city manager. Let’s see if he sticks to that.
“We have the most qualified city manager that we’re going to find,” Fernandez told Political Cortadito Wednesday, citing Parjus’ experience at the county and in the Gables, where he was hired by Iglesias as his No. 2. “We’re heading into the budget season. We are looking at possibly cutting the millage rate and eliminating or lowering the garbage fee.
“This is not the time to change city managers.”
Somewhere, Kathy Swanson Rivenbark is laughing and raising her martini.
The post Coral Gables Vince Lago may move to bring back City Manager Peter Iglesias appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Just one day after taking the oath of office and saying that he was ready to extend his hand to his colleagues and work together “not as factions divided by yesterday’s campaign, but as neighbors united in tomorrow’s purpose,” re-elected Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago lashed out at Commissioner Melissa Castro at the Carnaval de Barranquilla event in downtown Coral Gables.
He called her a “venomous snake” in front of several dignitaries and city staffers, refused to take a photograph with her and told others present that she was “bad news,” Castro told Political Cortadito late Saturday.
Read related: Coral Gables electeds sworn in; pledge unity, stability after bitter divisions
“He said he was going to ruin my life, that he was going to make sure I’m not elected in two years, that he’s going to get me out,” a shaken Castro said, shortly after she posted this video on her Instagram story.
“I am walking out of the Carnaval de Barranquilla festivities, where they called me to say a few words because I am the first Colombian commissioner in the last 100 years, and I am in disbelief right now at the disrespect and humiliation that Vince Lago has done to me in front of my child, right next to my child.” Castro says breathlessly, as she walks away from the event at Ponce Circle Park.
Her son, wearing a team shirt from La Seleccion Colombia, goes on the camera and testifies that Lago called Castro a snake.
“Actually, a venomous snake,” the 8-year-old corrects himself. “He wouldn’t take a picture with you and he pushed you aside,” he told his mother.
Nice, Vinnie. Looks like you’re learning how to treat women from your friend, former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla.
“It is not possible that he would treat a woman who has done nothing to him, and since Day One, he has attacked me,” Castro said in her Instagram post, visibly shaken and fighting off tears.
Castro told Ladra that the Colombian consular officials were shocked and didn’t know what to do. They asked her to please go on stage separately from him, to appease the mayor.
Lago did not return calls and texts to his phone. As usual. But sources who were there confirmed what happened, and one told Ladra the mayor has never before been to the event, now in it’s fourth year. So, it looks like he wanted to stir things up. The organizers will be lucky if he doesn’t take away the city’s sponsorship because organizers invited Castro to speak.
This is not the first time that Lago takes digs at Castro and Ladra has wondered if he maybe has a secret crush on her.
Read related: In Coral Gables, Melissa Castro calls out Vince Lago for his rudeness, disrespect
In 2023, five months after she was elected, she called him out for his disrespectful actions, which include not referring to them at events and cutting them out of photos he posts on social media. Saturday’s actions are much worse. It seems things are escalating.
One might think that winning his election and getting his slate elected, which gives Lago back the majority on the commission, would soften him up some. Turns out he’s just as much a sore winner as he is a sore loser. What’s Lago still so angry about?
And what can Castro do? People just re-elected this bully with 55% approval. The police chief is on his side. The city manager is on his side, having sent an email to residents five days before the election to say how great the city was doing.
She was so hopeful at the swearing-in ceremony, too.
“These past two years have been rocky, but I’m pretty sure that moving forward we will find civility, peace, harmony,” Castro said Friday, one day before she was “disrespected and humiliated” at Ponce Circle Park.
“If it was up to me, this would be a beautiful, united commission. I’m looking forward to great days again.”
Yeah, Ladra is pretty sure that she doesn’t feel that way now.
In an email late Saturday to Police Chief Ed Hudak, Castro said “his behavior was not only abusive but also a blatant attempt intimidate me into quitting. Despite my telling him that my child was present, he persisted.”
She seems to ask Hudak for police protection and makes a chilling statement: “Let me know how to document this please, and if anything happens to me after this email… let it be known that he is to blame.
“I am a woman and a harmless public servant who deserves respect and a safe environment. This tarnishes the image of Coral Gables and creates a hostile environment for public officials,” Castro wrote. “There were numerous witnesses to this outburst and his behavior demonstrates a pater of bullying and vindictiveness. The mayor’s vindictive actions, including his threats to ruin my life and remove me from my position over the next two years, are unacceptable.”
She said that Economic Development Director Belkis Perez and International Business Development Coordinator Leticia Perez witnessed the confrontation, “though they might be too intimidated to speak up given the mayor’s known vindictive nature.
“What’s most alarming is that the mayor felt emboldened to humiliate and disrespect me in front of numerous people, including my child. Crossing that line shows he has no scruples and is unhinged. I fear for my safety and what he might do next,” Castro wrote, requesting “immediate measures to ensure my safety at future public events and that the mayor be held accountable for his actions. This kind of behavior cannot continue.”
Unfortunately, Ladra is afraid that this type of behavior is just getting started.
The post Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago lashes out at Commissioner Melissa Castro appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Barbara Areces swore Rhonda Anderson in, saying it was well deserved. “This victory is not just a reflection of votes, its a resounding affirmation of your unwavering dedication, your integrity and your deep, sincere interest in doing what is best for Coral Gables,” Aceres told Anderson.
Anderson said she was moved by the overwhelming,ing support. She won every precinct.
“It was a reaffirmation of shared values and common vision for the future of Coral Gables. Thank you for placing your trust in me once again,” she said, adding that she would start her second term with “gratitude and resolve” and the same energy for protecting green space, tree canopy and “our unique sense of scale
“Coral Gables is a city defined by its beauty, its history and its people. We are stewards of a legacy that demands that we balance progress with preservation, growth with greenery, and change with care.”
Ladra loves the alliteration.
“This election was not about promises. It was about priorities. And the message I heard loud and clear is that you want a city and government that listens and acts with transparency and that leads with integrity,” Anderson said, adding that she, too, wants to “work together” with the commission to take steps toward that. “Steps that include restoring public trust, respecting our residents’ voices and ensuring fiscal responsibility. Leadership is not just about making decisions, its about protecting our values.”
Maybe it’s just me, but that sounded like a dig.
But nobody grandstands better than L’Ego, who was also sworn in by Judge Moreno and then got up from his seat for a big bear hug with Lara before he sat down again. Is Lara the new Mike Mena?
First, he just had to read a letter he got from Sen. Ashley Moody, the former state attorney general, calling him a great leader and then he thanked his family, supporters and city employees, even the fire and police departments, whose unions supported Menendez. He also congratulated Anderson and Commissioner Lara, which he said, “has a very nice ring to it.”
Then he started going into a whiny tirade about how difficult this election was.
“This campaign was unlike any other I’ve ever experienced in my life,” said Lago, who is entering his third term as mayor and was a commissioner for two terms before that. “It was marked not just by challenges of communicating our message to all our residents across this great city, but by an unprecedented level of discord, personal attacks, falsehoods and intimidation orchestrated by my opponents and those [unintelligable] forces with whom they found common sense, or cause.”
Say, what? ¡Que descarado!
The negative personal attacks, falsehoods and intimidation came in texts were sent by his political action committee. The whisper campaigns and vulgar social media posts were orchestrated by his supporters. This is the kind of gaslighting that Lyin’ Lago is very good at. We’re going to see a lot more of it now that he has a majority vote on the commission.
“Yet, through this trying time,” he said again, as if it were another pandemic or something, “the spirit of our great city remained unbroken. the good people of Coral Gables, drawing upon that timeless wisdom that has guided Americans through every trial, distinguished truth from falsehood, and chose the path of progress over the political feud. In their wisdom they stood strong, saw through the noise and voted for a track record and vision rooted in civility, transparency and service. This victory, therefore, is not just mine. It belongs to each and every resident who believes in a respectful, fact-based discourse and a government that puts residents first, not just in words, but in actions.”
Wow. There he goes again. That’s a direct dig at the “residents first” motto used by Fernandez.
“While others continue to play politics, we have never stopped working for the people of Coral Gables,” Lago said. “And I won’t stop. This victory is not only a mandate — let me repeat that, a mandate — to continue the progress we’ve made, it is also a clear referendum on the last two years of disfunction, poor decisions and misplaced priorities by the commission majority.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has a terrible track record with public safety
“The residents of Coral Gables have spoken with one clear voice. They want a return to transparency, stability and leadership the puts people before politics. With that in mind, I’m committed to working with my colleagues, old and new, to restore trust, focus on solutions and move our city forward.
“I look forward to our very next meting, where we will gather to begin this important work, not as factions divided by yesterday’s campaign, but as neighbors united in tomorrow’s purpose. So we go forward today as a community not divided by political gamesmanship but united by a shared commitment to progress.
“I extend my hand to all my colleagues on the commission and invite them, to join me in truly and faithfully putting residents first,” Lago said. Then he snubbed Fernandez and wouldn’t shake his hand. That’s how he extends his hand?
But first he told the audience about the special meeting he called on May 6 to move elections to November, put a referendum on the ballot for an inspector general and repeal the “unethical 101% salary increases and car allowances,” which was met by wild applause and whooping. “I call upon each of my colleagues to join in this necessary act of good governance, for unanimity will send a clear message through City Hall that this body serves not itself, but the noble citizens who have entrusted us with their hopes and hard earned dollars.
“The time has come to rededicate ourselves to the position that government exists to serve the people, not the other way around.”
Ouch. How’s that for extending his hand to his colleagues.
Fernandez congratulated the mayor and welcomed Lara, who he said he met at Le Parc Cafe and always found to have a smile and a positive attitude. “I think that what residents saw as you campaigned. You and your wife knocked on thousands of doors.
“I welcome your sentiments of trying to find common ground and unity toward working toward what the residents have asked for,” said Fernandez, who lasts week offered an “olive branch” by immediately moving to put the mayor’s big issues — raises, moving the election, selecting the city manager —  on the next ballot. But the mayor wants to beat him to it with the special meeting.
Commissioner Fernandez also downplayed the friction between them. “There’s been a lot of talk about division and things that we disagree on, but the fact is, almost 92% of the time we have voted unanimously as a body, and that will continue moving forward,” he said.
“I look forward to working with all of you on the issues we agree on and working through the ones we disagree on and finding common ground, consensus that will benefit the residents of our great city.”
In a fairly mushy farewell speech, Menendez thanked his family, supporters and the employees of the city.
“To the residents of Coral Gables, you inspire me to be a better person every day; you always have. And for that and so much more, I’m forever grateful.” Menendez said. “I have been blessed to live 62 years, my entire life, in this great City. It’s the city that supported my mother and me when my father passed away back in 1973. It’s the city that gave me the opportunity to be Coach Kirk to thousands of kids for more than 3 decades. It’s the city that embraced my wife Maria Teresa and me as we raised our children Lydia and Kirky in our City Beautiful. And it’s the city that welcomed me as Commissioner Menendez in 2021.
“I mention these things to highlight the essence of what it means to be a part of this amazing community. The heart and soul of our community goes beyond the architecture, it goes beyond the decisions made on this dais and it goes beyond the political cycles that come and go like ocean waves rolling upon our shores. The heart and soul of Coral Gables are the people who give of themselves to make the lives of others better.
Read related: Vince Lago, Rhonda Anderson handily coast to re-election in Coral Gables
“It’s the volunteers at places like thenMerrick House that do their best to make others feel welcomed. It’s the men and women of organizations like the Rotary Club and the Garden Club that find the time to give back to enrich our community. It’s the teachers and coaches who help establish a foundation of goodness and hope in the lives of our children. It’s the brave men and women who sacrifice their lives everyday to make sure our families are safe, always.”
Menendez mentioned the death of Pope Francis last week. “He often went against the grain to make sure that everyone was welcomed and everyone was served. He led with humility and he specifically sought out those voices that desperately cried out for support and compassion.
“As the city moves forward into its next 100 years, let’s promise each other that we will always be a city of compassion, a city for all of the people and a city that will never turn its back on the lives and voices of its residents no matter how quiet their whispers or how humble their hearts.”
He ended his speech with a call for the community to unite.
And he got just a smattering of applause.
So much for “unity.”
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The election in Coral Gables is over, but a new race has begun: Who can bring changes first?
In light of Tuesday’s runoff results, Commissioner Ariel Fernandez, sent an email Thursday that surprised everyone. He said he had asked the city clerk to put items on the agenda for the next scheduled meeting May 20 to do many of the things that his nemesis, Mayor Vince Lago,and Lago’s slate had campaigned on. Well, and a little more, also taking certain things to the voters.
“If this is what residents want, and I am the person saying I put residents first, then I need to react to this election and lead,” Fernandez told Ladra early Thursday.
But that was before Mayor Lago requested a special meeting for next week to discuss the three things that have been core to his campaign. He’ll be damned if Fernandez takes the wind out of his sails, aka credit for moving elections to November or for rolling back commission salaries. The other item is from his miserably failed petition (more on that later), which is to make any spending of the city’s reserve fund require a vote of the super majority.
Lago did not return a call and text to his phone. It’s standard. He just sent what looks like a form text telling me to contact him on his city cell phone, which he didn’t respond to either. But certainly Lago got Fernandez’s email, sent about 10 a.m. Thursday and titled “Your goals, our mission — let’s get it done together,” where Fernandez first commended the mayor, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Elect Richard Lara for their victories Tuesday.
Read related: Coral Gables electeds to be sworn in, will push for November elections
“I look forward to working with you over the next two years advancing the priorities set forth by our residents,” he said.
“Now that the election is over, it is time for us to work together on behalf of you, our residents, and put politics aside,” Fernandez wrote in the email. “You have sent us a clear message on several issues, and I HAVE HEARD YOU. Today, I renew my commitment to you to ensure your priorities are mine.”
Fernandez went further than the mayor did, asking for eight items to be put on the agenda for the next meeting, to:

Roll back the raises commissioners gave themselves in 2023
Create process for selection and dismissal of charter officers — the city manager, city attorney and city clerk — requiring a national search, requiring a 4/5th majority for hiring and firing of a charter officer and setting a formal timeline for the hiring process.
Prepare next year’s budget with options for the Commission that will allow for a reduction of the millage rate by 1% or 2%, before our Budget workshop in July, in order to lower taxes for our residents.
Put charter amendment to move elections to November on the ballot
Put a charter amendment to make future salary increases require a public vote
Put a charter amendment to put an Inspector General on the ballot
Send the municipal budget to the Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) to make recommendations on elimination of government waste.
Formulate a plan that to eliminate the $550 garbage fee.

“Over the coming weeks, I look forward to working with my colleagues on the issues that are important to you and building a Residents First government in our city,” Fernandez wrote in his email, inviting his colleagues to co-sponsor the items “in a show of unity to our residents.”
Apparently, Lago had a different idea.
Several sources at City Hall said Lago has called for a special meeting May 6 and he can do that without getting anyone else to sign on. Only the mayor and the city manager can do that. He may have seen Fernandez’s move on these items as a power grab or an attempt to change the narrative.
“Mayor Lago can take it as whatever,” Fernandez said. “This is an olive branch,”
Half of the items Fernandez asked the city clerk to put on the agenda are definitely taken from Lago’s playbook and seem to be an about-face for the commissioner.
Fernandez had approved and defended the commission salary raises — which had not increased in years and went from $36,488 a year to $65,000 — and voted against the tiny tax decrease that would have saved residents under $100 and given large property owners and developers tens of thousands in tax breaks.
“I did,” Fernandez told Political Cortadito. “And voters voted for the three candidates who said they would lower taxes.”
Read related: Kirk Menendez strikes back at Coral Gables Mayor ‘Lyin’ Vince Lago’
He said the last tax break was sprung on the city without much notice during the budget workshops. This would give the manager time to make the necessary adjustments, Fernandez said. “My goal is to make sure it doesn’t affect services.”
That’s also why he wants to enlist the state’s DOGE office to help identify efficiencies. “There may be things that we have not noticed,” Fernandez said.
He also led the on-the-spot hiring of Amos Rojas, without going through any search or process. He did it again when the commission appointed Alberto Parjus in January after Rojas resigned.
His change of thought comes from listening to the voters, Fernandez said. “Isn’t this the message people sent in the election? This is what the residents want. We have to deliver.”
Fernandez said he was always for taking the election change, the IG and other changes to the voters. “I was waiting for the charter review committee to make a recommendation,” he said Thursday. “We received a draft of their recommendation but they have not concluded their work.”
It was unknown Thursday if Lago intends to take these changes to the voters or implement them through a majority vote, which he has now thanks to the election of his handpicked candidate, Richard Lara.
Commissioner Fernandez said he hasn’t changed his mind on everything.
“I’m still going to stand my ground on development and the issues that residents care about,” Fernandez said. “I’m still going to push for sidewalk repairs, draining projects, infrastructure, historic preservation and City Hall restoration.”
Speaking of which, the special meeting next week might be at the old City Hall, which has been undergoing shoring and other construction work to make it more structurally sound. It’s almost like Lago doesn’t want anybody to be there.
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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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