Vince Lago’s not-so-silent night: A mean Christmas Carol for Melissa Castro

’Twas the day before Christmas Eve, and all through the Gables, a political action committee was stirring — and not in a “peace on Earth” kind of way.
Just as Coral Gables residents were thinking about midnight Mass, Nochebuena prep, and whether the roast would dry out, Coral Gables First, the PAC that Mayor Vince Lago has repeatedly and proudly acknowledged as his, slid into inboxes with a “holiday greeting.”
Only it wasn’t much of a greeting.
Instead, it was a parody of Santa Baby — yes, that song — retooled to mock Commissioner Melissa Castro, complete with snarky lyrics, insinuations about corruption, and AI-generated misogynistic cartoon images that many recipients described as sexualized, juvenile, and wildly inappropriate for a city that still clutches its pearls over parking decals.
Nothing says Christmas in the City Beautiful like a “soft porn” email blast portraying a sitting commissioner — and single mother — in tight, suggestive outfits, with exaggerated curves, innuendo-laced lyrics, and winking references that leaned less “political satire” and more middle-school locker room humor.
In Coral Gables.
On the day before Christmas Eve.
Very classy, Vinnie.
Ladra thinks he has an obsession with her. Like she is every girl that ever rejected him in high school and the epitome of what he cannot have.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago lashes out at Commissioner Melissa Castro
The PAC’s email attempted to dress itself up as harmless holiday fun. But beneath the tinsel was a familiar Lago-era pattern: personal fixation masquerading as policy critique, aimed squarely — and repeatedly — at Melissa Castro.
The problem? Much of the content wasn’t just mean-spirited — it was misleading or flat-out false.
The email paints Castro as pro–Live Local development, cozy with builders, and personally benefiting from city decisions. In reality, Castro has been one of the most vocal skeptics of Live Local projects in Coral Gables, often standing opposite the pro-development bloc that Lago himself has led or enabled. The anti-development, residents-first vote is and has been squarely behind her.
So while the mayor’s PAC was busy rewriting Christmas carols, it also rewrote the facts.
But what really raised eyebrows — especially in a city that still thinks “edgy” means sleeveless at commission meetings — was the gendered and sexualized framing. The choice of Santa Baby alone carries baggage, historically designed to infantilize and sexualize women. Layer that with AI cartoons emphasizing Castro’s body, and the message was clear to many recipients: this wasn’t about policy. It was about diminishing a woman in power.
This from a man with daughters. It should strike everyone as horrible that Castro’s daughter is the one who pointed out to her that the same message had been posted on social media.
This is the same mayor who months ago talked about restoring decorum at meetings and public behavior. It’s pretty obvious that this is just part of his intimidation campaign to silence Castro, who is the only real effective voice against him on the dais.
And the email landed with a thud.
If Lago’s PAC was hoping for fireworks, Melissa Castro didn’t give them any.
“He’s just trying to flip the script because Im the only one he cannot control,” Castro told Ladra. “He can’t go after the legislation so he has to go after me personally.”
“He’s trying to convince people that I’m someone that I’m not,” she said.
In a measured, pointed email to her supporters, Castro — who has become used to being the mayor’s and his lackeys’ punching bag — acknowledged the attack. And then she calmly dismantled it.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, allies bully and browbeat Melissa Castro
She reminded residents that Mayor Lago has openly confirmed Coral Gables First is his PAC, and that it has been used repeatedly to target her. She noted the timing: the day before Christmas Eve, a moment of particular significance for Christian families reflecting on motherhood, sacrifice, and humility.
Choosing that moment, she wrote, to demean and sexualize a woman in public service “speaks volumes about the values behind the attack.”
Castro didn’t trade insults. She didn’t parody back. She didn’t meme.
Instead, she did something far more uncomfortable for her critics: she stated facts.
She reiterated that she stopped doing business in Coral Gables long ago, at real personal and financial cost, specifically to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. No expediting business. No backroom deals.
And then she drew a line.
Healthy policy debate? Yes. Sexualized caricatures, gendered ridicule, and false insinuations dressed up as holiday humor? Absolutely not.
She closed by pivoting away from the spectacle and back to governance — neighbors, shared values, and the work of protecting Coral Gables for future generations.
Which only underscored the contrast.
Read related: Coral Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro calls out the kickback culture
Several residents reached out to Ladra to express their disapproval of the distasteful missive.
Jack Thompson, a longtime Gables resident and activist, says he is thinking twice about a scheduled meeting with the mayor over the deteriorating maintenance of the Granada golf course, but he was flabbergasted by the email and called it a “soft porn attack.” He asked the mayor to apologize to Castro.
“Why would I meet with him anyway? I don’t trust him about anything,” Thompson told Ladra, adding that the issues with the golf course are well documented and obvious to the naked eye.
“His treatment of individuals is far more important than anything going on at the golf course,” Thompson said. “I want to ask him, ‘Have you not heard of #metoo, Bill Cosby and Trump?’ The email was rude, unkind and doesn’t serve the city.”
Thompson went as far as to call L’Ego “Trump Junior.”
At this point, it’s fair to ask: why the fixation, Vinnie?
Commissioner Castro has been talked down to, censured, mocked, sidelined, and now turned into a Christmas parody — all while consistently challenging the mayor and his allies on elections, transparency, and development policy. Disagreeing with her votes is one thing. Turning her into a recurring character in a political PAC’s content calendar is another.
In a city that prides itself on decorum, discretion, and dignity, the email left many residents wondering who, exactly, lost the holiday spirit — and who lost the plot.
Because if the goal was to make Melissa Castro look unserious, the result may have been the opposite.

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