City commission victories in Coral Gables show Mayor Vince Lago is weak

City commission victories in Coral Gables show Mayor Vince Lago is weak
  • Sumo

Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago is not as popular as he thinks he is. There’s no doubt that these recent commission races were a referendum on his leadership.

Even though he won re-election with no opposition, Lago worked hard to get his cronies elected. He called people and asked them to put signs in their yard. He texted people to remind them to vote for his candidates. Friends say he was obsessed with the commission races.

And the people rejected him.

First, voters elected activist and Lago nemesis Ariel Fernandez over the mayor’s endorsed, well-funded attorney-in-a-suit. Then, they chose the relatively unknown, Johnny-come-lately Melissa Castro, over the mayor’s endorsed, well-connected, better-funded lobbyist candidate.

It’s not like his endorsements were moot. They weren’t. They were toxic. They actually backfired.

Not just because people in Coral Gables do not want a stacked commission or power grab to create a strong mayor form of government. But also because Lago has changed, people say. The one-time resident darling has become rude and arrogant, defensive and dismissive and downright paranoid.

Read related: New Coral Gables Commissioners Ariel Fernandez, Melissa Castro are sworn in

It’s enough to make one miss former mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli, because with him, at least, you knew what to expect. Lago’s browbeating from the dais, cutting off speakers and general disrespect shown to residents who don’t agree with his grand vision has tarnished not just his image, but the City Beautiful’s.

“This is not the city of Miami,” was a common refrain among Gables voters in the past few weeks. They did not like the misleading and false text messages and mailers funded by dark money political action committees for the mayor’s chosen candidates.

Could it be that Lago wants to emulate his primo and BFF, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez? After all, Baby X is growing a national profile that any city mayor would envy.

The power and popularity has “gone to his head,” said several Gables insiders, including Lago allies who can’t agree on when Lago went sour. Some said it may track with efforts to annex Little Gables, where the mayor may have a conflict of interest.

Fernandez, who campaigned for Lago against Pat Keon two years ago, the break up is about the mobility hub, which the mayor has championed and the new commissioner calls a fancy $63 million parking garage with green space on the roof (more on that later).

For Maria Cruz, an active resident who was one of Lago’s biggest fans, the break-up has been hard. These two used to part saying “I love you” to each other. Lago, who now calls her Ms. Cruz, asked her to resign from and cuts her off at commission meetings.

Other friends became concerned last year, when he endorsed Renier Diaz de la Portilla for judge.

Two years ago, Lago beat won with 57% of the vote in a heated, nasty race. He won even though he was criticized for having been one of the parents who signed a sorta racist letter to his kids’ private school complaining about diversity education. Voters forgave him that transgression because he was so accessible, having open house Fridays in his office, and because he was seen a rare environmentalist in the local GOP.

He says all the right buzzwords and drives an electric car. His entire house is powered by solar!

Read related: Coral Gables Vince Lago is running slate of candidates in April election

In other words, Lago was practically adored. Now, he’s almost reviled.

Could it be because of the people he is surrounding himself with? Lago has aligned himself with Miami-Dade Commissioner Kevin “Proud Boy Pal” Cabrera, who also endorsed the two losing city commission candidates. He has become close with campaign consultant Jesse Manzano, who has already tried once to leverage his campaign consultant position into some kind of inside transportation deal.

11 Responses to "City commission victories in Coral Gables show Mayor Vince Lago is weak"

  1. Vince Lago should be voted out for endorsing Trump fanatic Kevin Marino Cabrera and Renier Díaz de la Portilla. Shame!

  2. If we want more folks to vote then we should move the election dates to the dates of the primaries for all the other offices, with any run-offs on election day in November. (Saves money not having to pay for your own ballot printing, mailing, and election day staffing, too.)

    Or, even better–indeed, MUCH better–we run the entire election in November, in sync with the congressional and other elections, and we use Instant Runoff Voting (aka STV), where voters rank candidates in preference order–just like they do in Alaska and other places. Not only does it mean there is no risk of a wasted vote for a minor candidate (your vote then goes to a 2nd choice), but it expands our choices. Plus we save even more money not having a separate run-off election.

  3. One of my jokes or observations if you prefer is that you can tell how long someone has lived in Doral by the in vogue new dog breed they have seen .

    For example when I moved here I just caught the tail end of the Yorkie craze , they were replaced by French bulldogs and now they are disappearing and replaced with those allergy free poodle mixes .

    Not one laugh did I get at the HOA / Residents meeting when I told this joke just the usual look of disdain .

    ” Did you put this together in a rush Elaine? Besides the couple of typos, where is the “closing”?”

    So for people like you I say ‘ It looks like a tough crowd in the house ‘, lol .

    ==================

    ” How about Chicken Joe Carollo like an update ”

    The local tv news has been covering it left and right and elated over it as normally find them close to afraid of the political Cosa Nostra .

    My sisters live in Ca and one even saw it on news there .

  4. Common, Ladra. Melissa and Ariel were elected with a very small number of votes. The 2 elections had a very low voter. turnout

    Instead of badmouthing a good mayor who got elected with a meaningful number of votes, you should focus on the real issue: getting everyone in CG to vote.

    But maybe, you may not want to do do. When GC voters really show up, good people like Lago get elected.

  5. Pressuring a widow. That is what “The City Beautiful” has come to. It was said during Limp Lago’s first mayoral campaign that he would bring “Miami” and “Hialeah” dirty politcs to the Gables. We are seeing exactly that. With these intimidation tactics maybe someone should investigate the use of city assets for campaign purposes-Mayor? Hudak?

  6. Did you put this together in a rush Elaine? Besides the couple of typos, where is the “closing”? Anyways… 100% in agreement with you. Having known Uncle Vinny for ages, you can see he is a shadow of what he used to be. And you are right: at the end of the day, in a political environment like the Gables, which is extremely local, endorsing a dumb*ss like Reiner DLP, surely didn’t help him. He should have never involved himself in that race. Also, being “open” and a “tree hugger” is not enough to really make it up there in politics these days… You need to have a vision, even if it’s misguided, like Baby X, who thinks he’s got a chance at anything else than President of ADCA (American Dog Catchers Association). These are going to be two very long years at the City Beautiful.

    p.s. Has the Chief of Police resigned yet? He did promise he would quit if Ariel Fernandez won his seat, right? Time to walk the talk, Chief… We are waiting.

  7. Death by 1000 cuts – while politicians can get away with 1-2 mis-steps, Lago’s arrogance has led to multiple, annoying mis-steps … everything mentioned in the article has contributed to his revilement among residents, in addition to his incessant self-promotion and his open door Fridays where he revels in criticizing/browbeating citizens who are seeking help. And judging by his petty and l-o-n-g acceptance speech last Friday, he still doesn’t get it.

  8. I had the opportunity to chat with Ariel Fernandez, he came to my door and impressed me because he was interested in and dismayed by the very same things I was. Including sidewalks, cronyism, the indifference to those living in my section of Coral Gables as opposed to the very wealthy parts, and I told him, “I would like to put a sign in you yard. I immediately started getting harassed by text about how he was a socialist and a communist and when I said I don’t care what he is I like him and his ideas, I would get more pushback about my sign which began to alarm me and I am ashamed to say I took it down but it really bothered me to do so. I am a widow who lives alone and I felt an almost threatening undertone. It was disheartening. Any way, I would like to be a part of your group because I feel the corruption emanating from City Hall every day. I can’t stand the way this is going. I want to help and I have the time.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.