Coral Gables City Manager resigns before Mayor Vince Lago could fire him

Coral Gables City Manager Alberto Parjus, whose career spans 35 years at Miami-Dade County and three years as assistant city manager in the city of Miami, resigned Tuesday on the spot at a special city commission meeting where he was likely going to get fired.

Parjus was only on the job for three months, starting after former manager Amos Rojas resigned in February. Parjus had been the deputy city manager since 2022, when he left the Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works as deputy director. Rojas was hired in February 2024, after former manager Peter Iglesias was unceremoniously fired by the old majority. Las malas lenguas say that Mayor Vince Lago, who was re-elected with 55% of the vote, wants to bring Iglesias back.

Lago and his supported candidates, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and newly-elected Commissioner Richard Lara, campaigned on the revolving door at the city manager’s office, saying that three city managers in just one year was a sign of dysfunction.

Now we have four city managers in four city managers in 15 months, as Deputy City Manager Joe Gomez will be interim city manager until a permanent decision is made. Then it will be five city managers in less than five years.

The effective date of Parjus’ resignation is May 22, but he is on leave until then. Ladra was unable to get his “cooperation and severance agreement” from the city clerk Tuesday or early Wednesday morning, even though it was distributed to the commission at the meeting. But a City Hall source told Ladra it included 20 weeks of Parjus’ salary and all his accrued, untaken sick and vacation time, which would be payable 10 days after the agreement is signed. Parjus’ salary was $295,000 a year.

*Commissioner Melissa Castro was absent from the meeting as she was undergoing surgery.*

“Serving this community, the City Beautiful, has been among the greatest experiences of my professional life,” Parjus said from the dais. Yeah, and the most rewarding, financially.

He thanked his “talented, dedicated” staff and listing the milestones reached, not jut in three months at the top job, but in three years that he has been in the city manager’s office.

“During this time, I am proud of the progress we made together to improve the quality of life for our residents and make our government service efficient,” Parjus said. “We advanced operational transparency, implemented modern project benefit systems and introduced performance indicators and evidenced evaluation tools to support better decision-making.

“We enhanced financial and budget reports to make them clear and more accessible, and launched a city asset review program to ensure the responsible stewardship of city-owned property,” Parjus said, and Ladra can’t help but wonder if that happened after the neglect at City Hall was discovered.

“I am proud of the significant investment made in community assets and services. This includes improvements to the Coral Gables Golf and Country Club, the ongoing restoration at the Venetian Pool, enhanced code enforcement efforts, the installation of temporary speed tables to increase safety, and several projects to elevate the city’s safety aesthetic and public spaces.”

Under his tenure, the city also changed the building and zoning permitting process “to include customer feedback,” Parjus said.

“This decision was not made lightly,” Parjus told the audience and the commission. “I am confident the city is well positioned for continued success thanks to its leadership and the commitment of its workforce. I leave with immense gratitude for the opportunity serve this remarkable city and the trust you placed in me.

“Thank you for allowing me to contribute to the legacy and future of Coral Gables.

Lago thanked him for his professionalism and “most importantly, being a gentleman,” he said. “You leave here with your head

The Coral Gales Echo Chamber: Rhonda Anderson, Vince Lago, Richard Lara

held high and you served this community and we’re grateful for your hard work and your integrity.”

Head held high means that he didn’t fight to stay because Lago was going to fire him or force him to resign. That’s defacto what happened. Parjus didn’t resign because he doesn’t like his job anymore. He resigned because Lago was going to fire him.

Or because he couldn’t work with the man.

Anderson said “I will echo the mayor’s comments,” which is what she does now. And immediately moved the item. Like she didn’t want anyone else to do it first. Commissioner Lara, who was sworn in April 25 and hasn’t had a chance to work with Parjus, said the manager’s reputation preceded him and that he also would “echo the mayor’s sentiments” about his head being held high.

So, this is what we’re going to get now: an echo chamber.

Commissioner Ariel Fernandez, who wanted Parjus for city manager from the get-go, was the only one who didn’t seem secretly happy, or at least relieved, about the resignation.

“You have served this city with distinction. You have elevated our budget process…where we now can understand better what has been spent in the past in certain areas and what is being spent now,” Fernandez said, adding that the quarterly reports are easier to understand and that the weekly data reports on different activities in all city departments keep them up to date.

“The moment you were appointed city manager, I had former city managers of other municipalities and folks you worked with at the county call to say what a great choice you were to lead our city. I appreciate what you have done for us. And don’t be a stranger,” he said, seconding the item “reluctantly.”

There was no discussion, as there has been in the past, about hiring a headhunter and doing a national search.

Commissioner Melissa Castro was not in attendance, as she had previously scheduled surgery on Tuesday. Castro asked for the meeting date to be changed, but Lago refused.

“I made a formal request to postpone this meeting by just a few days, enough time to recover and attend in person,” Castro said in a statement read by City Clerk Billy Urquia. “That request was denied by the mayor, even though this meeting is not part of our originally scheduled calendar and there’s no real urgency that justified moving forward without full commission participation.

She said that her health came first. “But it is equally important that the residents who elected me have a voice at the table. By proceeding today, this body is depriving Coral Gables of a complete discussion and the balanced deliberation our constituents deserve.

“Every decision I make is guided by what is in the city’s best interest. Preventing an elected official from attending does the opposite. Mayor Lago, I hope this statement serves as a reminder that transparency, respect and inclusion are not optional. They are the foundation of good governance,” Castro said through the city clerk.

Lago was unrelentingly uninterested and rude, thinking only of himself, yet again, reminding everyone that the city had an additional budget workshop in August of last year that he could not attend because he was on vacation, out of town.

“It was the first time I missed a meeting in 12 years,” L’Ego said.

So, that’s just more retribution, then? Check. He is so transparent about that, at least.

Fernandez explained that there are stark — stark — differences between Castro’s absence due to medical urgency and Lago taking a sweet vacation after the mayor himself had scheduled the extra budget meeting. “Staff had been asked to change their schedule, cancel their family trips in order to be there for that meeting,” Fernandez said, adding that there were no other dates available before the deadline to submit a ceiling for the tax rate to Miami-Dade County.

He also made a motion to recess the meeting “until Commissioner Castro is not under a knife in an operating room and can be here in person, voicing the residents’ concerns.”

Lago was unmoved and again whined about the August meeting. “The change was not granted to ensure I would not be at the meeting,” he said. But he attended via Zoom anyway.

“It was a difficult situation,” he said.

Welcome to the club.

Coral Gables City Manager Alberto Parjus Severance by Political Cortadito on Scribd

Alberto Parjus, Ariel Fernandez, Coral Gables politics, Vince Lago

Coral Gables City Manager resigns before Mayor Vince Lago could fire him added by Ladra on May 7, 2025
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