Long, chaotic commission meeting features bickering There are city commission meetings, and then there are Coral Gables city commission meetings under Mayor Vince Lago, which increasingly resemble a telenovela written by someone who hates everyone in the cast. Tuesday’s meeting was long. It was contentious. It was rude. It was chaotic. It was — depending […]
As usual, las malas lenguas were right: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago is no longer warming a chair at BDI Construction. Pero why? Pick your poison. Is this more fallout from the FBI’s sniffing around developer Rishi Kapoor’s influence over Miami Mayor Francis Suarez — a.k.a. Lago’s political BFF? Is this a pre-emptive cleanse before […]
So much for unity. After weeks of kumbaya talk, meticulous planning, and carefully-worded press releases, Coral Gables finally held its long-delayed “Interfaith Ceremony for Unity and Peace” Monday night. The city had spent nearly two months trying to find a way to honor the victims of October 7 without turning it into a geopolitical food […]
Coral Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro has had enough of the quiet quid pro quo culture that seems to linger like cologne after a ribbon cutting. So she’s bringing a little disinfectant to the dais. Castro plans to introduce an ordinance that would make it crystal clear that no elected official in the City Beautiful can […]
Like a petulant brat who doesn’t like to be told “no,” Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago defied everyone and betrayed both his colleagues and his constituents this week when he displayed an Israeli flag in his window at City Hall, even though the commission had voted against raising the flag because of the outpouring of […]
Well, that didn’t fly. The Israeli flag will not be raised over Coral Gables City Hall this week for the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, despite Mayor Vince Lago’s push to do just that. After a wave of opposition from residents—and the painfully obvious lack of support from his fellow commissioners — the […]
Coral Gables Vince Lago gave his fifth State of the City address last month week and, true to form, it was all about him. Except the parts that were about his political enemies, as he made the annual speech an opportunity to attack them. Again. Speaking to a room full of people at a Chamber of […]
October 7 commemoration is too political, some say Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago thought he’d raise a flag. Instead, he raised eyebrows. And tempers. At next week’s city commission meeting, expect a little political kabuki over an idea that already sparked plenty of drama: raising the Israeli flag at City Hall to mark the anniversary […]
Melissa Castro gets last laugh, appoints Kirk Menendez Sue Kawalerski became the latest casualty of the Vince Lago Revenge Tour last week, when the Coral Gables Commission did something longtime City Hall watchers couldn’t remember ever happening before: They voted to boot a sitting member of the Planning & Zoning Board against the will of the […]
After months of swearing up and down that they had the authority to move Coral Gables elections to November without asking anybody, a majority of the commission suddenly got religion this week and voted to let residents decide. But don’t be fooled: it’s not exactly democracy at work. Instead of putting the question on a […]