Coral Gables police, fire union: Lying Vince Lago is no pal of public safety

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Coral Gables police, fire union: Lying Vince Lago is no pal of public safety
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In a rare joint statement, the leadership of both the Coral Gables Fraternal Order of Police and the city’s firefighters’ union called Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago a liar and raised concerns about his side gigs and ties to developer Rishi Kapoor, who is under investigation for bribing the mayor of Miami.

The labor groups were responding to a letter Lago sent City Beautiful residents — or, more likely, just the voters — in which he claims to be a friend of first responders.

“We, the collective voices of the Coral Gables Fire and Police Departments, feel compelled to confront you directly with our concerns. In a recent letter sent to residents the portrayal of your support for public safety contrasts starkly with the reality we have faced — protracted struggles to secure fair contracts amid a turbulent climate of your personal business entanglements and alleged developer scandals,” it starts.

Ouch. But that’s just the beginning.

“In our mission to serve, we have observed with growing unease the unfolding narratives that call into question the integrity of your office. The terminated lease with developer Rishi Kapoor and other transactions indicative of conflicts of interest are more than troubling; they suggest a pattern  of using public office to further personal gain,” the letter from the unions says.

Read related: Letter from Gables Mayor Vince Lago means desperation about recall effort

The consequences of the mayor’s actions have reverberated throughout the city, the union leaders say. The police department, which already has 37 vacancies and the worse morale ever, could have up to 50 vacancies in the near future.

“This dire predicament will directly affect the very fabric of public safety in our community. For too long, our officers have been striving to secure competitive wages that are essential to retain and recruit  the best individuals — the caliber of professionals our residents rightfully deserve.”

In his letter, Lago says he supports public safety.

“As your mayor, I have fought tirelessly against large-scale development that threatens the character of our community, voted to ensure record funding for our first responders to keep our families safe, and have consistently voted to lower the millage rate,” Lago wrote in a letter sent earlier this month.

Voted to ensure record funding for our first responders? Say what? That’s a bald-faced lie.

“Let’s set the record straight,” the unions say in their own letter. “In your eleven years of public office you have NEVER voted in favor of a single firefighter collective bargaining agreement.”

In September, he voted against the new agreement with the firefighters, who had been working without a contract for almost three years. The staff recommended the agreement, but Lago seemed to look for reasons to kill it.

Read related: Coral Gables FOP blasts police chief, mayor about 37 vacancies, low morale

And the police are going on six months without a contract and no resolution in sight while they struggle to fill in for 37 vacancies, and Lying Lago says everything is okay. The police union came out with a video earlier this week blasting the mayor and Police Chief Ed Hudak for pretending there’s no problem while the shortage of officers grows.

The mayor was also voted against this year’s city budget, indicating he was against funding a new fire station and additional positions in both departments, the unions’ letter says.

“The city continues to grow vertically with 130 existing  high rises and thirty new high rise developments still to come, and yet, The City Beautiful does not meet the national standard for firefighter high rise staffing and the department remains understaffed.”

The National Firefighters Protection Administration recommends that fire departments have 43 firefighters on duty to respond to a high-rise fire. Since 1994, Coral Gables has had 32 firefighters working on any shift. “We don’t have enough people,” said union president David Perez. “We’re putting ourselves and our community in danger.”

Lago has also insulted Billy McAllister, president of the Miami-Dade Firefighters Local 1403. Both Lago and Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson decided to skip the groundbreaking ceremony (read: photo op) at the Coral Gables Fire Station 4, “sending a clear sign of where you both stand on public safety.

“Your actions are not in line with your statements of public safety support.”

Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has more city business than we thought

The letter also says that Lago’s “overt criticism of commissioners” — and, no doubt, they mean Melissa Castro, Ariel Fernandez and Kirk Menendez, aka the Three Amigos — is inappropriate. “It is an act that can only be described as punitive for their lack of allegiance to your interests, casting a shadow over the democratic values we hold dear.”

The labor leaders call on the mayor to “reaffirm your dedication to the principles of good governance — transparency, impartiality, and service to the public good,” and to “realign” his priorities.

Good luck with that. What’s more likely is that you, dear union members, are now on the “Crush List” of people Lago has to completely “destroy.”

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26 Responses to "Coral Gables police, fire union: Lying Vince Lago is no pal of public safety"

  14. I read these comments and I am shocked how ignorant Fadel and Santos are. There is a very real national shortage of police- no one wants the job. Times have changed. Coral Gables offers below average compensation to their police and has a lying idiot for a chief further eroding morale. Anderson/Lago LIE LIE LIE. Every officer that wants to better themselves or pay their bills will leave to better surrounding departments. At what point can you still run a police department. The Chief, Hudak does not care about who gets held over or who is exhausted. This is his fault for trying to hide the problem rather than address it. The dumb dumb wants to correct the problem by hiring retired officers and give them at 15k bonus each year. What happens in 5 years or ten years? Hudak will be fired soon he has lost touch with reality. The police have no confidence in him and all have been begging for a new chief for over a year. This problem will not go away until a 911 call is unanswered or police arrive too late. Hope it is not your call for help. Meanwhile, your officers are past struggling and exhausted. Shame on you for not looking at the facts.

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  15. So many police officers mention retaliation if from HUDAK if they describe whats wrong with Morale…crazy.

    An anonymous suggestion/complaint box for them would be excellent.

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  16. I haven’t paid attention to the political infighting since it was just that, infighting. However, when the First Responders of this city feel compelled to defend their honor and distance themselves from Mayor Lago then that is particularly damning. A city leader who can’t pass legislation and has lost control of his house is quite frankly of no use to anyone.

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  17. I generally have no beef with the mayor. However, the first responders in the gables are kind of the best around. My kid has epilepsy and they get here so so fast when she has an issue. My youngest special needs son got out through the front door and the cops had him so so fast. I want the first responders to stay happy bc I don’t want to lose the high level of service we receive. I would urge the mayor and commission to make sure they are well compensated and have high morale

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  18. I’ll admit, I am not a Gables resident. I just find all of the stories coming out of Coral Gables entertaining. The going back and forth if quite amusing. From an outsiders point of view it sure does look like political warfare going on in the city, but reading Lago’s letter is telling. The fact that he says he against large-scale development has to be the biggest lie. That alone tells me the fire and police are right on this one and I’m am definitely not a police cheerleader.

    I live just across Douglas and can see all of the large scale development going on. Lago has been a commissioner or Mayor for 5-10 years and all of his donors are developers. The fact he would lead with that in his letter is absurd.

    If Ladra’s reporting is true about the police vacancies, then the second bold statement in his letter is false, too. I can’t wait to see how this all turns out. I’m not sure what commission meetings to watch anymore, the City of Miami or Coral Gables, lmao.

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  19. Alberto Santos… Hey buddy! Please don’t call the police or fire department for assistance. We don’t respect you or your opinion. You always talk out of your a$$, and your head is always so far up Lago’s. Before you make your arrogant comments, know the facts! Get a life… One last question, is your middle name schmuck? It would be fitting. Alberto Schmuck Santos (A.S.S.)

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  20. Not a surprise that the city unions are against Mayor Lago. It is not about security. We all know that Lago is big on security. The issue (as always is) is about money.

    The City of Coral Gables has a major final burden with the pension funds of the police and firefighters. The is a shortfall in their pension funds, and this has to be sorted out. The easy way, is to have the resident taxpayer to foot the bill. The difficult way, is to negotiate an agreement with the unions.

    The unions prefer the easy way. Mayor Lago prefers to negotiate an agreement protecting both the pensioners and the taxpayers, with some mid of the way agreed terms.

    It is always about the money (regardless of the headlines in the articles and pamphlets)

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  22. How low can we go……..forget banana republic city, we are a septic tank republic city, no pun intended….

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  23. Clearly, the Union[s] prefer the three Musketeers who disregarded financial concerns and voted themselves a large raise & increase in car allowance.
    Unions know that these compromised Commissioners will be easier to get a raise &/or a better contract from!!
    Shame on Union leadership for being so greedy/grubby!

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  24. Fire fighters and policemen generally are well paid and have extraordinary benefits. Perhaps this is one important reason Lago has not easily supported collective bargaining agreements that adversely impact Gables taxpayers.

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  26. Lago is a fragile character. He does his best to belittle those men and women who dedicate their lives to serving others. It’s evident that he’s never been in a physical fight, except maybe with his wife after she caught him cheating with his assistant. I don’t usually root for someone’s downfall, but this time it is happening to a most deserving individual.

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