Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago attacks colleagues, manager in citywide email

The political war in Coral Gables has just gone nuclear.

Mayor Vince Lago, who has been spiraling, having public meltdowns and is now under investigation for allegedly assaulting the city manager during a meeting earlier this week, sent his usual email newsletter Thursday — and used it to refute any wrongdoing and lash out at the manager, his colleagues, city employees and the media.

This is a city paid newsletter, folks. That means taxpayers paid for his “wasn’t me, not my fault” diatribe. Ladra could not get the cost from the city on Thursday. Gables spokeswoman Martha Pantin told Political Cortadito to make a public records request, which will take longer. But the “Moving Gables Forward” — “A message from your mayor” — email has the Coral Gables City Hall address on it and it comes from a Coral Gables email address.

It also comes two days after a city commission meeting where the incident with the city manager was not raised, but a mobile truck outside City Hall made the rounds with photos of the news coverage and the “Eye of the Tiger” song from Rocky playing, loud. “Let’s get ready to rumble,” the recording also said.

“Since the first day I took office, we have faced significant challenges, including targeted negative marketing campaigns aimed at undermining my reputation. Advertisement trucks have been employed to run persistent negative ads, creating a concerted effort to tarnish my public image,” Lago writes. But Lago doesn’t need any help tarnishing his image. The news stories about the incident are real.

Also, Ladra is pretty sure that the opposition to Lago’s administration did not start the first day he took office but only after he began beating the “mobility hub” drum and threw his weight and money last year so fiercely behind two commission candidates (read: pocket votes) who lost.

Let’s go through the long email section by section — there are subheads, people — and see how many complete fabrications Lyin’ Lago spews in it.

The allegations are being investigated by Coral Gables Internal Affairs and an outside agency, according to Police Chief Ed Hudak. They do not investigate political theater. Every source that has talked to Political Cortadito has relayed the same chain of events: They met in a conference room, Lago got heated about something, threw off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and got into a fighting stance.

There are some differences as to what he said. Did he jump across the conference table like Spiderman? Did he call City Manager Amos Rojas a “coward?” Or did he yell “Because I am a man” several times? Or all of the above? It doesn’t sound unlike him.

We need to get the police report to know. The only witness, Assistant City Manager Albert Parjus, isn’t talking to the media, but obviously relayed his account to police. Was it before or after Parjus met with the mayor at Lago’s behest?

Now he knows how Commissioner Ariel Fernandez felt when former City Manager Peter Iglesias ignored him and Lago waved it off. Except from what sources tell Ladra, the city manager does meet with Lago, and often. On the morning of the day before the incident, they had both gone to a street meeting with residents on Certosa Avenue near the University of Miami to discuss traffic calming. One resident who was there said he and his neighbors were embarrassed about the way Lago treated Rojas.

“I witnessed Mayor Lago verbally attack and demean CM Rojas several times,” the resident told Ladra in an unsolicited email. “Also during that meeting, Mayor Lago seemed very confrontational and defensive towards many of us and it seemed more like a political rally or opportunity to make a speech about his accomplishments instead of dealing with the problem on our street that we have been pleading for for years.

“I was very disappointed in the Mayors’ behavior during our neighborhood meeting, not only for how he treated the CM but also how he kept shooting down the other neighbors suggestions and he continuously kept cutting people off, especially Mr Rojas. CM Rojas had a few suggestions that he kept mentioning to the neighbors which we were interested in hearing and Mayor Lago continued to interrupt and speak over him, and at one point the meeting became very uncomfortable as it was quite obvious the mayor’s disdain for the CM,” the resident wrote. “To witness this behavior from our elected city officials was sad and I for one was embarrassed and disappointed.”

Did Rojas start refusing to meet with Lago recently then? Because that could be understandable. Ladra would have gotten a restraining order. Is that what Lago means by “a hands-on approach?”

And Rojas may not be available at Lago’s beck and call, which is why the assistant city manager exists.

Oh, that again? Get over it, man! Everyone knows that Lago voted against the city manager, who was sprung on the commission by Fernandez at the last minute during a public meeting. Was it the best way to do it? Probably not. But the majority of the elected commission felt that the mayor was trying to sabotage the process because he never agreed with it.

And most people agree that Rojas is not only qualified and prepared to address the issues affecting the city, but is doing so. He went out with Lago to Certosa Avenue Monday morning. And as a former U.S. Marshal and official with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, it’s likely that his background check would come back clean. But okay, let’s get one. He was only hired in February.

The allegations of harassment and stalking were investigated by police because they were taken seriously enough. His brother was, at one time, the registered lobbyist for the largest property owner in Little Gables (the trailer park) where there have been plans drawn up for a big residential complex. And Mayor Lago lied about it in a public meeting as he signed an affidavit that conveniently left siblings out of the definition of family. He’s crafty.

The FOP letter sent to the community simply debunked the lies that he had been telling residents about a fully staffed police department that actually had 37 vacancies just recently.

And one overzealous or misinformed petition gatherer was recorded saying something to a voter about Lago stealing $35 million from the city. It was not very coherent or convincing. It was not part of the official recall narrative.

And the questions about the p-card expenses were legitimate questions that Lago should have welcomed and which still have not been fully answered.

Ladra would venture to say that nothing has been debunked. And Lago is likely exhausted from all the lies he has to keep straight and from fighting with everybody.

Who is we? He keeps saying “we.”

Ads are ads. They are one-sided for a reason. The mobile sign truck in question simply had the actual news articles that came out about the near fight at City Hall between Lago and the manager. That’s not distorting the truth or spreading lies. It might be poking fun at him.

And does he count Monday’s meeting with the Certosa Avenue neighbors as “positive community engagement.”

Political Cortadito also wrote about the pains taken to hide the financial support for the recall from the residents through political action committees that never show the first source of the funds. But there was an alleged fear of retaliation by the mayor for anyone who would contribute, which is plausible. He has proven to be a vengeful person.

At least nobody used a publicly-paid email to promote the recall.

Speaking of which, how much are these new outreach programs to “communicate directly with residents” costing taxpayers? Who is availing themselves to them? The timing doesn’t have anything to do with Lago’s campaign kickoff, right?

While many will agree that the process for hiring the new city manager was not ideal, perhaps things would have gone differently if Lago had not used his own backdoor to nix the possibility of Miami-Dade Aviation Director Ralph Cutié coming to the Gables and clear the path for his own appointment. Rojas happened because Lago’s colleagues couldn’t trust him.

And there is nothing precluding the commission from seeking a permanent city manager through an open and transparent process now, while Rojas steers the ship. He’s not at the beginning of his career. He won’t be there for long.

But the commissioners who were elected a year ago are not trying to destabilize the Gables. Why would they? That’s ludicrous. Don’t they love the city as much as Lago says he does? Fernandez and Commissioner Melissa Castro are trying to throw open the curtain and stop the mayor from abusing his power and lying to the public. Lago lost the public trust a long time ago.

Peter Iglesias never called the police on Commissioner Fernandez, who never threw his jacket off and rolled up his sleeves in a fighting stance. There is nothing false about what happened last week. It is being investigated by police.

Paid bloggers? He might be referring to Ladra. That’s what every politico says when they don’t like what they read in Political Cortadito.* But he didn’t say that in 2021, when Ladra endorsed him for mayor against former commissioner Pat Keon. And he supported this blogger with paid advertising, which, he always knew, doesn’t buy coverage.

Speaking of which, anyone who wants to support the independent watchdog journalism in Political Cortadito can do so with a contribution through Ladra’s PayPal here. Don’t worry. It’s anonymous. Lago can’t retaliate. It won’t guarantee what Ladra writes, just that she keeps on writing. That’s the deal.

Also, didn’t he admit in a public meeting that he paid Fernandez, as publisher of Gables Insider, for positive press? Los pajaros tirandole a la escopeta.

Also, he can’t complain about fueling misinformation when he doesn’t return a single phone call or text to debunk the “conspiracy theories.” Those who hide from the press have something to hide.

You know, Ladra would stop writing about Lyin’ Lago if he stopped lying, abusing his power and sending out stupid emails like this one. There is a lot going on in the city of Miami and they could use my time. Doral, too. Miami Lakes had a notable meeting this week, giving former Mayor Michael Pizzi $1.7 million in legal fees (more on that later). Plus, my mom’s friends like Lago. Please trust me when I say that I don’t want to write about Vince Lago anymore. But it seems he can’t stop himself from making news.

Not with this kind of email that only escalates matters.

What we may be seeing here is an attempt by a mayor under investigation for his role in the Rishi Kapoor kickbacks scheme (he rented the developer an empty retail space) to reach his pueblo through his tax-paid office budget — before he can’t anymore — and rant about how innocent he is and how guilty the rest of the world is.

We are all after him. It’s everybody’s fault but Lago’s.

Reached Thursday by telephone, Fernandez — who apparently lives rent free in Lago’s head — did not seem upset or surprised by the rant, which named one commissioner by name, and only him, twice. More like worried about Lago’s mental health, which is what everybody is talking about.

“As someone who believed in Vince Lago and what he once stood for, it saddens me to see him self-destructing. It’s a real shame,” Fernandez told Political Cortadito.

Maybe, as some others have suggested, Lago is dipping into BFF Mayor Francis Suarez‘ juice. That could explain a lot of his explosive behavior. And the shiny, swollen face at his fundraiser last week. And any “Because I am a man!” exclamations.

And maybe even this email, which is a written form of throwing your jacket off and putting up dukes.

*Nobody paid Ladra to write this story.

Ariel Fernandez, Coral Gables politics, Vince Lago

Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago attacks colleagues, manager in citywide email added by Ladra on June 13, 2024
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