Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago to unveil ‘his’ downtown clock on 9/11

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‘Sept. 11 is not a national holiday,’ mayor says

That fancy clock for Miracle Mile that Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago said last year would not cost the city a cent, is now a “donation” from his family, Lago says, because he paid the $32,000 installation and hook-up fees himself.

This has apparently made him the owner of the clock, posting on social media that his family donated the clock, even though the city commission voted to accept the donation from Maison F. P. Journe, a Swiss watchmaker that, just coincidentally (wink, wink), held a fundraiser last year for Lago’s BFF, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, when Baby X was running for president.

“Did you actually end up buying it,” asked Commissioner Ariel Fernandez.

“I paid for a portion of the clock, yes. They gave me a good discount,” snapped Lago, then he said again that it was his donation.

“I am donating a clock, an F.B. Journe clock, to the city of Coral Gables for its centennial. It’s a clock that is worth almost 100K,” Lago said, adding that the commission “required” that he pay for the installation and the permit. “We requested it would be done by the city,” but he volunteered after he got resistance.

Read related: Reward time? Vince Lago promotes clock maker that helped Francis Suarez

“I had no choice because you were going to vote against it. You were going to nix the clock if I didn’t pay for it,” Lago said. “I want to give the city a beautiful gift. I ended up paying for the permit, I ended up paying for the design, I ended up paying for the construction. I paid for all the work that had to be done.”

And he wasn’t allowed to use his firm, he said. Pero, por supuesto. Ladra hopes he opened the project up to a competitive bidding process. If not, there could be a conflict of interest. Another one, that is.

“What you have here is a beautiful, exceptional gift to the city that other areas like Rodeo Drive have, other areas in New York, Italy, France. And it’s something that is going to draw people to the community,” Lago said. “A gift for the centennial from my family to the city of Coral Gables.”

Wait, what? Commissioner Melissa Castro pointed out that the 2023 measure approved by the commission was for a donation from the clock company, not from the mayor. She also said that the unveiling event had not gone through he city manager’s office for scheduling.

Lago kept talking over everybody. “It’s already done. It’s happening September 11.”

That’s right. Lago wants to have the unveiling of his clock on Sept. 11 — the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil when planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing 2,977 people.

“I apologize to all the families of the victims of 9/11 that you are deciding to use that day to promote yourself,” Fernandez told him.

Lago sheepishly admitted that maybe it wasn’t really appropriate. But so be it.

“I didn’t want to do it that day but it was the only day,” he said, adding that the watch manufacturer people won’t be in the country again until December to thank all the contractors that worked on the project?

Read related: Coral Gables reject annexation of Little Gables — and Mayor Vince Lago

“A lot of people spent their time,” Lago said.

Yeah, and they apparently got paid for it. Why does anybody have to thank them?

“September 11 is not a national holiday,” Lago said, defiantly. “It is not a holiday in the city or at the state.” It seems odd that he would fall on this sword. The city has held memorial ceremonies in years past and some New York lawmakers are trying to make it a national holiday called Patriot Day.

Coral Gales spokeswoman Martha Pantin said the the city’s fire and police departments will gather at 8:45 a.m. to commemorate the tragedy at the new public safety headquarters building’s plaza area at the corner of Salzedo and Minorca. There will be a radio announcement at 8:46 a.m., which is when the first plane crashed into the North Tower, between floors 93 and 99.

The clock is to be installed 10 hours later at the corner of Ponce de Leon and Salzedo.

David Perez, the president of the Coral Gables Professional Firefighters Association said Sept. 11 should be “a day of profound mourning, not celebration,” in a letter he wrote to the executives at F.P. Journe in New York and the headquarters in Geneva. He knows better than to appeal to Lago, who isn’t interested in hearing anybody else’s opinion. Heck, he doesn’t even respect the residents’ vote on annexation.

In fact, one has to wonder if Lago didn’t purposefully choose this date to piss off the firefighters, who he has been in battle with for more than a year and who opposed his precious annexation of Little Gables.

Read related: Coral Gables cancels annexation efforts for Little Gables after public vote

“On this date, we remember the tragic events that unfolded in 2001, resulting in the loss of nearly 3,000 lives, including 343 brave firefighters who sacrificed themselves in the line of duty in New York City,” Perez wrote. “This day is a solemn reminder of the price paid by so many, including families and friends who were forever changed by the terrorist attacks.

“To host a celebratory event, particularly one that centers around a commercial product such as a  watch, is insensitive, tone-deaf, and disrespectful to those who continue to mourn the loss of their  loved ones on that horrific day,” Perez wrote, asking them to reconsider the timing of the event.

“There are 364 other days in the year to  unveil a clock — days that do not coincide with a national day of remembrance and mourning. Rescheduling would demonstrate that you recognize the gravity of this day and have the decency to honor the memory of those lost rather than overshadow their remembrance with a commercial  spectacle.”

Fernandez wanted to change the date but then withdrew his motion after Lago said he wouldn’t use any city resources to promote it.

Then the mayor then turned around and promoted it, inviting those in the commission chambers and watching on TV to the unveiling.

“Everybody is welcome to come,” he said.

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  Ariel Fernandez, Vince Lago