Just when you thought Coral Gables politics couldn’t get any more creative, along comes a brand-new political action committee with a very wholesome-sounding name: Good Government for Coral Gables.
Awww. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?
Except Ladra has seen this movie before. And she knows who’s holding the camera.
The PAC was formed earlier this month and is chaired by Raul Diaz, a name familiar to anyone who has followed the tight inner circle surrounding Mayor Vince Lago. And the treasurer and deputy treasurer for this shiny new committee are — surprise! — the same financial gatekeepers used by Lago’s own political committee and those of his handpicked pocket votes. They are also the same people who ran the Floridians for Good Government PAC formed last year, most likely vying former Miami Mayor Francis Suarez — Lago’s BFF — to help Commissioner Ralph Rosado in the Miami District special election.
It ended up raising and spending less than $10,000, according to the reports filed with the Florida Division of Elections. But what a bunch of coincidences, right?
According to its filings, Good Government for Coral Gables exists to support or oppose candidates or ballot issues for just about 
every level of government imaginable — statewide, countywide, municipal, you name it. But in a city where the biggest looming political event is a mail-in-only referendum that could rewrite major pieces of the city charter, well, Ladra would bet her last cafecito that this PAC wasn’t created to worry about gubernatorial races in Tallahassee.
No, no. This looks custom-built for something much closer to home.
Read related: Coral Gables voters to get sweeping charter changes ballot only by mail
Remember those charter amendments Lago has been pushing? The ones that would move city elections to November of even-numbered years, conveniently syncing them with higher-turnout state and federal races? The ones that critics say are less about “good government” and more about giving the sitting mayor a structural advantage?
Those very same amendments will go before voters — by mail only — in April. And here’s the catch: thanks to a recent change in state law, PACs now only have to file quarterly finance reports. That means the public won’t know who’s bankrolling this new committee — or how much they’re spending — until just days before mail ballots are due.
By then, the glossy mailers will already be in voters’ hands. Mission accomplished.
Meanwhile, Lago’s existing PAC reported raising a grand total of $3,000 in the three months ending December 31.
And the only donor? The company that owns Somerset Academy.
Yes. That Somerset Academy. The charter school network that, according to persistent malas lenguas, has long eyed expansion of its Coral Gables campus into the War Memorial Youth Center property — or using the property to count for outdoor space. Yes, the very same Youth Center that has found itself in the crosshairs of a relentless political and administrative campaign led by Mayor Lago.
Read related: Battle over Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center is political retaliation
Ladra has already written about that war on the Youth Center, a conflict many believe is less about fiscal responsibility and more about clearing the runway for Somerset’s ambitions while at the same time slapping former Commissioner Kirk Menendez — who dared to run against Lago last year — where it hurts the most. And longtime Political Cortadito readers will also remember our coverage of Lago’s near-obsession with moving the election date.
So now we have a mayor obsessed with restructuring elections, a referendum coming by mail only, a brand-new PAC able to raise and spend money with minimal immediate disclosure, the same political players. Meanwhile, the only recent donor to the mayor’s existing PAC is an institution widely rumored to benefit from his other ongoing political battles
And we’re all supposed to believe this is just about “Good Government”?
Sure. And Ladra is getting the next Nobel Peace Prize.
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So Lago will now attack Castro with the new PAC and the backers won’t be known until right before the election. As for the confusing name – it was on purpose.
Lago’s BFF, Francis Suarez donated the venerable Olympia Theater to Somerset Academy. The Youth Center is next. Wake up, Coral Gables!
If this new PAC is supporting a change in the date of local elections, that is NOT GOOD GOVERNMENT. Such change would (1) increase Mayor Lago’s incumbency advantage, (2) decrease the percentage of informed voters which reduces accountability of elected officials, (3) become more partisan with simultaneous national and state elections and (4) require more campaign money to get elected by competing with other simultaneous elections allowing PACs and real estate developers greater ability to purchase elections for their own benefit and profit. It will decrease the need to educate and engage voters – but Coral Gables incumbents always refrain from educating and engaging voters because that reduces their incumbency advantage. Coral Gables has an off-cycle election in April purposefully to insulate municipal politics from the mires of national politics and avoid parties (and PACs and real estate developers) from controlling local elections. Plus, a November election will lead to a December runoff with a significant decrease in turnout (particularly with no early voting) and no election cost savings. IF NOVEMBER ELECTIONS ARE SO GOOD, WHY IS MAYOR LAGO HAVING A VOTE-BY-MAIL APRIL REFERENDUM ON THIS ISSUE RATHER THAN A NOVEMBER REFERENDUM WITH ALL VOTING OPTIONS? The April referendum will not have early voting or precinct voting day options and people are not allowed to drop off their ballots at the library. You would think that good government would promote this important referendum being held in November. But Mayor Lago is concerned that 7 more months of his conduct (if there was a November referendum) would affect his re-election that requires more uninformed voters.
El mismo perro sarnoso con diferente collar!
I SUPPORT MAYOR LAGO. HE HAS DONE GOOD FOR CORAL GABLES. HE HAS MY VOTE.
Disappointed lago uses”Good Government” for his PAC. There is a local GGG Gables Good Government organization doing great things and this is misleading to residents. Needs a new name
Enough of Lago already! Vote him out
you go, Sally! Be a disruptor! force their hand! I love it. these sloppy bastards did not even bother with a name search!
Another outrageous day in Coral Gables. It’s so sad that Lago is out just for developers and wealthy donors. I remember when Coral Gables was a well-run city.
Respectfully, Sally B., this outcome is exactly what Mayor Lago intended. The goal is confusion — to make residents believe these election-date changes and other charter amendments are being independently supported by “Gables Good Government,” when in reality the mayor’s political operatives are deeply embedded in the organization and helping steer its decisions. This mayor consistently operates on half-truths, and at times outright falsehoods. Unless this community wakes up and demands transparency, he will continue to get his way by pushing an election date change that threatens to undermine the very essence of Coral Gables — a city whose civic traditions and independent governance have endured for more than 100 years — simply because today, a privileged, petulant, narcissist, bully wants to rewrite the rules after not getting his way in previous elections.
Gables Good Government Committee is a non-profit political ADVOCACY organization that was founded by former Mayor Don Slesnick over ten years ago. I’m a member of the Advisory Board for the organization. We ARE for educating the voters in Coral Gables and are not affiliated with any PAC that decides to pirate our name. They may have to change theirs ….