By Coral Gables Gazette staff

The continuous acrimony between Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago and his frequent critic and resident Maria Cruz finally boiled over to the point where the mayor asked for and succeeded in passing a motion to prevent her from talking for the rest of the Coral Gables Commission meeting about half way through it on May 5.

The motion passed 3-2, with Lago, Anderson and Lara voting in favor. Anderson and Lara are both attorneys. Castro and Fernandez voted no. The vote came despite three separate warnings from City Attorney Cristina Suarez that city code required a formal caution before a speaker could be barred — warnings the commission’s two attorney members heard and chose to set aside.

For years now, the mayor and Cruz, once friends, have been going after one another during one commission meeting after another, but Lago apparently could bear it no longer after his frequent critic referred to him as a “king” during a relatively innocuous moment in what was another contentious commission meeting.

During the portion of the meeting devoted to Granada Golf Course’s new fees – which itself became convoluted with a series of motions, countermotions and agenda items being taken out of order – Cruz remarked that the commission meeting was being run inconsistently and that the mayor chose to follow Robert’s Rules of Order when it was convenient for him while ignoring it at other points.

A procedural dispute becomes personal

“So this business that we have to do in order doesn’t exist,” Cruz told commissioners during public comment. “It’s okay when our king in residence decides that it’s okay, but it’s not okay when somebody else presents a motion according to Robert’s Rules.”

The mayor immediately responded by asking City Attorney Cristina Suarez how he should handle the situation.

“You have seen me be referred to as the king here,” Lago said. “How would you like to address it? Would you like for me to make a motion to have somebody not allowed to speak the rest of the commission? Because I will not allow any name calling in the room.”

Lago added that in his 13 years on the commission he had “never felt that type of disrespect on a commission floor.”

City attorney urges caution before sanctions

At that point, Suarez made the first of several recommendations advising the mayor to issue Cruz a warning rather than immediately silence her.

“Mayor, if you want to, if there’s a determination that the public speaker was out of order because they’re not following our rules of decorum … you can give a warning,” Suarez said. “Please remind the speaker not to make statements that are irrelevant to the topic at hand.”

Undeterred, Lago moved forward with his proposal, arguing that Cruz had repeatedly crossed the line at previous meetings and that warnings had already proven ineffective.

“I have done that on multiple occasions over the last few months,” Lago said. “The level of disrespect is not warranted, and I will not accept it. I will make a motion to have that individual not be able to speak the rest of the meeting until they learn the rules of the City of Coral Gables.”

Commissioners split over free speech concerns

Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson quickly seconded the motion, but not before Commissioner Melissa Castro raised concerns that the commission could be violating Cruz’s constitutional rights.

“I would caution this commission,” Castro said. “This would be a violation of the First Amendment. People do have freedom of speech.”

Before the commission could vote, Commissioner Ariel Fernandez raised a point of order asking for clarification on exactly what motion was being considered, prompting Suarez to call for a brief recess to organize the proceedings.

Despite repeated warnings, the motion moves forward

Following the break, however, Suarez again emphasized that the city code required a warning before a speaker could be barred from further participation.  “Our code does provide that someone who becomes disorderly or fails to confine remarks to the identified subject or business at hand shall be cautioned by the chairperson and given the opportunity to conclude remarks in a decorous manner,” Suarez explained. “The caution is required as a first step.”

Lago maintained that repeated warnings issued over multiple meetings satisfied that requirement.

“It constantly happens and there’s a caution,” the mayor said. “They use that one caution to get away with it, to make an insult, to make a disrespectful comment, and then at the end of the day it continues to happen,” So my motion and the second still stands.”

A divided commission takes sides

Commissioner Richard Lara sided with the mayor, arguing that Cruz’s comments represented a pattern of personal attacks rather than legitimate criticism of city business.

“It’s abundantly clear to me that a caution has been provided time and time again,” Lara said. “When it crosses the line and becomes a personal attack on a repeat basis, I don’t believe another caution would be anything other than a waste of time.”

Anderson echoed those remarks, comparing the commission chambers to a courtroom where repeated disruptions could lead to sanctions. “These cautions have been ignored and will continue to be ignored unless enforced,” Anderson said.

But Castro again warned her colleagues that the city was entering dangerous constitutional territory. “You don’t have to take it as derogatory or insulting,” Castro said of Cruz’s “king” remark. “People have the right to express themselves.”

Fernandez also opposed the motion, invoking his own past disputes with the city over free speech issues. “As someone who personally has had the city violate his First Amendment rights before, I have always stood by the First Amendment,” Fernandez said. “Many people have come up here and said disparaging things about me, defamatory things, and I’ve never made motions to silence anybody.”

Despite the objections, Lago pressed ahead.

“I’m a yes,” the mayor said before the motion ultimately passed 3-2, with Lago, Anderson and Lara voting in favor and Castro and Fernandez opposed.

The move effectively barred Cruz from speaking for the remainder of the marathon commission meeting, marking a dramatic escalation in one of City Hall’s longest-running political feuds.