By Coral Gables Gazette staff
Near the end of the March 10 City Commission meeting, Mayor Vince Lago took the opportunity to voice his concerns and displeasure with a video “reposted” by Commissioner Melissa Castro on her Instagram account. The “story” involved a candidate for Florida House of Representatives insulting the mayor after a previous commission meeting.
The mayor showed the video, blurring the individual’s face and bleeping out the profanity. He said such rhetoric crossed the line of what should be acceptable between elected officials and undermined the standards of conduct expected at City Hall.
“Is this the new normal? A commissioner insulting another commissioner using foul language on their social media?” Lago said. “Attacking me, attacking my family. We are better than that.”
Lago acknowledged that Castro eventually removed the story but argued that reposting the video in the first place effectively endorsed the message. “When you repost something, those words become yours,” he said. “You are standing behind what that person says.”
The mayor referenced the city’s civility code, which calls for respectful interactions among commissioners and with the public, and noted that the city charter allows the commission to censure its own members for misconduct. “I’m not asking for a censure,” Lago said. “It’s not worth it it has no teeth, no bite. But if we have disagreements, let them be based on policy. Let them be based on ideas.”
Castro pushed back on the mayor’s characterization, arguing that the videos shown by the mayor did not include the full context of the exchange.
“Where is the rest of it?” Castro asked. “Where is the part where you attacked him?”
“I didn’t attack anybody,” Lago replied.
Castro maintained that she was simply reposting content created by someone else and that the remarks were not her own words.
“That was a story. Those words were not mine,” she said. “You can’t tell me what I can post or repost.”
Lago countered that reposting the video still amounted to an endorsement.
“A story versus a post — it doesn’t matter,” he said. “When you repost, you’re giving credence to what that gentleman is saying. It’s classless and undignified.”
Commissioner Richard Lara said he believed the mayor had exercised restraint by not pushing for a formal censure, though he noted that the circumstances might have justified one.
“I commend you for not reaching for a censure,” Lara said. “Although we haven’t agreed in the past, these circumstances maybe would have warranted it.”
Lara said he struggled to see any reasonable justification for sharing the video.
“I can think of no rational basis why a commissioner would put that on her social media page,” he said. “There is no defensible position you could take when all it served to do was repeat a baseless spewing of vile references to family.” Lara added that he believed Castro owed the mayor an apology.
Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson also weighed in, saying that posting or reposting remarks online carries responsibility. “When you sign off on it, you endorse it,” Anderson said. “Publication has consequences. When you publish something, you own it.”
Anderson added that public statements made in Coral Gables often follow people for years. “People who say words in our city will have those words follow them forever,” she said. “Enough has been said. Let’s try to move in a positive direction.”
Commissioner Ariel Fernandez attempted to steer the conversation away from the personal dispute and toward the broader tone of public discourse.“We need to leave politics at this table,” Fernandez said. “Politics has become all-consuming, especially on social media. Friends are no longer your friends. Even up here, our votes can turn into something personal.”
Fernandez urged his colleagues to move past the exchange. “We are the City Beautiful,” he said. “Let’s be beautiful.”
Commission silent on FIU controversy
While commissioners spent more than 17 minutes discussing Castro’s social media post, the commission did not address another controversy that erupted less than a week earlier involving Florida International University’s College Republicans group – a matter that has also touched Coral Gables.
The controversy centered on a group chat that included racist, antisemitic and misogynistic comments. One of the participants, Dariel Gonzalez, who allegedly made numerous remarks in the chat with hateful rhetoric to African Americans and Jews, had extensive ties to the Coral Gables civic and political scene.
Gonzalez had been a consistent presence at city meetings and events over the past several years and appeared in photos posted on social media by both Lago and Lara. The commissioner removed photos that included Gonzalez after the chat messages became public. Lago, however, has not removed a November Instagram post showing him visiting and speaking to the FIU College Republicans group at the center of the controversy. The post includes a group photo with the mayor standing next to Gonzalez.
In the caption, Lago wrote: “It was inspiring to see so many students interested not just in politics, but also in serving their communities and strengthening our country. Thank you to the FIU College Republicans for inviting me. Keep standing up for your values, ask the tough questions, work hard and get involved!” The mayor’s visit occurred months before the controversy emerged.
After learning of the issue, Commissioner Fernandez sent an email to city administrators asking for them to “ensure that the individual involved is no longer associated with the City of Coral Gables in any capacity.”
According to reporting by the Miami Herald, Gonzalez was removed from a volunteer role with the city and is no longer affiliated with a Gables architecture firm where he had been working as an intern.
City spokeswoman Martha Pantin told the Herald that Gonzalez’s only formal connection to the city was as a volunteer at the city-operated Merrick House. “Effective immediately upon learning of these posts, he was removed from that role and is no longer affiliated with the Merrick House in any capacity,” Pantin said, describing the language in the chat as “heinous” and saying it “has no place in our community.”
Lago condemned the chat messages in a statement to the Herald, calling them “reprehensible” and saying racism and antisemitism have no place in public discourse. Lara similarly told the Miami New Times that the comments were “abhorrent.”
The silence at the meeting created a contrast: while commissioners debated the implications of a reposted social media video for nearly 20 minutes, the widely publicized controversy involving Gonzalez and his connections to city political circles went unmentioned from the dais.
The issue has nevertheless drawn discussion elsewhere in Coral Gables political circles.
Aesop’s Gables, an anonymous blog that has often taken positions friendly to the mayor and that Lago has used in the past to validate investigations into fellow commissioners, published an opinion piece by a nameless Gables lawyer of more than 1,800 words last week. The piece criticized Fernandez for calling for the city to take decisive action, while giving short shrift to the controversial chat itself and its connection to the city.
The blog itself said in an introductory note that its own views on the underlying controversy were “still forming,” even as the op-ed author condemned the remarks. The same site has also hosted a podcast featuring Gonzalez and his “friend” Nicolas Cabrera – another frequent participant in Coral Gables civic circles and the mayor’s appointment to the Board of Adjustment – in which Gonzalez spoke about the importance of civility in local politics.
As the blog itself acknowledges, the podcast remains available online.
Taken together, the developments underscored the broader tensions surrounding political discourse in the city, albeit with very different attention given to them at the commission meeting.
This Post Has 39 Comments
We can all play a part to reduce and stop ignorant and dangerous racist, misogynistic and antisemitic comments – SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING. The only reason that Dariel Gonzalez’s comments were revealed was because of articles published in The Floridian, The Miami Herald and the Miami New Times beginning on March 4 that included pictures of Gonzalez with Mayor Lago, Commissioner Lara and his “friend” Nicolas Cabrera (who administrates the Coral Gables WhatsApp chat that included members of the FIU WhatsApp chat to which the articles were written and who is Mayor Lago’s appointee to the Board of Adjustment and was Commissioner Lara’s paid political consultant). Silence enables these awful comments to continue. It is easy to distance yourself from Gonzalez after he has been outed and claim that you had no knowledge of his hate. Per Commissioner Fernandez’s request, I hope that Cabrera will provide access to posts made by Gonzalez in the Coral Gables WhatsApp chat to newspapers and law enforcement to search for inappropriate terms such as “colored” which he used in the FIU chat. That will allow all of us to see what “leaders” do when they see something – do they say something or are they silent enablers? We need to work to restore civility on the City Commission and on community chat boards. SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING helps.
It’s concerning how the City Commission addressed the commissioner’s social media post with 20 minutes of discussion, yet failed to acknowledge Dariel Gonzalez’s removal from the Merrick House volunteer role after racist and antisemitic messages surfaced. If the city is serious about maintaining standards of conduct, it needs to hold leaders accountable for their actions—both public and private. The contrast in response time and attention really highlights a bigger issue around transparency and equity in local governance.
‘“Effective immediately upon learning of these posts, he was removed from that role and is no longer affiliated with the Merrick House in any capacity,” [City spokeswoman Martha] Pantin said, describing the language in the chat as “heinous” and saying it “has no place in our community.”’
Sounds like this Dariel Gonzalez character is a certifiable idiot. As Ms Pantin mentioned, he was canned from his City role for what he said in a non-Gables context.
Wondering: does the First Amendment apply to Coral Gables?
Lago, you are finished. You have the nerve to crucify Castro for using negative rhetoric when you have been the worst offender. You are rude, hateful, vindictive and untruthful. If that video was edited to cut out your disgusting behavior, then you do not deserve to be our mayor. You have treated Castro poorly with your sidekick Anderson, and we are sick of it. You both need to be kicked out of our City’s government. I personally have had enough of you.
Dariel Gonzalez, the self-proclaimed “Coral Gables Historian” has been involved in city functions at several levels, together with his friend, Nicolas Cabrera, the self-proclaimed “Prince of Coral Gables”. He was a contributor to the Coral Gables Chat administered by Cabrera, where it’s reported the language and comments were similar to that in the despicable FIU Chat.
Now everyone is taking 10 steps back, Lago and Lara included, since Gonzalez was pictured with them during the election last year. Cabrera, a Lago and Lara campaign insider, is taking 20 steps back, claiming he knew nothing about Gonzalez’s leanings.
All of this has been in the Miami Herald, The Floridian, and The New Times, and yet there was no mention of it at the commission meeting last week. Maybe because it wasn’t making Commissioner Castro look bad!
It’s all smoke and mirrors here…let’s bring up something else to draw attention away from a major news story which directly involves Coral Gables.
You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
Lago worshipped everything Dariel for a while. From the centennial flowers to the pool party, dg and VL have been besties. So sad that a few private comments become public, no place in our society but you know what else has no place is Melissa Castro and her constantly attacking poor little Vicente. Poo poo
Why is Dariel Fernandez dressed like a cross between barbershop quartet/phantom of the opera/snake oil salesman? Who dresses like that? What the fuck is wrong with all of you people?
It is striking how the City Commission prioritized 17 minutes of discussion over a commissioner’s social media post while allowing a far more serious incident involving racist and antisemitic messages to pass in silence. This double standard suggests that the current leadership may be more concerned with public optics than addressing genuine threats to the community’s safety and integrity. True leadership requires holding all behavior to the same standard of accountability, regardless of how much attention it generates.
The stark contrast between the frantic 20-minute debate over social media insults and the silence regarding the verified racist and antisemitic behavior speaks volumes about our priorities as a community. While establishing standards for decorum is crucial, it’s worrying that we might be using procedural outrage to distract from much deeper ethical failures within the city’s operations. Let’s hope the city finds the courage to address both the tone of our discourse and the substance of our values equally.
The stark contrast in how City Hall handled the verbal insult versus the silence on the racism charges is a troubling double standard that goes beyond a single meeting. It raises a serious question about whether the commission is truly willing to uphold conduct standards when the controversy doesn’t involve personal attacks on the Mayor. This selective attention suggests we need a more consistent framework for accountability rather than reacting to specific provocations.
The stark contrast between the 20 minutes spent dissecting a social media insult and the silence regarding Dariel Gonzalez’s racist and antisemitic messages is a troubling reflection of what gets prioritized in local governance. It suggests that the Commission is quick to police the tone of discourse while overlooking actual harmful behavior that undermines the community’s values. True leadership should treat both conduct and substantive harm with equal seriousness to maintain the integrity of City Hall.
The stark contrast between the nearly 20-minute debate over a social media screenshot and the silence regarding the serious ethical violations tied to a city volunteer is a telling commentary on how City Hall prioritizes public image versus substantive accountability. It seems difficult to determine which issue actually undermines the conduct expected at City Hall more: personal insults between officials or the silent omission of racist and antisemitic behavior that affects the community.
Reading this, it’s hard not to see the double standard the article lays out – twenty minutes on a reposted video, silence on racist messages in a city-affiliated chat. That contrast really does expose what leadership chooses to prioritize, and it erodes trust in City Hall’s stated civility standards. Social media amplifies whatever we point it at, and commissioners should be the last ones picking favorites on whose conduct gets a public reckoning.
The double standard here is hard to ignore – seventeen minutes debating a reposted video while serious allegations against a city volunteer barely register. Real accountability would mean treating hate speech in a group chat with the same urgency as a social media dispute. Residents deserve a Commission that prioritizes substance over optics.
It is hard to square 17 minutes of commission debate over a reposted social media video with total silence on the Dariel Gonzalez group-chat scandal. Residents deserve the same urgency applied to a city volunteer’s racist and antisemitic remarks as to a colleague’s Instagram activity. Picking which controversies get airtime sets a troubling precedent for accountability in Coral Gables.
The 17-minute debate over a reposted video, paired with silence on a city volunteer documented hateful messages, sends a troubling signal about priorities at City Hall. Standards of conduct should apply equally whether the controversy is politically convenient or not. Residents deserve a commission willing to address the harder issues, not just the easier targets.
The contrast at Coral Gables City Hall is hard to ignore: seventeen minutes spent debating a commissioner’s reposted social media post, while the controversy around the city volunteer’s group-chat messages has drawn no comparable public discussion from the commission. Residents deserve consistency from their elected officials, whether the conduct in question is online or in private chats. Both situations call for the same level of scrutiny and a clear public record.
The contrast between seventeen minutes spent on a social media repost and silence on the documented hate speech tied to a city volunteer is hard to ignore. Coral Gables residents deserve a Commission that applies the same urgency to bigotry that it applies to political disagreements. I would hope the next meeting includes a public statement distancing the city from those messages and a clear policy on removing volunteers who traffic in them.
The 17-minute debate over a reposted Instagram video stands in stark contrast to the silence on the Dariel Gonzalez and FIU College Republicans group-chat controversy. When racist, antisemitic, and misogynistic messages from a city volunteer are tied to elected officials circles, the Commission refusal to even acknowledge it is itself a statement. Coral Gables residents deserve a clear public record of where their leaders stand, not selective outrage.
The contrast in this piece is hard to ignore. Seventeen minutes on a reposted clip, and near total silence on a volunteer tied to racist, antisemitic, and misogynistic messages — that double standard speaks for itself. Residents deserve a Commission that applies the same urgency to hateful conduct as it does to social media skirmishes. If accountability only follows the comfortable controversy, public trust will keep eroding.
It’s hard not to notice the asymmetry: seventeen minutes of public debate over a reposted Instagram clip, but silence on a city volunteer’s documented racist and antisemitic messages. Coral Gables residents deserve the same moral clarity applied to both situations. Leadership should be measured by what a body chooses to confront, not just by what is convenient to discuss.
The seventeen minutes spent debating Commissioner Castro’s reposted video, paired with total silence on the Dariel Gonzalez group-chat scandal, is a double standard residents should not accept. A city volunteer tied to racist, antisemitic and misogynistic messages deserved the same urgency from the dais as a colleague’s Instagram activity. Coral Gables deserves a Commission that treats hateful conduct with the same seriousness as political disagreements, regardless of convenience.
The disparity in how the commission handles these two controversies is striking. Spending nearly twenty minutes debating a reposted social media post while remaining quiet about serious allegations tied to a city volunteer sends a clear message about priorities. Real accountability should not depend on which issue is more politically convenient to address. Residents deserve consistent standards from their elected officials regardless of who is implicated.
The twenty-minute debate over a reposted social media video feels out of proportion when the commission has stayed silent on a city volunteer whose own hateful messages have been on public record. Residents deserve the same urgency applied to racist and antisemitic conduct as is applied to interpersonal spats. Accountability should not depend on which controversy is more politically comfortable for officials to address.
It is striking to watch the commission spend nearly twenty minutes debating a reposted Instagram clip while the documented hateful messages tied to a city volunteer have gone largely unaddressed at the dais. Residents should be able to expect the same urgency when the conduct involves racist, antisemitic, or misogynistic remarks as when it touches on a colleagues social media habits. Leadership is measured by which controversies receive the courage of public condemnation, not only the politically convenient ones.
The double standard here is hard to ignore. If the commission can spend 17 minutes debating a reposted Instagram clip, surely the racial and antisemitic slurs tied to a city volunteer deserve an equally serious public response rather than silence. Transparency and accountability should apply evenly across every controversy that touches City Hall. Residents deserve to see their representatives condemn hate speech with the same urgency they bring to internal spats.
The double standard on display at this meeting is striking. Spending 17 minutes dissecting a reposted Instagram video while the racist, antisemitic, and misogynistic messages tied to a city volunteer went unmentioned sends a clear signal about which controversies this commission is actually willing to confront. Commissioners like Fernandez are right to push for accountability rather than selective silence. Coral Gables residents deserve leadership that tackles both the loud fights and the harder ones.
It is striking to see the Commission burn more than fifteen minutes on a reposted Instagram clip while a city volunteer’s documented racist, antisemitic, and misogynistic messages barely register as a discussion item. When a volunteer tied to City Hall is accused of that kind of language, the public deserves a clear, on-the-record response, not a brief acknowledgment buried under other business. Civic credibility is built on which issues get the floor and which get pushed aside, and right now the priority looks badly misaligned.
The double standard here is hard to ignore — twenty minutes dissecting a reposted Instagram video while a city volunteer’s documented racist, antisemitic, and misogynistic messages barely got acknowledged from the dais. Residents deserve the same urgency and candor for every controversy, not just the ones that fit a particular political narrative. City Hall’s credibility depends on showing it can apply its own civility standards consistently.
The contrast at City Hall speaks for itself: nearly twenty minutes parsing a screenshot, but real silence on a volunteer’s racist and antisemitic messages. Residents deserve the same urgency applied to accountability that the Commission gives to political spats. I’d rather see the dais spend its hours on what actually erodes public trust in Coral Gables.
Reading about seventeen minutes of debate over a reposted video while actual racist messages from a city volunteer’s circle draw complete silence is exactly the kind of contradiction residents deserve to see documented. Anyone wanting to stitch together short clips showing that contrast for public meetings or local channels can lean on something like Bernini Video to edit the footage locally without feeding sensitive civic recordings into a closed platform. Either way, the commission owes the public a straight answer for the disparity.
Solid article. For anyone interested in paper-banana, paper-banana is worth a look too.
The double standard on display here is hard to ignore. Spending roughly 17 minutes debating a reposted Instagram video while staying completely silent about a city volunteer’s ties to a chat full of racist, antisemitic, and misogynistic messages sends a troubling signal about what this commission actually prioritizes. Local residents deserve leaders who treat substantive accountability with the same energy they bring to social media spats. Hopefully the next meeting puts the harder conversation back on the agenda.
The contrast at the heart of this piece is uncomfortable but worth naming in public. A reposted Instagram video earns a long debate, while the racial, antisemitic, and misogynistic conduct tied to a city volunteer draws mostly silence. Coral Gables residents deserve leaders who weigh substantive accountability with the same energy they bring to social media spats.
The contrast at this meeting is hard to miss: nearly 20 minutes spent dissecting a reposted Instagram clip, while the Gonzalez and FIU College Republicans group-chat controversy went completely unaddressed from the dais. If the commission is going to weigh in on conduct, it should apply that same attention to hateful rhetoric with ties to city volunteers. Silence in one case and scrutiny in the other sends a confusing message about what this body actually prioritizes. Residents deserve consistency, not selective outrage.
The contrast between a controversy getting 17 minutes of discussion and another getting no comment at all says a lot about how City Hall manages public attention. Residents deserve a clearer standard for what gets addressed openly, especially when the silence itself becomes part of the story.
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The contrast between one controversy getting 17 minutes at City Hall and another getting silence is the kind of sequencing that really shapes how readers understand accountability. It reminded me of how Comic Translator that reads tiers in order emphasizes reading tiers in order, because context and order change the whole interpretation.