By Coral Gables Gazette staff

At different points during discussion on a single item at the May 19 Coral Gables Commission meeting, there were accusations of sexual harassment, claims of crimes committed during last year’s election season, firsthand accounts of past Sunshine Law violations, and accusations that one commissioner had “lost his mind.” 

All of the comments came from Gables commissioners, and most were directed at one another.

On the heels of another contentious meeting on May 5 when resident Maria Cruz was barred from further public comment after likening Mayor Vince Lago to a king despite repeated advice from City Attorney Cristina Suarez to issue a warning first, this week’s meeting began unraveling when Cruz’s reappointment to the Code Enforcement Board was pulled from the consent agenda for discussion.

Lago, who has a long and combative history with Cruz, launched into a presentation detailing what he described as past misconduct and behavior that made her unfit to continue serving on the quasi-judicial board. Cruz was proposed for reappointment by another Lago political rival, Commissioner Melissa Castro.

Mayor, vice mayor lay out case against board member

“I think she’s unfit to serve on the code enforcement board,” Lago said, arguing the position “requires fairness and impartial judgment.”

The mayor insisted the matter was not retaliation or reprisal, but rather a question of qualifications and temperament. He accused Cruz of “vindictive and targeted behavior” against residents who disagreed with her politically, citing a dispute involving orchids attached to a street tree at a residence connected to one of his supporters. Lago acknowledged that the residents involved in the orchid dispute had worked on his re-election campaign.

Lago claimed Cruz repeatedly pressured city staff to levy harsher penalties against the resident and displayed emails on the dais as evidence.

“The code enforcement board cannot become a platform for personal vendettas, political retaliation or harassment,” Lago said.

He then escalated matters further, claiming Cruz was “at the center of an investigation involving fraudulent signatures” connected to last year’s failed recall campaign against him, while also reviving decades-old allegations tied to her time working at Miami Beach Senior High School.

Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson also referenced allegations involving campaign sign theft by Cruz, reading an email she sent to the proposed appointee after she had been seen taking Anderson’s signs from lawns – Anderson disputed Cruz’s explanation surrounding yard signs delivered during the election cycle, saying she personally hand-delivered signs only to residents who requested them.

Castro defends appointment, alleges retaliation and harassment

Castro forcefully defended Cruz’s reappointment, calling the effort to block her “exactly” the type of retaliation critics have accused the commission majority of carrying out.

“Today you’re going to retaliate against her a second time,” Castro said, referencing Cruz being silenced during the prior meeting.

The commissioner accused Lago of routinely targeting political opponents and residents who disagree with him.

“You do not have the right to silence them or to persecute them or to retaliate against them,” Castro said.

Later in the meeting, the discussion veered into deeply personal territory when Castro described an incident at a literacy festival in which she said Lago looked her up and down, mocked her pose, and laughed. “I think more than intimidation that’s more like sexual harassment,” Castro said.

“When you have a sitting mayor look at you from your legs all the way up and then mock you … try to intimidate me,” Castro said.

She then directly challenged Lago to deny the accusation.

“As a man, can you look at me in the face and say that did not happen?” Castro asked repeatedly, saying the incident had been photographed and videotaped.

Lago did not directly deny the allegation, instead responding: “This is the level of insanity that we’ve dealt with over the last three years.” He then urged Castro to vote and move on. “You’re an embarrassment to this city,” Castro shot back before casting her vote against rejecting Cruz’s appointment.

Fernandez revives old feuds, levels Sunshine Law allegation

Commissioner Ariel Fernandez also defended Cruz while reigniting his long-running political war with Lago.

Fernandez accused the mayor of threatening him and his family and claimed residents had warned him about Lago becoming “more aggressive every day.”

But the meeting reached another level when Fernandez appeared to accuse Lago of past Sunshine Law violations, describing alleged strategy sessions at Lago’s home years ago involving Cruz and political allies. Fernandez named Cruz and another individual as present during those sessions, and said Cruz was visible in the back of the chamber as he spoke — implying she could corroborate the account. Lago did not deny the sessions took place.

“We were in your house … and you would call your colleagues to make sure they were supporting your legislation,” Fernandez alleged. “You would put them on speaker phone and put the phone on the table and tell us don’t talk so they don’t know you’re on the phone.”

Lago immediately exploded in response.

“Ariel, you have lost your mind,” the mayor said repeatedly.

Fernandez continued firing back, accusing Lago of manipulating public perception and comparing the situation to “the wolf gnawing at your leg and pointing at the boy and saying it’s his fault.”

By the time the item finally concluded nearly an hour later, little had been resolved beyond further entrenching the commission’s increasingly toxic divisions.

For longtime residents accustomed to Coral Gables branding itself as “The City Beautiful,” the session offered another reminder that civility inside City Hall continues to erode — one meeting at a time.