By Coral Gables Gazette staff

Coral Gables Commissioner Ariel Fernandez announced Monday that he will not seek reelection in November, ending his commission tenure after one shortened term and opening a seat in what is expected to be a closely watched city election.

Fernandez, who was elected in 2023, made the announcement in a YouTube video released as the city’s qualifying period for commission candidates began. He said a new venture, CUBATEC, would require significant travel and professional commitments that would prevent him from giving residents the time he believes the office requires.

“Recently I was presented with the opportunity to dedicate my time and efforts toward preparing for one of the most important developments of our generation — the eventual transition to a free and democratic Cuba,” Fernandez said. “The demands of that mission, including significant travel and professional commitments, would prevent me from devoting the time and attention that the residents of Coral Gables deserve from their commissioner. For this reason, after much prayer and many conversations with my family, I have decided that I would not seek reelection to Coral Gables City Commission.”

The decision comes at the start of the qualifying period for the city’s commission elections, which runs from June 8 to 12, and opens the field for candidates seeking to replace him.

Fernandez and Commissioner Melissa Castro have frequently formed the commission’s minority bloc on contentious votes since Commissioner Richard Lara joined the dais in 2025. Mayor Vince Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Lara have voted together on many of the city’s most disputed issues.

Castro is also up for reelection in November and has not yet announced whether she will seek another term. Lago is up for reelection as well. With Fernandez stepping aside, the November elections could reshape the commission’s balance of power.

A term marked by shifting alliances

Fernandez’s decision means he will serve only one term — and a shortened one, since the four-year cycle was reduced by almost five months to accommodate the shift to fall elections. Even so, his tenure was marked by repeated conflict with Lago, a former ally before Fernandez joined the commission.

Fernandez was initially part of a majority bloc, with Castro and former Commissioner Kirk Menendez. That changed in April 2025, when Lago regained control of the commission with the election of Lara. Since then, the commission has reversed several earlier actions, including rehiring City Manager Peter Iglesias — who had been fired by the previous commission — and advancing the Mobility Hub, along with revisiting issues addressed in April’s citywide referendum.

Fernandez’s announcement comes only weeks after the state attorney’s office closed its inquiry into a so-called “phishing” case the mayor and commission had referred for investigation, finding no criminal offense. As recently as last month, a commission meeting boiled over when Fernandez accused the mayor of Sunshine Law violations predating the commissioner’s election, prompting Lago to respond, “Ariel, you have lost your mind.”

The company Fernandez cited as the reason for his departure carries its own connection to city politics. According to the organization’s account, CUBATEC was conceived in 2000 by Menendez — Fernandez’s former commission ally — while Menendez served as deputy executive director and assistant general counsel of the Cuban American National Foundation and was modeled on the foundation’s “Misión Martí” pro-democracy initiative. The organization describes its mission as guiding partners through the political, cultural and economic transition of a future democratic Cuba.

Fernandez was elected to the Coral Gables City Commission in 2023. He began his career as a high school intern for then-Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and went on to work in Congress for 13 years. In 2019 he co-founded Gables Insider, a digital publication covering city government, and he founded and leads The American Strategies Group, a public relations and marketing firm. A graduate of Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Fernandez holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Florida International University. He has served on several city and civic boards, including the city’s Property Advisory Board and Emergency Management Board, and chaired the School Community Relations Committee for five years. He and his wife, Monica Segura, live in Coral Gables with their son, Stephen.