Coral Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro has accused Mayor Vince Lago of verbally attacking and bullying her during the El Carnaval de Barranquilla festival on April 26. The altercation, which took place at Ponce Circle Park, has led to an investigation by the Coral Gables Police Department.
In a letter sent to Police Chief Ed Hudak, Castro detailed how Lago allegedly called her “bad news,” a “venomous snake,” and “classless,” adding that “nobody knew who [she] was.” Castro claims the exchange occurred in front of numerous witnesses, including dignitaries, members of the media, city employees and her young son, and that Lago’s refusal to share the stage with her, despite both being invited to participate, was part of an ongoing campaign of harassment.
“His behavior was not only abusive but also a blatant attempt to bully and intimidate me into quitting,” Castro wrote. She explained that the mayor’s actions caused her great distress, leading her to leave the event in tears, a rare occurrence for the commissioner. Castro also shared a video of herself crying alongside her 7-year-old son, where they both referenced the mayor’s behavior.
No Comment from Mayor Lago
The Gazette reached out to Mayor Lago for comment, but he did not respond to requests for a statement. The Coral Gables Police Department, when contacted, confirmed they were aware of the incident but offered no additional details, stating that the investigation was ongoing. “The Police Department was contacted over the weekend by Commissioner Castro about the alleged incident, and a police report was written,” said Sergeant Michelle Christensen. “The investigation is ongoing.”
Witnesses and Allegations
Castro named several individuals she claims witnessed the event, including the city’s Economic Development Director Belkis Perez, and International Business Development Coordinator Leticia Perez. However, Castro expressed skepticism about whether they would “speak up given the mayor’s known vindictive nature.” Castro also mentioned the Colombian Consul and radio personalities from La Poderosa as witnesses, though their testimony has not been confirmed.
The incident occurred less than 24 hours after the official induction ceremony for the new Coral Gables City Commission. The ceremony marked a fresh start for the commission with Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, and Commissioner Richard Lara taking their oaths of office.
Preceding Remarks and Tensions
Just a day before the alleged incident, both Lago and Castro made conciliatory remarks after a two-year period of political tension. Castro expressed hope for a more unified commission, saying, “These past two years have been rocky, but I’m sure that moving forward we will find civility, peace, and harmony.” Lago, in his speech, said, “I extend my hand to all my colleagues on the city commission and invite them to join me in truly and faithfully putting residents first.”
However, Lago also took aim at his political opponents, saying, “Personal attacks, falsehoods, and intimidation orchestrated by my opponents and those formidable forces with whom they found common cause.” Castro believes that Lago’s rhetoric, combined with his behavior, is indicative of a larger pattern of mistreatment.
A Call for Action
Castro stated that she does not plan to bring the incident up at the next scheduled commission meeting on May 6, but she remains determined to hold the mayor accountable. “He cannot keep doing this to women,” she said. “I’ve put up with a lot, but this one I can’t—not when it is done in front of my son.”
In addition to the ongoing investigation, Castro mentioned discussing the possibility of filing a restraining order against Lago with Police Chief Hudak, although the chief explained that a judge would have to hear evidence in order for one to be issued. She expressed confidence in the Coral Gables police to handle the matter impartially, despite the involvement of the city’s highest elected official.
“I request immediate measures to ensure my safety at future public events and that the mayor be held accountable for his actions,” Castro wrote in her letter. “This kind of behavior cannot continue.”
Castro also reiterated her concerns about the mayor’s behavior escalating into physical violence. “I feel that if he catches me alone at a moment, with no one else around, he would definitely do something to me,” she said. “If he went this far in public, in front of dignitaries, what would he do if they were not around?”
This Post Has 13 Comments
There were witnesses, but they will not talk. This is a serious issue, but Castro will not bring it to the commission. Here we go again, again with Mayor Lago. There will be another investigation by the police, and like the one brought by the city manager appointed by Castro, Mayor Lago will be exonerated. There is a trend happening here. I would call it ‘political swatting’.
Excellent use of police resources:
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”
“Help! Someone just called me a mean name!”
WE ALL KNOW LAGO IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE A BULLY! DISGUSTING HUMAN!
Why any real person voted for this crap is beyond me!! Guess all his developer cronies came to his rescue to survive.
Oh Melissa! Grow Up! This is politics – get over it.
“If you can’t stand the heat- get out of the kitchen.” You are a strong, intelligent woman but you made yourself look like a pathetic whiney cry baby on instagram and as for putting your young son on social media to get yourself sympathy? – that is inappropriate and very unprofessional.
This crap really needs to stop and you all need to start getting along and addressing the needs of the City and its residents. Folks, this is getting old and frankly embarrassing to the learn this toxic environment may continue. There was an election and elections have consequences. Now it’s time for the winners to take their trophy and move on and for the remainder of the commission to accept the results. Apparently, the over-development issues were not critical to the voters and maybe you all can get back to compromising without the personal attacks.
Playing the victim and using your son? Wow. How ridiculous and contrived. You actually pulled your 7 year old son aside and said let’s get a video of you crying with me son. What kind of mother does that? You are supposed to protect your children. Then you go on to extrapolate that Lago would do physical violence if he caught you alone? Do you realize how dumb that sounds? After all you have done during your term so far I doubt anyone can trust you to do the right thing at any moment in time. I would never vote for you again.
Leonard Nemoy – when you speak with your friend who is a Coral Gables elected official, please tell him that a better use of time (and police resources) is for your friend to graciously accept victory and focus on the needs of Coral Gables residents. Please remind him that his “mandate” was a vote for him by only 11.16% of residents (5,547/49,696 which was the 2020 census and has likely increased due to the post-2020 multi-family construction in the City) and 16.23% of registered voters (5,547/34,181 registered voters). That means that despite all of the money spent to support his campaign, 88.8% of the residents and 83.8% of the registered voters did not vote for him.
JEM – this is not politics – at least not the way it has been in the past in Coral Gables. The vendetta that one City of Miami Commissioner waged against Little Havana business owners (Ball & Chain) because they did not support that Commissioner in his 2017 campaign resulted in a $63.5 million judgment against that Commissioner with the City’s taxpayers funding the Commissioner’s legal fees. The City of Miami (and its taxpayers and insurance carrier) settled its potential liability in September, 2024 for $12.5 million. Please reconsider what is “unprofessional” in the purported exchange between 2 elected Coral Gables officials on April 26.
Finally, if you are going to make a comment, use your own name and not some made-up alias. Alberto Santos and I have LOTS of disagreements. But at least we will both use our names and are willing to stand behind our comments. Thank you Mr. Santos. And not having sufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution does not mean exoneration – it means that the investigation was terminated with no judicial determination of what actually happened.
Interesting that you cite the lack of voter turnout as “Not voting for Lago”. Why didn’t you run on the platform of moving CG city elections to November?
I have provided my reasons repeatedly. Sorry that you were not able to read them. Also, you might want to review the comments of the Charter Review Committee chaired by Mayor Slesnick and prior Charter Review Committee chaired by Mayor Valdes Fauli. I am not the only resident looking to keep Coral Gables different than the City of Miami.
She and her CORTADITO CKAN HAVE BEEN INMASKED!
Coral Gables was being turned into a low class ghetto and us the citizens voted to keep civility and beauty on our city.
Melissa your track record speaks for itself and Mayor Lago has a track record of decent behavior, I personally do not believe you and really wish you the best but not to be part of our day to day lives. You were elected so please learn civility and stop with your drama acting ! We are all watching closely after the turmoil that we went through theses past years ! Be nice because we citizens are extremely happy either way the elections turn out !
Coral Gables is becoming a banana republic like the City of Miami.
Castro/Fernandez have to be voted out in the next election!!
AMEN!
Our mayor speaks the truth; “bad news,” a “venomous snake,” and “classless,” are ALL accurate descriptions. It is so pathetic that she has to cry “snake” tears to get attention. We don’t need to spend any more city dollars to investigate this nonsense, please!