By the Coral Gables Gazette editorial board
Leadership often reveals itself less in policy positions than in posture—how power is exercised, how disagreement is handled, and how authority is explained to those on the receiving end. During the Jan. 13 Coral Gables City Commission meeting, including debate over the proposed University Drive dog park, the public record revealed two markedly different governing styles from Mayor Vince Lago, applied to two different audiences.
On the dais, the mayor adopted a hard-edged, disciplinary tone toward Commissioner Melissa Castro, escalating a policy disagreement into a personal and procedural confrontation. Later in the same meeting, when addressing residents divided over the dog park, the mayor struck a conciliatory note, urging dialogue, patience, and mutual respect among neighbors with opposing views. The contrast was jarring.
Both approaches—discipline and conciliation—are tools available to any executive. The question raised by this juxtaposition is not whether one is inherently illegitimate. It is why they appear to be applied so differently depending on the audience.
Commissioners are not subordinates. They are coequal elected officials, chosen by the same voters and vested with independent authority. Residents, taxpayers, and voters are not adversaries. They are the source of that authority. Yet the record suggests a reversal of tone: firmness and punishment directed inward, patience and persuasion directed outward.
This dynamic surfaced elsewhere during the meeting. A mayor-sponsored agenda item seeking to clarify media credentials—without naming any outlet—took aim at practices closely associated with the Gazette. The posture toward the press mirrored the posture toward an internal critic: skeptical, adversarial and corrective. Again, the contrast with the mayor’s public-facing calls for harmony was hard to miss.
Context matters. During the meeting, the mayor disclosed that he had been hospitalized over the preceding weekend and was not feeling well. Long meetings strain tempers even under ideal circumstances. Health challenges deserve empathy, and we sincerely hope the mayor is recovering fully. Sympathy, however, does not resolve the larger civic question raised by the evening’s events.
Nor can the commission’s internal politics be ignored. The mayor governs with a reliable majority. He does not need Castro’s vote to prevail on most issues. He does, however, need public trust and voter confidence. It is reasonable to observe that conciliation may come more easily when persuasion is required, and confrontation more readily when numbers already suffice. That observation simply reflects the realities of power as they appear on the record.
An editorial need not decide which version of the mayor is the “real” one. The record already shows both. The more important question is which version best serves Coral Gables.
Cities function best when disagreement—especially among elected officials—is handled with the same respect and restraint leaders ask of the public. Process matters. Tone matters. Consistency matters. A mayor who urges neighbors to listen to one another strengthens his case by modeling that same approach toward colleagues and critics, including the press.
Coral Gables suffers, at times, from a surplus of friction. The way leaders manage that friction sets the civic temperature for everyone else. A city deserves leadership that speaks with one voice about how disagreement is handled, whether the audience is a fellow commissioner, a skeptical reporter, or a resident with a microphone at the podium.
The tale told by the Jan. 13 meeting is one of contrast. The challenge ahead is coherence—bringing those two governing philosophies into alignment, so that conciliation is not reserved for the public alone, and authority is not asserted only when dissent comes from within.
That alignment would serve the commission, the public, and the office of mayor itself.
This Post Has 6 Comments
EXCELLENT ARTICLE!
THANK YOU!
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?
VOTE THEM ALL OUT!
In total agreement with the analysis of two faces of Lago…and his conciliatory approach during the dog park item.
However, at the same time, he slipped in the accusation that Commissioner Castro’s sponsoring of the item resulted in “pitting homeowners against homeowners” and characterized it as a political move on Castro’s part.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
There was no pitting of homeowners against each others. All we were asking for was a reset, something he could have accomplished if he’d voted along with Castro and Fernandez and given us the fair shake which Anderson denied us.
Even when appearing to “play nice”, Lago still has to stab his fellow commissioner in the back.
There is only one L’ego. Everything he does is to benefit himself. The childish swipes and petty attacks are a reminder that he is unfit to lead our city. Let’s face it, he’s a mini trump in a too tight suit. CrossFit your way out of our lives, please?
As a Coral Gables resident who regularly watches commission meetings, I am increasingly troubled by Mayor Vince Lago’s conduct on the dais. His tone toward female commissioners in particular has at times appeared dismissive, aggressive, and unprofessional, crossing a line from firm leadership into behavior that many residents reasonably perceive as misogynistic.
Equally concerning are repeated observable behaviors during meetings—such as lip smacking, exaggerated chewing motions, facial grimacing, and involuntary head or mouth movements—that distract from proceedings and raise questions about his ability to maintain composure in a public forum. I am not a medical professional, and I am not diagnosing the mayor. However, these are well-documented physical behaviors that, in other contexts, are associated with neurological or medication-related side effects and typically warrant medical evaluation.
If health issues are a factor, the public deserves honesty and reassurance that they are being responsibly addressed. If they are not, then the behavior itself still demands accountability. Either way, the burden is on the mayor to ensure that commission meetings are conducted with professionalism, respect, and stability—especially toward colleagues who are his equals, not subordinates.
Coral Gables deserves leadership that models self-control, respect for women, and transparency. When behavior repeatedly raises concerns, dismissing those concerns does not make them go away—it only deepens public mistrust.
This is not about politics. It is about standards. And the standards for the mayor of Coral Gables should be higher than what we have witnessed in recent meetings.