Gomez approved as next Coral Gables city manager

By Coral Gables Gazette staff

During Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago’s discussion on why he chose Deputy City Manager José “Joe” Gómez as his pick to be the city’s next city manager, the mayor used his cell phone and apparently a seemingly endless string of text messages between himself and Gomez to show the responsiveness of the individual he favored to take the reins in the city.

It went on for almost two minutes, as the mayor continued scrolling through the messages while describing Gómez’s responsiveness and work ethic as evidence that he was ready to take over from retiring City Manager Peter Iglesias.

The moment provided some levity in a discussion about a position that has been unusually unstable in recent years. Over the past three years, there’s been a revolving door around the position, since Iglesias was fired in 2024 and then rehired early last year.

The Coral Gables Commission voted 3-1 to appoint Gomez as the next city manager, effective Jan. 8, choosing to bypass a national or executive search despite several commissioners, including Lago, having previously expressed support for such a process. The sole dissent was Commissioner Melissa Castro, who said her vote was not against Gomez but against the decision to forgo a national search. “This is not a vote against Joe,” Castro said. “This is a vote for a national search.”

Commissioner Ariel Fernandez, who is not seeking reelection this year, was absent from Tuesday’s meeting. The vote came about 10 weeks before Coral Gables’ Nov. 3 election, in which both Lago and Castro are on the ballot; Gomez would not take office until more than two months after that election.

Lago, who under the city code is authorized to negotiate the proposed salary and benefits package and present his choice to the commission, made a lengthy case for Gomez. “I believe that we’re incredibly fortunate to have someone of Joe Gomez’s caliber already here and ready to lead,” Lago said. “Joe knows Coral Gables. He knows our team. He knows the projects underway. And most importantly, he understands this community and the high standards our residents expect.”

The mayor acknowledged that he initially was skeptical of Gomez, given the circumstances surrounding his hiring as deputy city manager. But, he said, Gomez quickly earned his respect through his work ethic, professionalism and willingness to disagree when he believed the facts supported a different position.

Lago cited Gomez’s role in discussions over the structural condition of City Hall as an example, saying the deputy city manager was willing to disagree with members of the commission and then-City Manager Amos Rojas when his professional engineering judgment led him to a different conclusion. “That takes integrity,” Lago said.

Castro argues for a broader search

Castro said Gómez was qualified and might well have emerged as the best candidate from a national search.

“I agree that Joe is right now the best suited for this position,” Castro said. “But we have four months to decide. We have time.”

But she argued the city should have allowed other qualified candidates to compete for the position. Citing a 2025 Coral Gables government committee candidate questionnaire, she quoted Lago’s own past pledge to “pursue a national search for our next city manager, one that allows the best and the brightest to apply, to include some of our own senior staff.” “If a national search was good enough to campaign on,” Castro said, “it should be very well good enough to govern by.”

That support for a search extended beyond the campaign questionnaire. In February 2024, Lago sponsored and Anderson co-sponsored a resolution directing city staff to engage an executive search firm. When Iglesias returned as city manager in May 2025, Lago and Anderson again supported a future search, while Lara said he favored a process that would allow both internal and outside candidates to compete.

Castro noted that she had proposed conducting a national search and said the city had time to conduct one before Iglesias’ departure — unlike in 2024, when, she said, the commission had no city manager at all and “didn’t have time.” Castro defended her own vote that year to hire Rojas, and later Parjus, without a search, describing the circumstances as a genuine emergency, and argued the current situation is different because the city now has roughly four months before Iglesias’ new departure date. Her objection, she emphasized, was about establishing a process rather than rejecting Gomez.

City spokeswoman Martha Pantin told the Miami Herald that no search was conducted for the hiring of Rojas, Parjus or Iglesias himself, who was first appointed city manager on Sept. 25, 2018, nor for the city’s current city attorney or city clerk, both of whom were also promoted internally.

Lago and other commissioners argued that a national search was unnecessary because the city already knew Gomez’s abilities after working alongside him. Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson defended the decision, saying she had previously supported a search under different circumstances. She said the city’s current management team had developed into a cohesive unit and that bringing in an outsider could disrupt that continuity.

Former City Manager Iglesias, who is staying through Jan. 8 to help with the transition, strongly endorsed Gomez. He said their relationship had developed into a friendship and that Gomez had demonstrated the professionalism, judgment, leadership and commitment needed to run the city.

“I think the city is in very capable hands,” Iglesias said. He added that a national search was unnecessary because the city had effectively had “a two-year interview” with Gomez rather than the limited exposure that would come through a traditional hiring process.

Anderson praised Gomez as highly qualified and responsive, calling him her “secret weapon” when she needed city matters addressed, while Commissioner Richard Lara pointed to Castro’s own observation that many of the city’s most successful appointments have come from within the organization. Promoting internally, Lara said, recognizes employees who have “earned the confidence of the people that he works with” and sends a message to city staff that “excellence is recognized” and “professional growth matters.” Overlooking that kind of demonstrated ability “simply because we have the option of looking elsewhere,” he said, undercuts the city’s ability to retain its best people. The commission also praised Iglesias for agreeing to remain in the position beyond his original October retirement date. Lago called Iglesias “the most capable, dedicated, and accomplished public servant” he had worked with and said Iglesias had put the city first even when the two disagreed.

Gomez promises continuity

Gomez, 70, will enter the top administrative position in Coral Gables for the first time after serving as deputy city manager. He thanked the commission for its confidence and Iglesias for his mentorship and friendship. “Working for the city of Coral Gables has been a highlight of my professional career,” Gomez said, calling the city an exceptional community and praising its employees.

He said he would lead with “integrity, passion, and a steadfast commitment” to the city and its employees, promising to listen, communicate openly and make decisions in the best interest of Coral Gables. “I recognize both the opportunities and the challenges ahead,” Gomez said. “I’m ready to build upon the city’s strong foundation, maintain momentum of the important work already underway, and ensure that we continue delivering the high level of service our residents and businesses expect.”

Gomez also thanked his family, noting that his mother, Clara, had died one year earlier, on Aug. 24. “It is only fitting that near the anniversary of her passing, I am accepting the most important appointment of my career,” Gomez said, growing emotional as he continued in Spanish, thanking his mother directly. He said he hoped his family would always know that he had been a devoted public servant who cared deeply about his community.

The resolution sets Gómez’s starting salary at $305,324.86 annually, essentially matching the salary Iglesias was earning when the Gazette reported on it — about a 25% raise over the $243,912 Gómez currently makes as deputy city manager. The salary would increase in future fiscal years under the same ordinance governing raises for other appointed officials. In lieu of participating in the city pension plan, Gómez would receive a city retirement contribution equal to 25% of his base salary, or $76,331.22 at the proposed starting salary, or the maximum permitted by law, whichever is less.

The package also includes 20 weeks of severance if Gómez is terminated for reasons other than misconduct, at least 120 hours of annual leave with no accumulation cap, full payout of unused sick leave when his city service ends, a monthly car allowance equal to the highest provided to any appointed city official or employee, and city-paid health, dental and vision coverage for Gómez and his family. By comparison, when the commission reappointed Iglesias in May 2025, his starting salary was $295,000 with many of the same benefits; that resolution did not include severance.

The vote ended another chapter in the city’s tumultuous recent history with its city manager’s office. But before the commission concluded the item, Lago returned once more to the political dispute surrounding the appointment, accusing Castro of election-year grandstanding. Lago said he wanted to avoid the appointment becoming an “Instagram reel” and complained that the decision had become caught up in “ridiculous November election grandstanding.” He then asked the clerk to play a recording to remind the commission and public “how we got here,” referring to the previous commission’s decision to fire Iglesias and the subsequent circumstances that led to his return. The video showed Castro welcoming a previously unknown candidate for city manager to a meeting in 2024, before that commission approved a hire on short notice.

Author: Coral Gables Gazette News Staff