By Coral Gables Gazette staff
The long-simmering and sometimes explosive political feud between Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago and Commissioner Melissa Castro has expanded beyond City Hall and Coral Gables to the State Capital, drawing in the Florida League of Cities (FLC) and culminating in a series of pointed letters, memos, and public accusations tied to the Florida’s controversial Live Local Act.
The latest escalation followed Castro’s absence from the City Commission’s January 27 meeting, which she missed to attend the FLC’s Legislative Action Days in Tallahassee as part of her role in statewide municipal advocacy.
Mayor questions Castro’s actions on Live Local
On the same days as the meeting, Lago sent a letter to FLC leadership requesting “clarification regarding the Florida League of Cities’ position on the State of Florida’s Live Local Act,” while questioning whether Castro’s legislative advocacy aligned with the league’s.
In the letter, Lago cited the League’s own legal guidance warning that the Live Local Act “significantly reduces local discretion and control” and could lead to “significant shifts in neighborhood character, infrastructure demands, and service needs.” He then raised concerns about Castro’s prior sponsorship of a Coral Gables resolution urging changes to how income eligibility is calculated under the law.
“Accordingly, I respectfully request clarification on whether Commissioner Castro’s legislative position reflects the official stance of the Florida League of Cities, or whether it is her independent advocacy,” Lago wrote.
The mayor’s political action committee, Coral Gables First, also joined the criticism, sending a mass email highlighting Castro’s absence and questioning her position on the Live Local Act, while linking to a news article with similar complaints.
Castro responds with her own memo
Castro responded with detailed memo to city commissioners, City Manager Peter Iglesias, and City Attorney Cristina Suarez, disputing both the characterization of her advocacy and the implication that her absence from the January 27 meeting was improper.
In a January 22 memo notifying the city of her planned absence, Castro emphasized that her travel was “not optional or personal,” but part of her official responsibilities representing Coral Gables in Tallahassee.
“Representing Coral Gables in Tallahassee during active legislative deliberations is not ancillary to my role; it is a core function of responsible municipal leadership,” she wrote, noting that legislative proposals under consideration could directly affect “local government revenues, municipal home rule authority, and public safety funding stability.”
In her latest memo, she described the mayor’s accusations as “repeated mischaracterizations” of her role in Live Local advocacy and the improper attribution of local actions to the FLC. Castro clarified that a November 2025 resolution she introduced regarding Live Local income calculations “did not pass,” never became city policy, and “was never advanced through, endorsed by, or presented as a position of the Florida League of Cities.”
She further warned that transmitting inaccurate claims to third-party institutions “has the effect of undermining professional reputation” and “creating false impressions regarding ethics, authority, and intent,” while interfering with her external services on behalf of the city.
League of Cities responds to mayor, informs Castro
For its part, the Florida League of Cities responded to the mayor’s query and copied Castro. It outlined its policy development process and addressed the claims raised in his letter. In the response, Casey Cook, the League’s chief of legislative affairs, explained that FLC is a member-driven organization whose advocacy positions are developed through volunteer committees and approved through an established process.
Cook quoted the League’s adopted housing policy, which supports addressing Florida’s housing shortage “while preserving the authority of local governments to manage growth consistent with each community’s capacity to ensure public safety, resilience, and financial stability.”
Cook wrote that “there was no discussion or consideration of proposals related to adjusting area median income thresholds or substituting municipal median income for countywide median income under the Live Local Act,” and that the League “has not adopted, supported, or advanced any policy position advocating for such a change.”
“For these reasons, we are unclear as to the specific ‘legislation sponsored by Commissioner Castro’ referenced in your letter,” Cook wrote, noting that the only league position Castro participated in “does not support expansion of the Live Local Act’s preemptions.”
Cook added that the FLC remains “firmly committed to protecting municipal home rule” and opposing additional state preemption, and invited further dialogue if additional clarification was needed.
Latest example of ongoing feud
The exchange marks the latest chapter in an ongoing and often contentious relationship between Lago and Castro, whose disagreements have frequently played out publicly during commission meetings. There is also a pending investigation surrounding a complaint filed by Castro against the mayor, which she says accosted her in front of her child at a public event, not long after last year’s spring elections.
With correspondence now involving statewide organizations and legislative bodies, the dispute appears to have moved beyond municipal politics and raises broader questions about representation, advocacy, and the boundaries of political conflict.
This Post Has 9 Comments
This is just the latest example of his small, retaliatory style of politics and personal character. It is something that no longer surprises discerning observers. What is surprising is how readily others continue to cheer it on rather than urging restraint and professionalism.
Will someone please start a recall to get rid of Coral Gables Mayor Lago, or otherwise now known as the Joe Carollo of our City. This man is out of control and is a cancer that is breaking down our leadership. I have never ever disliked a politician like i dislike Lago, a childish, vindictive, vicious, autocratic narcissist who thinks he can do what he wants. Lago’s behavior must not be allowed continue or be accepted by our city. How is everyone being so accepting of his behavior? If he has an issue he is to work it out with Castro, but to trash her at every turn is unacceptable. Airing your “dirty laundry” in public just tears down our City. Lago is a pathetic Mayor who needs to go !!!
The Mayor should be censured again. This time for his sexist posts and his repeated attacks on a fellow commissioner. He is completely obsessed with Castro. If one didn’t know any better, you would think he’s in love with her – and this is his love language.
Why is a non-property owner allowed to serve on City Commission?
As a renter in Coral Gables and a US citizen, Melissa Castro can vote in City elections but as someone who owns no property in City, “she has no skin in the game”!!
Board members are usually required to own shares of the Company whose Board they sit on – why does the City allow her to have an influence/vote on our City’s rules/actions. when she has ZERO to lose???
The City Charter does not require property ownership to serve, only residency and voter eligibility. Coral Gables is governed by voters, not deeds. And the “no skin in the game” argument is nonsense. Renters pay property taxes every single month through their rent, along with assessments, insurance, and city fees. Landlords pass those costs on, that’s basic economics. Cities aren’t corporations and residents aren’t shareholders. Governance is about representation and accountability to voters. The Charter is clear, and the argument isn’t.
This is outright abuse of office. Using state-level organizations to pursue a personal vendetta against Commissioner Castro is reckless, vindictive, and humiliating for Coral Gables. This isn’t governance, it’s retaliation fueled by ego, and it exposes exactly how far the mayor is willing to go to silence a colleague. Disgraceful.
If Commissioner Castro hadn’t laid out the facts for residents in writing, many of us would’ve swallowed the mayor’s version without question and that’s exactly why he took this stunt to the state level. This wasn’t leadership or policy; it was a calculated smear driven by retaliation and ego, and it embarrassed Coral Gables.
Again, this is what you get when you vote for
Clowns. The big lights, it’s the circus…the show goes on. Next time vote common sense and especially get out an vote.
It’s a shame for such a beautiful city with much potential, we have clowns running the city
Mayor Lago’s continued persecution of other Commissioners (and residents who are not part of his echo chamber) and misogynistic behavior combined with his false statements and lack of decorum and civility are wrong and very bad for Coral Gables. What does he have to fear to justify these attacks? He has a voting pact that will approve anything he sponsors (other than a preposterous censure of Commissioner Castro for asking him to focus on his own family that his voting pact could not support). Mayor Lago repeatedly attacks family members – when I last spoke at a Commission meeting, he claimed my wife and I were paid lobbyists without any support for such false allegation. This conduct is evidence of anger management issues and/or desperation by outside forces concerned with losing control of the City. Please do better.