By Coral Gables Gazette staff
Not even the Christmas and holiday spirit could curb the vitriol being slung among Coral Gables commissioners, with the latest salvo landing just a day before Christmas Eve. On December 23, Mayor Vince Lago’s political action committee, Coral Gables First, sent out an email mocking and deriding Commissioner Melissa Castro, which quickly reignited long-simmering tensions between the two.
The eblast was titled “Santa Baby… A Coral Gables First Christmas Carol” and purported to be in jest and somehow “in the spirit of the season and recent events.” Castro characterized it as an attempt to “demean, sexualize, and ridicule a woman in public service.”
The email came from the political action committee that the mayor has asserted is his mouthpiece and makes fun of Castro’s “scripted commission remarks,” “attempts at self-enrichment” and “pro-development” legislation it says she has proposed, while including several cartoonish depictions of the commissioner.
Castro’s response came from an email she sent later in the day: “It is truly unfortunate that during a season meant for reflection, goodwill, and unity, I must open my Christmas newsletter by addressing a political attack rather than simply sharing in the holiday spirit with our community,” started her email.
“Choosing this moment to demean, sexualize, and ridicule a woman and a mother in public service is not only unnecessary, it is deeply disrespectful and speaks volumes about the values behind the attack,” it continued.
It went on to say that the PAC’s email “relied on gendered ridicule, sexualized caricatures, and the familiar trope of portraying a woman in public office as scripted, unserious, or deserving of mockery.” She wrote that the message reflected a broader lack of respect for women in leadership.
Lago’s PAC email contrasts with personal email
The sardonic email came about an hour and 20 minutes before the mayor sent out a much more typical Christmas email wishing residents a very happy holiday season. After touting accomplishments and thanking city staff, the email said he was “excited and determined to continue tackling the important issues that affect our city.”
“There is still much work to be done, and I remain committed to listening, collaborating, leading, and making decisions with fairness and transparency,” Lago wrote.
The rest of the email highlighted particular accomplishments in the city, much like Castro’s email after the introduction criticizing and responding to the political action committee’s email, which was also posted on its Instagram account.
Continuation of years of acrimony between mayor and commissioner
The unceremonious end to the year follows a pattern of hostility that has existed between Lago and Castro since she was elected in 2023, and has only intensified after the April elections, which saw the mayor retake control of the commission with the election of Commissioner Richard Lara.
Not long after the election, Castro accused Lago of verbally attacking and bullying her during the El Carnaval de Barranquilla festival, which led to an investigation by the Coral Gables Police Department that has still not been closed out.
Despite campaign promises from multiple candidates to restore civility and respect to the commission, the opposite has happened with all commissioners taking turns hurling insults at different points of the year.
The mayor’s PAC lists “civility” as one of its tenets, but Lago has openly and consistently derided Castro and Commissioner Ariel Fernandez throughout the year. At the last commission meeting on December 10, all three went after one another again.
For his part, Lago pointed to a history of attacks he says he’s suffered over the past couple of years: “It has been constant attacks against me, my family, my business for the last two years over and over and over and over again,” he said.
Other clashes foreshadowed year-end blowup
The December emails followed particularly contentious moments earlier in the year that laid bare the depth of animosity between the mayor and Castro. During the August 26 commission meeting, a heated exchange culminated in Castro directly accusing Lago of dishonesty.
“Respectfully, I don’t know how else to say this to you, but you are a liar,” Castro said from the dais. “And I don’t know how else to put it in a better way. Liar. And keep on lying. Everybody’s seeing it.”
The remark marked one of the sharpest personal attacks exchanged on the commission this year and drew immediate condemnation. At the following meeting on September 10, Castro publicly apologized.
“I want to address the ‘liar’ part, and I want to apologize for that,” she said. “I think I was a little passionate, and I could have used different terminology. I take accountability for that. I really hope that does not happen again. I really want a commission that is able to talk in an educative manner, proper, polite manner.”
Lago acknowledged the apology but made clear how close the episode came to formal discipline. “In 13 years, I’ve never insulted someone here on the commission. I’ve never used a derogatory name or said, ‘you’re a liar,’” he said. “I’m showing immense self-restraint. I have a censure right here that I had prepared with the city attorney, which I’m perfectly fine with. It’s against the civility code.”
Ultimately, the mayor chose not to pursue the censure, but the exchange underscored how fragile relations on the commission had become – a reality that the holiday-season email from Lago’s PAC only further inflamed as the city heads into a new year with old divisions firmly intact.
This Post Has 17 Comments
Using the guise of a Christmas message to send a vile email about a fellow commissioner is a new low. And pretending it’s being sent in the spirit of the season just demonstrates his total lack of civility.
What kind of self-proclaimed Catholic/Christian uses a religious holiday to demean, insult, and try to discredit another person? A despicable one. How shameful.
This kind of behavior does not happen in Switzerland.
Stop it, Stop it, Stop it !!! I am literally sick of all your hate and mud slinging. Lago. You are the worst mayor in our history as you are behind all of this. You have indoctrinated ugly vicious behavior into our community against another, mostly because they do not bow down to king Lago. My New Years wish is to have you recalled out of our City, taking Anderson with you. You lack professionalism and are getting close to the same level of behavior as Joe Carrollo in Miami. A bully and an autocratic politician. You just keep on making yourself look pathetic and vindictive.
Lago totally disrespects women and is an embarrassment to our great City. Can we petition for Lago to be removed?
To paraphrase Michele Obama, when they go low, Lago goes lower. There are no words to describe his spitefulness.
I am a City employee, and a young woman. This is disgusting to see. I hope all the officials see this comment. Total disrespect. If it was not for the bad economy, total employee turn-around would be at a higher percentage.
Melissa has chosen to throw venom arrows yet demands flowers in return .we are three of her malicious intents and it’s about time that
She resigns or we vote her out once and for all. She wants attention she acts like a bully that demands courtesy and reverence
Melissa please leave our city and most residents do not welcome your warrior behavior. You lack decorum and respect to your superiors that WE ELECTED TO GOVERN! ! We don’t need house don’t like you we willget you out of coral gables very soon.take your sex violin and play it somewhere else ! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ! Bye 👋
can you cite two example of Melissa being a bully? just 2 since she was elected. or cite 2 arrows that were not in self-defense. or 2 where she “demanded reverence” to use your words. Evidence is your friend, Chris, how about invite evidnece into your commentary? you’ll have a better chance of earning our respect that way.
Chris, the behavior you are describing is Lago’s, not Commissioner Castro’s. You are either confused or you don’t watch the commission meetings.
Lago has been bullying Commissioner Castro malicious since the first day she sat on the dais. The one who needs to resign or be voted out, or better yet, removed due to his absolutely inappropriate actions is Lago. His behavior is unacceptable for anyone holding public office.
You are describing Lago’s behavior. You must be a friend, employee or you were paid to write what you did. He is a Joe Carrollo with his bullying and vindictive behavior. Want Lago gone.
In this season of peace and joy, we receive vitriol and cruelty in our inboxes from the top government official of our city. Truly despicable!
We should also take note of who liked the post on instagram. Prince Nick Cabrera, Tony Newell and Lago himself (twice!) aren’t surprises, but, shamefully, Chamber President Jorge Arrizurieta liked it as well.
Waiting for aesops’ and maybe even guest writer Wolfe can rebuke this atrocious behavior as the mouth piece of the mayor. Selective clutching of the pearls for aesops on so many issues that do not pertain to our city but here we are, where is your so called citizens watch now?
Respect- guess who else liked the post? None other than commission hopeful, Ivette Arango. I guess she likes to see women bullied by powerful – but weak inside – men. She will make a great commissioner in the Gables then
The commerce was under the leadership of Mr. Mark Trowbridge for nearly 19 years. He’d have NEVER done what Jorge Arrizurieta did by liking such a disgusting post. Shame on you Jorge for bringing disrespect to your role in our community. You can add your position to the ever growing list of ones that need to be reconsidered for a new occupant.
Mayor Lago’s false statements are commonplace. He made one about me as a “lobbyist” at the October 14 Commission meeting. I am not and have never been a lobbyist. I sent him (and our other elected officials and our City Attorney who appears to only represent Mayor Lago) an email on October 23 requesting backup for his false statement – he did not reply. I made a freedom of information request for documents or emails to support his false statement – nothing was produced. That is because Mayor Lago knows he is making false statements. An elected official who makes false statements violates: (A) our Honor Code (Section 2-306); (B) our Ethics Code (the City is governed by the highest ideals of honor and integrity in all relationships in order to merit the respect and inspire the confidence of the organization and the public being served); (C) our Civility Code (each elected official shall endeavor to cite only the truth); and (D) Section A(2) of the Citizens’ Bill of Rights in the Miami-Dade County Charter (no municipal official shall knowingly furnish false information). Mayor Lago believes that he is above the law (changing our Charter without elector vote) and tries to intimidate. His version of civility is to attack with false remarks. We have never had this in Coral Gables. Coral Gables was definitely better in 2013 before Mayor Lago’s rule started. LAL – Liars Always Lie!
When does this mayor getting a public censure??? When do the commission and residents call him out?