Advocates begin recall effort for Coral Gables mayor: ‘We have to take the city back’
Advocates on Wednesday launched a recall effort of Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago amid a turbulent year that included the firing of the city manager and comments from one commissioner calling the city a “cesspool of public corruption.”
“It’s a painful process. It’s not a happy day to have to do this,” said longtime resident Maria Cruz, who is chairperson of the political committee behind the recall effort, which is called End the Corruption.
“But, you know, if you have an illness and you don’t do anything about it, you die,” Cruz continued. “If you have a mayor that is not doing the right things, and you let him continue doing it — guess what, it’s on you.”
The recall petition accuses Lago of “misfeasance and malfeasance” because of the mayor’s business dealings, based partly on the Miami Herald’s reporting.
The news is the latest development in the fallout in the City Beautiful following last year’s election, when a pair of candidates endorsed by the political establishment — including Lago, multiple former mayors and the entire
City Commission at that time — lost to Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez.
The recall effort also lands one month after the City Commission voted 3-2 to fire City Manager Peter Iglesias. The vote highlighted the growing chasm between two political factions on the commission, with Fernandez, Castro and Commissioner Kirk Menendez voting to fire Iglesias, and Lago and
Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson voting against his termination. Those same camps voted 3-2 last month to appoint Amos Rojas Jr., a retired U.S. Marshal, as the new city manager without hearing public comment on the matter or placing it on the meeting’s agenda.
During that meeting, Menendez — previously considered a swing vote