Coral Gables Commission candidate files police complaints over alleged election misconduct

Image via YouTube.com.

Perennial Coral Gables candidate Jackson “Rip” Holmes is pursuing police action following his allegation that Commissioner Ariel Fernandez “defrauded” him in the city’s April election.

Holmes, who placed last in a three-way contest for the City Commission’s Group 4 seat, has filed two information reports and a suspicious activity report. He tried Monday to file a criminal complaint with the Coral Gables Police Department, he said, but that too was received as “additional information” by the department.

He plans to also register complaints with the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust and Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

“I’m going to spread the word because I’ve got a story to tell, and it’s true,” he said.

As Florida Politics previously reported, Holmes alleges Fernandez, a local media mogul and political consultant, tricked him into dropping out of the race for Mayor to instead run for the Group 4 seat on the City Commission.

It was only after the election, Holmes said, that Fernandez revealed he opposed the development of a $63 million mixed-use parking garage, dubbed the Mobility Hub. Holmes owns retail space on Miracle Mile, a half-mile strip of shopping and dining spots in the heart of Coral Gables adjacent to where the hub is to rise, and he views the hub as vital to the future of his business.

Holmes switching races gave incumbent Mayor Vince Lago, for whom the Mobility Hub is a pet project, an unopposed path to re-election. But according to Holmes, Fernandez and his “confidant,” Javier Baños, explained that voter turnout would decline with Lago not on the ballot, which would give Fernandez a better chance at winning.

“Basically, Ariel Fernandez said, ‘Rip, switch races so I can win.’ And I said, ‘Good. I support you. I want you to win,’” Holmes said. He did not offer a reason why spending about $1,500 of his own money running for the Group 4 seat made sense for him personally.

“If he had been honest with me, if he told me (he opposed) the Mobility Hub, the parking that I need for my business’ survival, which he knew about — if he hadn’t defrauded me — I never would have changed race,” he said. “I mean, would you — if you were a merchant on Miracle Mile — agree to help someone take away your parking? Not me. I ain’t that stupid.”

Fernandez maintains he’s long been clear about where he stands on the project, pointing to a December 2021 story he published in his periodical, Gables Insider, in which he likened the hub to a Hot Wheels “Ultimate Garage” that most residents don’t want.

He denies telling Holmes to run for the Group 4 seat on the City Commission, which went to fellow Mobility Hub foe Melissa Castro, who defeated him and Ivette Arango O’Doski, a well-funded ally of Lago’s Holmes believes would have won had he not switched races.

“I know the Mobility Hub is extremely sensitive for him because of his ties to Miracle Mile, so I know why he’s lashing out about that, but my position has never changed. I’ve been talking about this for a year,” said Fernandez, who defeated lawyer Alex Bucelo, another Lago ally, for the Group 5 seat on the City Commission. “I honestly don’t understand the thought process (of) why he thought I wanted Vince to just walk into office.”

Holmes, a prolific online poster of selfie videos delving into a variety of subjects, including a theory that shape-shifting reptilian aliens secretly control the planet, said he believes some he’s spoken with at the Coral Gables Police Department aren’t taking his complaint seriously. He singled out one person he spoke to at the front desk for “possibly deliberately derailing” his Monday filing.

He also claims digital communications showing Fernandez urging him to switch races have “been destroyed, possibly through felonious hacking by him of my WhatsApp account.”