Coral Gables race pits Mayor against colleague-turned-foe, third candidate who sued the city

(L-R) Mayor Vince Lago is running for a third two-year term. City Commissioner Kirk Menendez and Michael Anthony Abbott aim to deny him. Images of Lago and Menendez via Coral Gables. Image of Abbott via SynxGlobal Inc.

Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago slid easily into re-election two years ago after no one opposed him. That’s not the case this time.

He faces two opponents in Tuesday’s election. One is a friend-turned-foe and fellow City Commission member, Kirk Menendez, who has increasingly sided against Lago on pivotal votes.

The other is first-time candidate Michael Anthony Abbott, who has an open lawsuit against the city over a 2020 encounter with police that resulted in his arrest.

Lago carries the advantage of incumbency and a significant funding edge into Election Day. But he’s also more politically vulnerable. That’s due to a power shift following the 2023 election, when two outspoken critics of his — Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez — defeated Commission candidates he supported.

Since then, it’s been battle after battle at City Hall, with Menendez frequently siding with the five-member Commission’s newest members against Lago and Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, who also faces a pair of challengers Tuesday.

Among other things, Menendez cast tie-breaking votes to give City Commission members huge pay raises and to fire and hire a new City Manager last February without a national search.

Lago and Anderson voted against both decisions and vowed to donate their extra pay to charity, though neither provided proof of doing so when asked by the Miami Herald.

Things have grown uglier since. Last April, Lago accused Menendez, Castro and Fernandez of assisting a failed citizen effort to recall him. A tense exchange he had with then-City Manager Amos Rojas Jr. in June led to a since-tossed accusation by Rojas that Lago assaulted him.

Lago came under further negative light this week after Coral Gables Police confirmed a private investigator, a former city cop, tailed Fernandez while he drove his son to school. Fernandez said he suspected Lago was behind the surveillance and said he’d also had his car vandalized and his tires slashed.

Menendez said he’d had his tires slashed too and intimated Lago was involved because he hadn’t condemned the action. Lago denied any involvement and said he’s repeatedly been the target of smears over the past two years.

Lago is suing over one incident in which he said he was unjustly maligned, a 2023 radio segment in which Fernandez errantly said Lago was under investigation by the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust. He was actually under preliminary review by the agency, which later dropped its inquiry.

This month, he also threatened to sue the blog Political Cortadito over a report his lawyer called “false, libelous, and defamatory.”

These and other hostilities incensed some residents and spurred five non-officeholders to run this year on variously worded promises to restore decorum and respect at City Hall. Also top-of-mind is the evergreen subject of overdevelopment, the gist of which is that everyone opposes it on the record, albeit to different degrees.

Lago, a 48-year-old construction executive in private life, has served in Coral Gables government since 2013, including as Vice Mayor. He’s a registered Republican, though the city’s elections are technically nonpartisan.

He promises, if re-elected, to increase government transparency and public safety, support “smart development” commensurate with Coral Gables’ character, lower property taxes and improve sustainability efforts. He cited the city’s lower crime rate, expanded green spaces and trolley services, open-door policy at City Hall and effort to move elections to November among his accomplishments.

As in elections past, Lago proved a formidable fundraiser this cycle, stacking $472,500 by March 21 through his campaign account with ample contributions from developers, local businesses and residents.

His political committee, Coral Gables First, had more than $149,000 left as of Dec. 31. Florida’s relatively new campaign finance rules won’t require the PC’s numbers through the end of last month until April 10, two days after Election Day.

Another PC backing Lago, Accountable Coral Gables, has raised and spent about $90,000.

That’s more than double what Menendez, 62, has raised this cycle.

A former Assistant Miami City Attorney-turned-public relations and real estate pro, Menendez won his City Commission seat the same year (2021) Lago secured the mayoralty. He’s enjoyed having the swing vote on the Commission since Castro and Fernandez won office in 2023.

Menendez, a Republican, is running on a promise to combat the influence of special interests at City Hall, though he, Castro and Fernandez last year voted against proposals to hire an Inspector General to examine alleged government corruption. They said they wanted to instead add the Inspector General through a charter amendment that hasn’t yet materialized.

Menendez told the Miami Herald that because he isn’t beholden to developers and other special interests, he can confidently back policies that “reinforce the pillars of our city government from attacks that undermine and destroy our community.”

His campaign account added $39,500 and spent more than half that sum by March 21. His political committee, The Coral Gables Way, reported no campaign finance activity through New Year’s Eve.

Abbott, a 60-year-old without party affiliation, is an accountant, logistics entrepreneur and a founding member of the Coral Gables Action Committee that previously sought Lago’s resignation.

He told the Herald he wants to tighten the city’s budget and “eradicate corruption.” He said he supports development that doesn’t negate what makes the city special and City Hall needs more civility.

According to Political Cortadito, Abbott was initially charged in 2020 with assault and battery on a law enforcement officer, but the charges were later dismissed. A confiscated memory card containing video he recorded of the encounter disappeared.

Abbott argued that the city infringed on his First and Fourth Amendment rights and sued.

Through March 21, he raised about $2,400 and spent most of it. The preponderance of his campaign funds came from his and his wife’s bank accounts.