Miami Herald Editorial Board no longer recommends Lago for Coral Gables mayor | Editorial

This editorial has been updated to reflect new information.

The Miami Herald Editorial Board no longer recommends Vince Lago for Coral Gables mayor. Read the updated editorial to learn about our decision and to see our new recommendation.

An April 1 Miami Herald news article brought to light new information about Coral Gables Vice Mayor Vince Lago, who is running for mayor in the April 13 election. Lago, along with other parents, signed a letter in October that was sent to administrators at Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, the independent Catholic girls school in Miami’s Coconut Grove that his children attend, saying that changes in the school’s curriculum to address the issue of racism were incompatible with the school’s religious foundation.

Lago told the Herald Editorial Board Friday that his main goal in signing the letter was to jump-start a discussion among parents and administrators. The letter says that, “Racism and any form of discrimination are sins.” It also, however, takes issue with terms such as “systemic racism” “systemic inequality,” “implicit bias” and “marginalized communities,” issues Lago might have to confront as mayor. However, when asked, Lago said he agrees “110 percent” that those challenges actually exist — despite putting his name to the letter.

In speaking again to Lago, the Editorial Board sought only to gauge how the views expressed in the letter might inform his actions as a public servant, not to judge either his religion or how he chooses to educate his children.

He told the Editorial Board he is committed to the ideals of fairness, equity, diversity and inclusion, citing projects he has initiated on behalf of residents in the city’s African-American neighborhoods.

Voters need to know which Lago will be in the mayor’s seat if he wins. How will he handle these issues as leader of the city?

After additional consideration, the Editorial Board has decided not to withdraw its recommendation. However, we do make it less wholeheartedly. If Lago wins, we will be watching to see if he keeps his word.

See the original recommendation below:

The recurring theme of the April 13 election in Coral Gables for mayor and two commission seats has been redevelopment — how much, how dense and how it will change the city. The recent update of the city’s zoning code; a decision to upzone an area of single-family homes that abuts downtown — because large-scale developments are encroaching on it; and changes to the city’s struggling Miracle Mile shopping corridor to spur redevelopment all have contributed to worries that the city might lose its character in the name of progress.

That issue has been central in all the elections, starting with the mayor’s race, a contest between two sitting commissioners — Patricia Keon and Vince Lago — and Jackson “Rip” Holmes, a longtime Coral Gables resident and perennial candidate.

Holmes, 69, has raised almost no money for the race and has been using it mostly as a platform to decry the recent changes in Coral Gables, which he has said will ruin the city’s small-town charm.

Keon and Lago are both credible candidates with strong track records on the commission and roots in the community.

Keon, 72, is a registered nurse who was re-elected to the commission in 2017 for a second four-year term. Previously, she was a policy aide to then-Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jimmy Morales. She has served on a number of city boards, including the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and the Planning and Zoning Board.

Lago, 43, is an executive at BDI Construction Company, a firm that focuses on commercial construction. Like Keon, Lago was also first elected to the City Commission in 2013. He was automatically re-elected in 2017 after running unopposed.

Lago was the sole “No” vote on the controversial Miracle Mile zoning measure — even though it was a reasonable compromise hammered out at a previous meeting. It reduces the allowed height of buildings from six stories to four to help address residents’ fears that the redevelopment would create the feel of a canyon on what has been been a low-rise street. Lago had unsuccessfully pushed a more-restrictive alternative proposal that would have reduced allowable building capacity on the street, in addition to capping heights.

But Lago’s No vote took into account the deep concerns of some voters that the community envisioned by George Merrick as the “City Beautiful” is being overrun by developers. Even though his vote may have been largely symbolic — the measure passed 4-1 — it indicates an openness to community feedback that can only be positive for the city.

Coral Gables residents have long complained about being shut out of the decision-making process by their own government, a sentiment that has become more apparent amid this new wave of development. Lago has wisely made listening to residents a main campaign point.

His “open-door Friday” policy at his office is a good idea, and he says he wants to expand that to city agencies. He sends out a monthly newsletter and says he’ll plan a 100-day listening tour if he wins. He says he’ll ask for an independent financial audit of the city, to be published on the city’s website, as part of his transparency push.

And he has experience: He has served on the city’s planning and zoning board and the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization, among other organizations, giving him a cross-section of knowledge in areas especially important to the city right now.

Lago has strong ties to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, which could be considered a drawback. Lago and Suarez have been friends since childhood, and that leaves him open to criticism from those who worry that Coral Gables could wind up being infected by Miami’s political drama. Attack ads mailed to residents also accused Lago of being a lackey for developers because he has accepted their campaign donations. Keon has also accepted money from developers.

In the end, Lago is a qualified candidate with experience and good ideas who continues to demonstrate a refreshing interest in actually listening to the voters of Coral Gables. For those reasons, the Miami Herald Editorial Board recommends VINCE LAGO for Coral Gables mayor.

This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 6:01 PM.