Group 4 race heads to runoff between Ivette Arango and Melissa Castro
The residents in Coral Gables won Tuesday after longtime activist Ariel Fernandez, publisher of Gables Insider, who ran on a “residents first” platform, was elected in the commission race in Group 5 with a fat, comfy, 16-point margin, 58% to 42%.
Mayor Vince Lago, who had endorsed attorney Alex Bucelo, lost. So did the real estate development interests and dark money that funded his campaign. Bucelo was rejected for the second time after losing two years ago to Commissioner Kirk Menendez.
In the other race, Ivette Arango O’Doski and Melissa Castro are headed to a runoff, coming in with 47% and 39%, respectively. Because neither got 50% plus one, they go to a second round April 25. Lago — who also endorsed Arango O’Doski early on in an attempt to stack the commission — could lose again. Too bad he was re-elected without opposition. Because this proves he’s not all that.
The Miami-Dade Elections Department reported that 21% of the city’s 33,000 registered voters participated. Almost twice as many voted by mail (4,233) as Election Day (1,518) and early voting (1,130) combined.
Read related: For independence in Coral Gables, vote Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez
But the Group 5 race, by far the hardest fought, with negative attack messages hitting Fernandez almost daily.
“Coral Gables, we have done it,” Fernandez said at his watch party at Bulla. “Residents will, once again, have a strong voice advocating for them on the City Commission. I am honored and humbled with the great responsibility you have placed upon me.
“To the over 6,500 who took time to cast their votes this election, thank you! Regardless of who you voted for, I am ready to be your voice and am here to represent you,” Fernandez said, thanking his family, his neighbors, his volunteers and supporters. He also had a message for his future colleagues on the commission, all of whom had endorsed Bucelo.
“It is time for the divisive webs you’ve weaved during this election to come down, and for us to unite with a simple and common cause, Residents First,” Fernandez said. “We have been tasked by residents with a mandate — to make them and their interests, our sole priority.
“Residents have been clear. They want us to reduce overdevelopment by enforcing our City’s zoning code and immediately stopping special favors to developers. They want us to fix the broken permitting system and streamline the process,” Fernandez said, basically laying out his priorities. “They want us to fix our broken sidewalks and fill the potholes on our streets. They want us to be better stewards of the City’s finances. They want to be informed and ask that transparency be about the good and also about the bad. And yes, they have been clear, they want us to stop all plans for the $63 million Mobility Hub.”
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago may have conflict of interest in Little Gables
The mobility hub is the name given to the planned redevelopment of a 10-story, super fancy parking garage with wifi and docking stations on Anastasia Avenue. It is Lago’s baby and, obviously, promises to be a contentious matter. There’s likely gonna be some friction between the two men.
“Over the course of this campaign, some said they would ‘destroy’ me. Well, I am still standing,” Fernandez said. Las malas lenguas tell Ladra that is what Lago said he would do.
“But this is not my victory, this is our victory. It has been an effort, years in the making. Fighting to bring awareness to issues that have been plaguing our City for too long. Together, we have taken a stand.”
Fernandez also had a message specifically for longtime activist Maria Cruz, who got a hero’s welcome at Bulla. “You have been there every step of the way, pushing me to work harder and making sure everyone was doing their part, including me,” Fernandez told Cruz. “I just wanted to tell you, just as you have always had my back, I will always have yours, and the days of disrespect towards you from the Commission will no longer be tolerated at City Hall.”
The Fernandez victory also proves that money doesn’t always win elections.
Bucelo raised around $427,700 between his campaign account and his political action committee, Friends of the Gables, as of the last campaign reports through Thursday. If you add what was spent by another PAC, Getting Things Done, on sending negative mailers and text messages to voters, Bucelo’s people spent at least $175 per vote. At least.
In just the last two weeks, Bucelo spent almost $27,000 on direct mail pieces and $19,500 on text messages, voice messages and robocalls. Some political observers believe the negative attacks on Fernandez — what some call the Miamification of Coral Gables — backfired on Bucelo.
He had a chairman’s boardroom of consultants: Alex Miranda, Jesse Manzano, Emiliano Antuñez, Jorge de Cardenas, relatively unknowns like Ryan Fernandez and Raul Diaz and someone named Sarah Manzano, who might or might not be Jesse’s relative, doing Bucelo’s fundraising.
They should all be really embarrassed today.
Fernandez raised a total of $31,785, according to the latest reports. He not only has no PAC, he has no PAC money in his account. He has no developer or real estate interest money. He has no consultants. No professional fundraiser.
What he has are more small $100 checks than any campaign finance report Ladra has ever seen. From residents who then went out and voted for him.
Outside real estate speculators could donate but could not vote for Bucelo.
Read related: Coral Gables race heats up with more attacks, ‘paid’ magazine endorsement
Castro is going the same route. She had only raised $13,425 as of Thursday, according to the reports. Arango O’Doski has a total of $166,500 and many of the same contributors that Bucelo had. And, while Castro already got a few contributions on the wave of Tuesday’s results, she isn’t going to rake it in.
“Coral Gables is not for sale and Melissa Castro cannot be bought,” she said Tuesday night after celebrating at Bulla with Fernandez. “I am not going to accept PAC funds. Don’t even try to approach me. And I am not accepting developer money.
“Even if it’s a runoff, I am standing my ground. I am here for the residents,” Melissa told Ladra, saying she knows that’s what voters liked about her and that’s what she will continue to bank on.
“They see my heart. They know I am there for them and not the special interests.”
Fernandez knows he is only one vote. That is why he is going to endorse Castro and work the next couple of weeks to get the voters who cast ballots for him to do it for her in the runoff.
That’s still just two votes. But maybe Commissioner Rhonda Anderson will remember who she was when she was elected and realize that with these two new commissioners, a new resident-focused, reform-minded majority could prevail.
Lago is going to fight against that, of course. He is going to go tooth and nail in the next two weeks to get Arango O’Doski elected. He has to. The runoff election might as well be between Lago and Fernandez — the first real political arm wrestling match of many anticipated.
Let’s hope that Fernandez wins again.
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