Coral Gables officials have sought outside scrutiny into allegations that a Commissioner was once targeted for a $100,000 bribe tied to a proposed election change, and State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle’s Office is looking into the matter.
Former Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who ran unsuccessfully[1] for Mayor this year, told his former City Hall colleagues last week that in 2023, he canceled a coffee meeting after being warned it was intended to sway his vote on shifting city elections from April to November.
The Miami Herald first flagged the claim[2] Friday.
Menendez said a “member of the community” contacted him about having the meeting, which he agreed to, before another call came in “about five minutes later” from another resident.
“They’re going to offer you $100,000 to move your vote (to) move the election,” Menendez said, apparently paraphrasing what the second caller told him.
He said he then declined to attend the meeting.
Coral Gables Commissioners voted 3-2 in May for an ordinance[3] Mayor Vince Lago sponsored to shift the city’s elections from April in odd-numbered years to November in even-numbered ones, which would coincide with national elections.
Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and newly elected Commissioner Richard Lara voted for the change.
Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez voted “no.” Castro later sought intervention from Attorney General James Uthmeier. The three Commissioners who voted for the election change voted to censure her in July[4].
Menendez told the Herald that the people who invited him to coffee were friends of Lago’s, but declined to identify them. Lago has denied any involvement and immediately directed City Attorney Christina Suárez to notify authorities.
Coral Gables Police Chief Edward Hudak, with approval from City Manager Peter Iglesias, forwarded a transcript of Menendez’s remarks to the State Attorney’s Office, which told the Herald that its public corruption unit is reviewing the allegation.
Lago is also seeking input from the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust.
Menendez served on the Coral Gables Commission and opposed moving the election to November alongside Castro and Fernandez. He raised the issue last week, as Commissioners debated whether to appoint him to the city’s Planning and Zoning Board.
The nomination, made by Castro, failed 3-2, with Lago, Anderson and Lara citing concerns about Menendez’s nonprofit work[5].
Last month, Lago settled a defamation lawsuit[6] with a local Spanish-language radio station that aired a misleading segment about him with Fernandez as a guest. Sources familiar with the case told Florida Politics the station agreed to pay Lago “six figures.”
Lago and Anderson, once far more collegial with Menendez during their time on the dais, became discontented with him after he sided with Castro and Fernandez on pivotal measures to redesign[7] a planned $63 million “Mobility Hub,” approve big pay raises[8] for Commission members, maintain the city’s tax rate and keep its municipal elections in April.
Shortly after the pay-raise vote, Lago derided his colleagues[9] in Spanish-language media. He said they were unprepared for office, “reached into residents’ pockets” and that Fernandez and Menendez “live off their wives.”
In October, Castro, Fernandez and Menendez voted to censure the Mayor and block his move to reverse the pay raises.
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References
- ^ ran unsuccessfully (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ first flagged the claim (www.miamiherald.com)
- ^ ordinance (coralgables.legistar.com)
- ^ censure her in July (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ citing concerns about Menendez’s nonprofit work (www.miamiherald.com)
- ^ settled a defamation lawsuit (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ redesign (www.miamiherald.com)
- ^ big pay raises (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ derided his colleagues (www.miamiherald.com)