Remarks by Vince C. Lago
518 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 16 of 21
- Play at 8:52:10
“Make that clear for the record, no. I can't believe the Vice Mayor brought that up. $11 million. Wow, we're feeling generous.”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 8:52:21
“I know you couldn't. Perfect. Listen, again, thank you. I want residents to understand what's about to happen here. The manager and your team have worked on delivering probably one of the most beautiful parks you're going to see in Florida. It's gonna be reminiscent of what you see in Washington, where it has real stone. It's not faux coquina, it's not just concrete, it's real stone. It's gonna have world-class art, and it's gonna be a beautiful, beautiful location that's gonna be the envy of every community here in South Florida.”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 8:53:07
“I just want people, because it's a little bit difficult, and we've been working on this for years. It's a little bit difficult. to really encapsulate it and really explain it because until you see the materials and you understand and you touch it and you really get to see the banisters and you get to see the actual structures that are built out of marble, this is not your typical concrete structure. This is something incredibly tasteful. It's beautiful and it's very well done and it'll stand the test of time. I also want to thank you. Because you worked incredibly hard not only with a project…”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 8:55:20
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 8:56:47
“All right, we have a motion and a second.”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 8:56:56
“Yes. Mayor, thank you very much. Thank you all. Thank you very much. Let's do item E6 and E10.”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 8:58:05
“so This is where it all started. Mm-hmm. Oh, it's your manager Thank you very much as we worked through this process. This is one of the six or seven parks that we're gonna have now forthcoming in the downtown and I don't know how, but it slipped through the cracks in regards to making sure that this became, that we own the park. And we are here. And after we made that misstep, every park moving forward, the manager and I made sure as we negotiated that it belonged to the city of Coral Gables. This is a pilot program. Yes. Which is going to have, which is a pilot program, which we learned a…”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 8:59:08
“It's a beautiful park, and it serves its purpose, and it's a block away from Palm Circle Park. It is. So again, the whole point is to put as many of these parks in the downtown, which again, will pay huge dividends across the board for our property values, quality of life, and this is just an example of great art, We they know the vice mayor was able to save three trees that again which look beautiful which are huge huge going over the right away It's right away a massive oak tree And now with the art with the trees with the public public open space and now as that building becomes more and…”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:01:19
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:01:31
“Mayor Lago? Yes. Thank you all so much. Thank you very much. Good to see you. Take care. All right, we're going to have F-13, which is our final time certain item of the day. Please come up, sir. So let me introduce you all to a young man that I've had the privilege of knowing for some time. He's going to introduce himself and give a little background in regards to who he is. He's here with his lovely mother, who is his biggest fan, and I can see why. He's worked at my office for some time. I think we've known each other for how long now?”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:02:07
“And we've kept in touch from last summer, and we've had the opportunity to work together. And he took a semester off from high school, and he went to Washington to work. And I wanted to talk a little bit about why he's here, what he's doing, how he went in Washington, what are his – his objectives, what is he seeing for the near future. And the reason why I asked him to be here is because I could have presented this idea. But he brought me the idea. And at the end of the day, another piece of legislation under my belt is not going to make or break me. But the ability to give this gentleman…”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:05:17
“So what I requested from this young man was to put forth a presentation that encompasses his desire to have this program started here in the city of Coral Gables, which is a little bit of a spinoff from what we have at the youth center, which I was very clear with him that we have something similar to this. to put together something that's all-encompassing in regards to Coral Gables and having, as we saw how effective these young pages were today with the ideas that they came forward, I don't think it's anything, again, that wouldn't help the city at the end of the day. You get a completely…”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:10:19
“Thank you, Diego. What I'm going to request is, I'm going to talk about two things. First and foremost, one of the things that we, after doing some research, we noticed that the current council, which is with the youth center, hasn't met in many months, correct? They've been having some quorum issues, right? Do we have currently any openings on that board?”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:10:41
“Did we have any openings from last time?”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:10:46
“How many openings did we have? Two. How long were those openings there for?”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:10:52
“So at the end of the day, we've had openings on that board. That's why that board hasn't met for months and months and months. We weren't able to have quorum. So I think it's again critically it's incumbent of the elected officials number one to put people on these boards You're not if you're not putting people on the boards When there's an immediate opening again at the end a we can't do can't do the business at hand because we depend on those ports So that's number one number two. I like for my colleagues to review this and I'm gonna put this item on the next agenda And I like for their…”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:12:41
“So I'd like for my, I'd like for this to be on the next agenda. Yes, sir. For my colleagues to review these comments and see how we can, see how we can adopt this. I'd like for this board to have more teeth and to engage young professionals across the board, you know, who are willing to come here like the page. We have these great young men and women who are here who have given up a month of their summer to be here with the city. And I worked on these presentations. I'd like for them to engage in this board. You know, maybe we don't have one person per commissioner. Maybe we name two people…”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:15:20
“Yes. I want to make sure that we bring it back.”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:15:23
“A direction to bring it back and obviously for my colleagues to review this and give input to the manager so that we can put together a board that again is reflective of all the hard work that this young man has put together.”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:16:12
“VICE MAYOR ANDERSON? VICE MAYOR ANDERSON? YES. YES. COMMISSIONER CASTRO?”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:16:21
“All right, we're going to take a two-minute break, bathroom break, and then we're going to do E1 and E2, correct? Well, E1, yes.”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:25:49
“Change of plans. Let's start with E2 really quick because that takes a moment. Recording in progress.”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:26:17
“Congratulations. Thank you. Well done. Moving on to item E2, and then we'll do E1.”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:27:13
“May I have a motion? May I have a second? Second. Mr. Clerk?”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 9:27:24
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026