Remarks by Vince C. Lago
518 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 9 of 21
- Play at 1:11:51
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:17:24
“32 million dollars. Again, I know that we can't use that money because it's an enterprise fund, correct?”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:17:30
“But maybe we don't fund that anymore, and that gets us by 70% of the way.”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:18:07
“And I welcome that feedback. Again, at the end of the day, it's going to be something that's going to be this commission's responsibility. And if you read that Wall Street Journal article that came out, you can see that people are bracing. And we're blessed, like the vice mayor said, of our central business district. But if we didn't have a central business district, you have some cities that, in that article, they're talking about 30%, 40% cuts in their budget. And that would be a tsunami in this community.”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:20:26
“Manager, on that point. I have full faith and confidence in our finance team. I tell them every single day, I'm with your office. But I think this is an opportunity just to get people to really understand, to really engage, because they're going to go out and vote. Maybe we use it as a tool to explain, hey, where are you going to cast that vote? I'm not saying you to vote one way or another. I believe there should be tax cuts, especially for those who have been retired and been paying their homes for so many years. Retirees in this community deserve a tax cut. We'll firmly say that over and…”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:26:39
“Like Commissioner Lata said, again, we're not going to figure this out today. I just brought it up for my colleagues to think about it. The clerk reminded me correctly that we have a budget review committee, which at the end of the day, we could use those individuals who, again, give up their time already in regards to the city. But the intent of whatever is the will of the commission, I'm more than willing to do. I just think that everyone should have person named to that committee, that it should be based around again, budget and the forthcoming tax implications. My only intent, we'll bring…”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:39:40
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:44:28
“Madam finance director, may I ask you a quick question? What was the recommendation?”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:44:38
“What was the recommendation through the manager in regards to the COLA?”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:44:55
“Thank you very much. Second, I did not vote for that column. I stand and I vote for that column. It was the smartest move, and now you're seeing the repercussions. It only hurt the employees, the current employees. Let me explain to you why, because the commissioner fails to either understand or he prefers to, I hope she understands it, but she maybe prefers to not say the whole truth. instead of attacking me about some ridiculousness, which is true. Really quick. In regards to the cola, when we granted that cola, who benefited from that cola? Did the current employees benefit from that cola?…”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:45:54
“I'm getting there. I'm getting there. You're jumping the gun. Sorry, Mayor. You're stealing my thunder. Let's just pump the brakes. Not attack people personally. Let's attack the issues. Right? I'm not here attacking anybody personally. Again, We're talking issues here. Very proud to have voted for that COLA. It was a huge mistake that staff even said not to vote for. But all of you that are employees did not benefit from that COLA. Am I correct? Yes or no?”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:46:33
“Now, let's say, hey, maybe all our past employees benefit from that COLA. Is that true? All our past employees benefit from that COLA?”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:46:44
“If I may recall, it was about 700 or so individuals, correct?”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:46:56
“That word, that this was derived from a settlement proceeding, correct?”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:47:03
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:48:13
“What I won't do is jeopardize the future of the city by granting exorbitant COLAs or granting exorbitant pension contracts, which we've done in the past. So at the end of the day, the reason why I select to point the finger at Commissioner Castro is she's running for reelection. And I'm being very candid. And the people who are voting in this community need to understand. She didn't support an IG. She voted for a $2 million cola. She gave herself a personal 101% raise. She gave herself a car allowance. She gave herself an expense account. She voted in opposition of a November election. Over…”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:52:17
“Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Would my colleagues in the commission like to say anything else that is good for the order here?”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:56:48
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:57:21
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:58:01
“I'll move it. May I have a second, please? I'll second. Mr. Clerk, do we have any public comment?”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 1:58:07
“We'll close with public comment. I was hoping that, if I may, before we take a vote on this, I was hoping that our next meetings that we could have some public comment. I'd like to see the public, especially the residential and commercial areas, especially the commercial areas, because we always have the residents who come here, but we don't really have commercial areas. They're gonna play such a major role in how our budget develops, especially with these tax, Referendums that are forthcoming. I'd like to see the downtown especially as we embark on certain pieces of legislation and Projects…”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 2:01:13
“And at that point, something that we mentioned, uh, yesterday in the commission meeting, I brought up to the manager this morning. I went early in the morning around 5 o'clock. I took those pictures for you. Laura in my office is working on putting together the memo. I'm gonna send it to the commissioner. So you can see, and I got actually, it was very fortunate to actually see waste management. in the process of opening the door so i took pictures as they were rolling out the can so you can see how the actual structures look inside and again i bring that up now because these are simple…”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 2:02:07
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 2:02:34
“May I have a motion to adjourn? I have a motion we have a second. All in favor aye. Meeting adjourned.”
City Commission · Jul 8, 2026
- Play at 10:42
“Good morning. I'd like to welcome everyone to the July 7th, 2026 Commission meeting. First and foremost, thank you for being here with us. There will be ample opportunity for everyone to engage in the process. You can send an email. Many of you are here in person. You can also get engaged through Zoom. But most importantly, we're incredibly grateful that you're here to enjoy and to partake in our democracy. So thank you so much for being here with us. Moving on, today we have a special invocation. We don't have a member of the clergy to join us, but we have somebody who's just as equally…”
City Commission · Jul 7, 2026