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South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham was recently admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee because, during a Fox News interview in November, he begged for donations to Senate candidate Herschel Walker. His asking five times wasn’t the problem.
It was where Graham pleaded for the cash — inside a Senate office building.
The Senate Ethics Committee admonished, “The Committee finds that your conduct was contrary to Senate standards of conduct and, accordingly, issues you this Public Letter of Admonition.” It’s too bad the jurisdiction of the Senate Ethics Commission doesn’t extend down to Coral Gables.
There are two recent developments in The City Beautiful that have me concerned.
The first is that the entirety of the Coral Gables power structure lined up behind a candidate who lost. Vince Lago, who got elected as Coral Gables Mayor without opposition, backed Alexander Luis Bucelo for Group V. Lago wasn’t alone. He was joined by Vice Mayor Michael Mena and Commissioners Rhonda Anderson and Kirk Menendez. And they were joined by four former Coral Gables Mayors: Jim Cason, Raul Valdes-Fauli, Don Slesnick, and Dorothy Thomson. And the chorus of Bucelo backers also included former Commissioners Jorge Fors and Wayne “Chip” Withers.
So, with all that political muscle behind him, how did Bucelo do? He got beaten 41.89% to 58.11% by Ariel Fernandez. Why?
I have my own theory. I think the voters in Coral Gables were a little wary of electing someone who was seen as owing blind loyalty to Mayor Lago.
Today, I think that the voters want a full spectrum of thoughts and viewpoints on a governing council. They want someone looking out for their interests, not just backing those already in power.
I’m not suggesting that the voters are already tired or distrustful of Vince Lago, I think they were wary of electing a rubber stamp.
The second disquieting thing I heard were rumors that certain members of the sitting Commission and high ranking administration officials were pulling a Lindsey Graham.
It’s been alleged that a group of insiders were using City issued phones to make calls trying to drum up support and were fundraising for Bucelo. Even more troubling are repeated stories that the calls were being made from inside City Hall and other municipal facilities.
There’s nothing wrong with an incumbent official supporting one candidate over others. What’s wrong, and what’s against the law, is for them to use City assets and facilities to support their chosen candidates.
The political season isn’t over in Coral Gables. There’s a runoff scheduled between Ivette Arango O’Doski and Melissa Castro on Tuesday, April 25th, with early voting scheduled for Saturday, April 22nd, and Sunday, April 23rd.
Let’s see if the Coral Gables politicos can behave themselves and follow the law this time around or whether they will be mini-Lindsey Grahams.
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