Voters leaves and arrives to vote at the Coral Gables Branch Library poll site, during the last weekend of the early voting, looking ahead to the midterm elections on Tuesday.
Pedro Portal
pportal@miamiherald.com
The Miami Herald Editorial Board has weighed in on the Tuesday Coral Gables elections, offering picks for two commission seats and recommendations on four charter referendums. The board declined to endorse in the mayoral race, where incumbent Vince Lago faces two challengers.
READ MORE: All the Herald’s endorsements
Here are key takeaways:
The board endorsed Melissa Castro for Group IV and Gonzalo Sanabria for Group V, calling Castro an “unenthusiastic pick” valued for providing dissent on the commission and praising Sanabria for his independence and deeper Gables roots over opponent Nikki Whiting.No endorsement was issued for mayor, with the board writing that Lago’s temperament is a problem but his challengers, Laureano Cancio and Jackson “Rip” Holmes, haven’t shown they’d be a better fit.On the four charter referendums, the board recommends voting NO on Questions 1 and 3 — rejecting a hike in the formal bidding threshold from $25,000 to $300,000 over cronyism concerns, and opposing extending the mayor’s term from two years to four.The board urges a YES vote on Question 2, which tightens residency rules for candidates, and on Question 4, which would require 60% voter approval to sell or lease city parks and open spaces.
This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence and using our own originally reported, written and published content. It was reviewed and edited by our journalists.