Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago and a Spanish-language broadcaster have settled a defamation lawsuit filed by Lago in 2023, accusing a radio station of maliciously broadcasting false allegations that Lago was embroiled in an ethics probe.
Details about the settlement were not released, but a mediator’s report filed in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County indicates the parties settled the case on Aug. 7. The lawsuit accuses Actualidad Media Group broadcasters on radio station 1040 AM and a guest – Coral Gables Commissioner Ariel Fernandez – of recklessly accusing Lago of being the target of an ongoing investigation by the county’s Commission on Ethics and Public Trust.
The allegation against Lago centered around his family’s alleged financial ties to a mobile home park that was involved in a city annexation bid. The participants in the radio program characterized this as an ethics investigation, but the lawsuit said the commission was conducting a confidential preliminary inquiry that was later closed with no formal ethics charges filed.
Lago’s attorney, Mason A. Pertnoy, provided the Florida Record with a statement relating to the parties’ settlement agreement.
“Actualidad 1040 AM would like to clarify: On Feb. 27, 2023, it was reported on the Contacto Directo radio show on Actualidad 1040 AM that there was an ethics investigation against Mayor Lago. To clarify, the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust had opened a ‘matter under initial review.’”
The statement went on to explain that the review was opened because “unnamed concerned individuals” had lodged a complaint against the mayor with the commission.
“After undergoing its internal process, on Aug. 23, 2023, the Ethics Commission determined that the complaint was ‘not legally sufficient to commence an investigation’ and closed the matter,” the statement says. “The parties have amicably resolved their dispute, and Mayor Lago has agreed to dismiss his lawsuit.”
Lago’s initial legal complaint sought damages for defamation of more than $50,000, on top of attorney fees and court costs. The lawsuit said Lago had spent years cultivating a reputation as an honest businessman in the community and that the airing of the ethics allegations represented an attempt to harm his personal and business reputation.
The complaint said the radio station’s counsel had advised Lago’s attorney that two online articles about the proposed city annexation of an area known as “Little Gables” had spurred the radio discussion of the ethics issue. But those articles were published days after the broadcast in question and could not have been the basis of the on-air allegations, according to the lawsuit.
“None of the show sources that the radio station claimed grounded their false statements were in existence at the time the defamatory words were aired,” the complaint states.
The media company declined to issue a retraction or apology, the lawsuit said, leaving Lago with no option but to file a lawsuit to defend his reputation.
“The false statements allege conduct incompatible with the proper exercise of Lago’s lawful business, profession and/or office,” the lawsuit said. “The defamatory charges were made to humiliate, ridicule and charge the plaintiff with unethical conduct.”
Lago did not respond to a request for comment about the settlement.
