Latest news with #Lago
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
COP30: ‘Focus on healing, building credibility of climate talks,' says Brazil
Brazil, the host of the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30), has asked all countries who are party to the Paris Agreement to consider the future of climate negotiations when they assemble for the key event later this year. It has made it clear that there are three interconnected priorities during the June climate meetings in Bonn (SB62) and COP30 in November, which include reinforcing multilateralism, connecting the climate talks to people and focusing on implementation of the Paris Agreement. In a letter on Friday, Brazil urged the parties to reorient the climate talks ahead of the Bonn climate meetings, scheduled to take place from June 16-26. The Bonn talks are seen as a halfway point to the annual climate summit to be held in Brazil this year. 'Against a background in which climate urgency interacts with compounding geopolitical and socioeconomic challenges, the incoming COP30 Presidency hopes all delegations are guided by three interconnected priorities for SB62 and COP30: (1) to reinforce multilateralism and the climate change regime under the UNFCCC, (2) to connect the climate regime to people's real lives, and (3) to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement by stimulating action and structural adjustments across all institutions that can contribute to it,' the letter signed off by COP30 president designate André Aranha Correa do Lago said. 'This is the time we focus negotiations on healing and upgrading our process, rebuilding a global infrastructure of trust for accelerated and scaled outcomes. The credibility of our multilateral process is in the hands of negotiators in Bonn,' he wrote. The incoming COP30 Presidency is working to ensure that negotiations, the global mobilisation, the Action Agenda and the Leaders' Summit where world leaders announce their plans and views, each contribute to 'inaugurating a new era of putting into practice what we have agreed', Lago wrote in his third letter to parties. During a briefing on Thursday, HT asked COP30 President, ambassador Lago, asked what Brazil expected from COP30, especially against the backdrop of major geopolitical disruptions globally. 'Well, we don't have that answer yet, because we are listening to countries and this is the process in which we have to make sure that the international community is supportive of the results of COP30. And that is the success, the essential success of COP30, is the strengthening of multilateralism and everybody getting together convinced that it must be the solutions to fight climate change have to come from this dialogue and from this work together. So, we are still building that,' Lago told HT. He also said he doesn't want to create specific expectations immediately. 'We don't want to create, you know, like expectations and we want to do that and this. We really want to listen to the countries and understand their priorities. But I believe that we have received positive inputs regarding the priorities we have been showing in the letters and also in the effort of having a COP that convinces everybody that we have enough things negotiated for us to act more.' Erosion of trust among developed and developing nations has cast a shadow on the climate negotiations in recent years. Several developing countries are disappointed with the outcome of COP29, also because the agreement on New Collective Quantified Goal was seen to be in favour of developed countries. India led a fierce pushback at COP29 against what it called a 'stage-managed' climate finance deal, moments after the Azerbaijan presidency hastily gavelled through a contentious proposal. The hastily adopted text set a climate finance goal of 'at least $300 billion per year by 2035' and launched the 'Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T'. However, India and other developing countries identified specific problems that could fundamentally alter climate finance obligations. These include the sum being too small and to be delivered only 11 years later. There was more uncertainty after US, the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, under President Donald Trump this January, announced its withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. Developing countries saw this as the largest historical emitter evading its responsibility. 'Acknowledging ongoing calls for COPs' reform, the incoming Presidency invites all Parties to consider the future of the process itself. As we move from a negotiation-centred to an implementation-centred era, Parties can intensify at SB62 the consideration of approaches and initiatives to increase the efficiency of the process towards enhancing ambition and implementation,' Lago said in his letter. He further wrote that the Bonn climate meeting could address longstanding challenges, including the excessive number of provisional agenda items for COPs and SBs, overlapping themes, scheduling constraints, and barriers that prevent the effective participation of smaller delegations. 'While these issues remain under consideration, it is advisable to avoid introducing potentially contentious new agenda items that could further burden the process or detract from agreed priorities. Looking ahead, future COPs can represent a new generation of climate conferences: not as isolated diplomatic events, but as systemic platforms to accelerate delivery, measure progress, and engage a broader ecosystem of actors,' the Brazil Presidency has emphasised. The first Global Stocktake (GST) which took place in Dubai at COP28, stands as a guide to Mission 1.5 and to our collective project around the vision of the UN Climate Convention, Lago said. All public and private stakeholders should work together towards the full implementation of the Paris Agreement by considering the findings of the GST. This includes the global calls for efforts towards halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation by 2030, and for accelerating the global energy transition, Lago wrote, adding that parties should support one another to advance collectively on tripling renewable energy capacity globally, doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements, and transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner.
Axios
19-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Coral Gables commissioners to lower salaries after pay raise
Coral Gables commissioners are expected to slash their salaries by around 50% this week — reversing a controversial pay raise approved by their predecessors. Why it matters: Undoing the 2023 pay raise was a major campaign promise for candidates who won their April elections, including Mayor Vince Lago, who is now proposing the pay decreases. Driving the news: The new pay structure would reduce the salaries and expense stipends paid to commissioners, while nixing a $703 monthly car allowance approved in 2023 by the prior commission. By the numbers: The mayor's overall compensation would be reduced 45% to $47,908 from the current $87,000. The vice mayor's compensation would decrease 51% to $41,875 from $85,046. The three commissioners –– two of whom voted in 2023 to increase their pay — would see a 53% pay decrease to $38,922 from the current $83,046. The latest: Commissioners voted 4-0 earlier this month to approve the pay decrease on first reading, with a final vote scheduled for Tuesday. What's next: Lago wants to give voters the right to approve any future compensation changes. He proposed a resolution calling for a November referendum to require voter approval for any compensation changes apart from Consumer Price Index adjustments. The four commissioners present at the May 6 meeting said they agreed with giving residents power over their pay. The intrigue: Commissioner Ariel Fernandez, who also voted in 2023 to increase his own salary, now supports reversing that pay increase.
Miami Herald
11-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Where do your property taxes go in Miami-Dade? Take a look at our deep dive
When Jared Lago reports for a 24-hour shift in one of Miami-Dade's newest fire stations, property taxes pay almost all of his wages. Lago, 25 and the three other members of the Dolphin Station 68 crew start work at 7 a.m. and don't go home until the next morning. Hired in February as part of a department expansion in a station that opened last year, one of Lago's first rescue calls was a health emergency at the nearby Dolphin Mall. An older woman at a restaurant had trouble breathing, prompting help from the Dolphin Station across the street in Sweetwater instead of one of two suburban stations 5 miles away that would have handled the call before. 'She was having a panic attack,' Lago said. 'We gave her an IV and calmed her down.' READ MORE: What happens if property taxes go away in Florida? The rookie firefighter is part of the roughly 3,000 people who work for the county's Fire Rescue Department, where property tax pays 85% of the agency's $752 million budget. That puts the department near the top of the list for receiving Miami-Dade property taxes, a revenue source now under attack in Tallahassee by Gov. Ron DeSantis and others. 'Everybody in Florida is essentially renting their properties from the state,' said Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, a Republican from Belleview in Central Florida who is pushing for the elimination of property taxes statewide. 'There is a better way to tax people and raise the same amount of money.' It's not just Republicans in Florida's capitol. Last month, a bipartisan group of Miami-Dade commissioners took a vote urging state lawmakers to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to bar local governments from imposing property taxes on primary homes. Those 'homesteaded' residences make up about 43% of Miami-Dade's residential tax base. Amid calls for eliminating property taxes altogether or slashing the number of homeowners paying them, an analysis of budget figures in Miami-Dade shows schools and public safety agencies have the most to lose. Combined, those two budget categories eat up about 70 cents of every dollar of the $7 billion in property taxes that Miami-Dade's countywide governments are forecast to spend this year, according to the Miami Herald's analysis. The high share for safety and schools highlights the challenge in slashing property-tax revenue without slamming the county's budgets for jail guards, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, teachers and the maintenance crews that keep schools functioning. 'If we didn't have property taxes, we'd have no money whatsoever to repair anything at the schools. A/C units die here in Miami very frequently,' said Martha Diaz, chief budget officer for the Miami-Dade school system, where about half of the budget comes from property taxes. Losing property-tax revenue 'would definitely cripple the system.' For this story, the Herald went through budgets tied to a dozen Miami-Dade property taxes — different buckets of revenue dedicated to things like countywide government operations, the school system, public libraries and more. Combined, those taxes are expected to generate about $7 billion this year. The Herald's analysis does not include the $2 billion in city property taxes collected by Miami, Hialeah and the 32 other municipalities that have their own budgets and revenue sources. To illustrate where that money goes, we used budget documents to calculate what portion of each government agency's budget is funded by property taxes. Finally, we broke out the components of those budgets and ranked them by how much they rely on property taxes. The analysis found: Education expenses easily top the list. The Herald analysis found that roughly 50 cents of every dollar collected in county property taxes goes to the school system. Miami-Dade public schools are set to receive roughly $3.5 billion in property taxes this year to educate more than 300,000 students. About $2 billion of that money goes to the instructional budget, things like teacher pay and textbooks. That puts instructional expenses at the top of the Herald's list of property-tax expenses eat up a large chunk. About 21 cents of the county's budgeted tax dollars go to Miami-Dade's three countywide public safety agencies: Fire Rescue, Corrections and the Sheriff's Office. Together, they're set to spend about $1.5 billion in property taxes this year. (Property owners in cities with their own fire departments don't pay the county's fire tax. The Sheriff's Office receives money from a tax charged to all property owners and one charged only on property outside of city limits. To see a property's tax breakdown, visit the Property Appraiser Office's 'Tax Visualizer' website.)Health and social services aren't especially high on the list. Combined, social services and health costs account for about 9 cents of every property-tax dollar in the Herald's analysis. The county's Jackson Health hospital system receives about $300 million from property taxes, making the public hospital the largest expense in this category. A close second is the Children's Trust, a grant-making agency funded by a special property tax that Miami-Dade voters approved in 2002. That tax is forecast to generate about $225 million this year. Miami-Dade's county government also expects to spend about $110 million in property taxes on charity grants, elder care, case workers for juvenile offenders and other social services. For Karina Pavone, a cofounder of the Amigos for Kids nonprofit in Miami, a $300,000 annual grant from the Children's Trust lets her organization fund social workers who help low-income parents facing eviction. 'We call them success coaches,' she said. She said about 90 families are enrolled, with social workers helping them secure benefits that can help them pay rent or tackle issues like substance abuse. 'We only take the toughest cases,' Pavone said. While private donations help, Pavone said Amigos relies on the stable funding stream that the Children's Trust provides with the help of property-tax dollars. 'I'm going to be very honest with you: Private philanthropy is hard,' she said. 'The uncertainty is really hard on nonprofits.' The push to cut back on local governments' property-tax budgets has Miami-Dade's Democratic mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, warning of financial pain. Last month she released a memo with cost estimates on various property-tax legislation circulating in Tallahassee, including creating a $100,000 exemption for all real estate (a change she said would reduce Miami-Dade's property-tax revenue by 22%) and a study to eliminate all property taxes (which would wipe out all of the $3 billion in property taxes that goes into Miami-Dade's $12.7 billion budget). 'Property taxes are the backbone of our local government,' Levine Cava, a Democrat reelected to a second term last year, said in an interview. 'They fund the public services that everyone relies on.' While DeSantis has proposed that Florida homeowners receive a state-funded rebate for property taxes, expected to average $1,000 this year, he's also part of the push to change Florida's constitution to reduce the amount of taxes on homeowners. 'This is just the opening salvo. We want to have a constitutional amendment on property taxes,' DeSantis said in a March 31 speech in Orlando to the Florida Association of Realtors. He didn't provide details on what he wants but suggested property taxes could plunge or vanish for homeowners in exchange for more taxes on real estate owned by vacationers and investors. 'This can actually be done,' DeSantis said. He's already pushing local governments to agree to audits from a state efficiency task force he's established that's named after DOGE, the Elon Musk-led group that has been slashing jobs and offices in the federal government under President Donald Trump. Those audits, DeSantis told the Realtors group, will show local governments 'they have the ability to both shrink their own budgets but also shift tax burdens to our tourists and our non-Floridians.' Payroll is a major expense for local governments — costing about $4 billion this year in Miami-Dade's $12.7 billion budget — so any significant drops in property-tax revenue would likely bring layoffs or salary cuts. Politically influential unions negotiate the contracts that govern how much most government employees get paid in Miami-Dade. At Station 68, the white board by the common room has a reminder of a raise to come: '3% COLA on 4/17.' The cost-of-living adjustment was part of the union contract approved by Miami-Dade County commissioners last year and negotiated by the mayor's administration. Adding roughly $29 million a year to the $752 million Fire Rescue budget, the deal gave firefighters like Lago annual 3% pay boosts in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Other unions got the same pay increases under deals that added another $125 million a year to the county's budget, according to county memos. Under Levine Cava's budget, the average county worker earns about $96,000, compared to about $63,000 for the average worker in South Florida. For the Station 68 crew, the average pay is about $100,000, according to a county compensation database. Lago said he first applied for his job three years ago and kept reapplying while working as a private-sector ambulance driver and completing firefighter school. 'I was just blessed,' he said. Because of rising property values and new construction, Fire Rescue saw its property-tax revenue increase 11% this year, allowing it to make about 170 new hires, including Lago. But relying on real estate taxes isn't always a recipe for steady hiring at Fire Rescue. Firefighter Bibich Zabaleta joined the department in 2013 when Miami-Dade was still recovering from a plunge in property taxes during the real estate crash that began in 2009. The 45-year-old said that back then, he wasn't sure his rookie slot on the payroll was secure. 'I remember they told us we just got hired, but we might get fired,' he said. Veronica Cordoba, 31, joined the department in 2018 and now serves as a lieutenant. She grew up in a family of New York police officers but said she opted for rescue work after she witnessed a friend die in a four-wheeling accident while in her early 20s. 'I wanted to follow in her legacy,' Cordoba said. She's part of the four-person crew that heads out on the station's lone fire truck. Crashes on the nearby Florida Turnpike keep the squad busy, as do health emergencies from tourists in nearby hotels. Engine 68 recently got a call to a rock quarry to save a man who became trapped in machinery during an overnight shift. While the new station has a fire truck, there's no ambulance. The Station 68 crew needs to request an ambulance from another station if somebody they're treating needs to go to the hospital. They're expecting Fire Rescue to provide an ambulance for the station once funding frees up for the extra equipment. 'It would be nice,' said Chris Carlson, 35, a county firefighter hired in 2018. 'This is a very busy station.'
Miami Herald
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Herald endorsement: Coral Gables Commission, Group II
When Rhonda Anderson won a seat on the Coral Gables City Commission in 2021 — endorsed by this Editorial Board — she promised to fight over-development and protect the city's charm. Now, as debate continues about how much development is too much, Anderson is seeking a second term in Group II. She faces two challengers in the nonpartisan race: Felix Pardo, who is an architect, Planning and Zoning Board member and activist, and Laureano Cancio, an attorney and a longtime resident. The Herald Editorial Board met with all three candidates. Our choice is Anderson, who's serving as the vice mayor. Anderson, 64, an attorney, has a solid record of accomplishments during her four years in office. Unfortunately, that time has also been marred by a commission that has devolved into competing factions. The resulting acrimony has been detrimental to the business of the citizens of Coral Gables. Among the achievements she points to: pushing for measures to manage growth responsibly, including increasing development setbacks to require more space between the property line and new construction; helping to attract new businesses such as Apple's 45,000-square-foot office at The Plaza Coral Gables and FIFA's 60,000-square-foot office at Alhambra Circle in preparation for the 2026 World Cup; prioritizing pedestrian safety through speed bumps and traffic circles; championing the expansion of green spaces and tree canopy and facilitating the creation of a 20,000-square-foot, tree-lined, public park on Salzedo Street. She's also a proponent of more pickleball courts at city parks and has worked to continue the city's septic-to-sewer conversion. Unlike when she was first elected, Anderson has recently been on a sharply divided commission, often on the losing side of a 3-2 split with Mayor Vince Lago, who is also up for reelection. The results of this election will show whether residents want to end the current voting blocs that have caused such turmoil in the Gables. Anderson said she is not closely aligned with Lago: 'I vote on issues, not on partnerships,' she told the Board. We'll take her at her word. Anderson played a key role in approving a now-controversial height increase in May 2022 for Regency Parc, which will be one of the tallest buildings in Coral Gables at 18 stories. Anderson, with Lago, co-sponsored the initial ordinance requesting the height increase. In exchange, the city secured a 50% reduction in density — from 300 units to 128 — to address neighbors' concerns with traffic congestion. The commission approved the height increase, 5-0. 'The neighbors wanted a reduction in density, and that's what we got them,' Anderson said. 'If you listen to the meeting where we voted on the ordinance, the public was invited to voice objections at the end —and no one did.' Anderson insists she has not become pro-development and maintains that she only supports projects and variances to projects that residents approve. 'I'm running again to try to preserve as much as we can of Coral Gables,' Anderson told the Board. She also cast some notable 'No' votes. She voted against a 78% salary increase for commissioners — a proposal pushed by Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who is running for mayor. She and Lago declined the additional pay and pledged to donate the extra funds to charity. Anderson recently provided the Miami Herald with a list of charities she donated to — the raise meant an estimated $42,000 in extra pay — but no documentation was provided. She now says none was required at the time the issue was addressed. And last year, she voted against the firing of City Manager Peter Iglesias and also against the rushed hiring of Amos Rojas, Jr., who has since resigned. Anderson and Lago wanted a national search for a city manager, a more reasonable approach than the surprise hiring of Rojas. There is no doubt that along with civility, development remains the top issue in Coral Gables. As Pardo, one of Anderson's opponent told the Board, the complaint he hears most from voters is 'development, development, development, incompatible development.' We appreciated his passion for representing Gables residents whose voices may be lost in the current debate. Anderson would be wise to remember that as well. In the race for Coral Gables Commission, Group II, the Miami Herald endorses RHONDA ANDERSON.
Miami Herald
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Herald endorsement: Coral Gables mayor
The contentious race for Coral Gables mayor reflects a battle between competing factions on the city commission. The lack of civility on the dais has become a major issue in the April 8 election, along with the usual concerns about over development in the City Beautiful. Incumbent Vince Lago faces Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who, along with two of his colleagues, is part of a voting bloc that's often at odds with Lago. The other candidate is Michael Anthony Abbott, an accountant who sued the city over his arrest in 2020. The Herald Editorial Board met with the three candidates but does not endorse anyone in this nonpartisan race. Coral Gables deserves a mayor who will stay above the fray in a tough political climate — something Lago has often failed to do — and who has good judgment when making big decisions, which Menendez on occasion has also failed to accomplish. Abbott does not have enough experience and knowledge about the issues. Lago, 47, is the vice president of BDI Construction & Design and a former commissioner running for his third term as mayor. As accomplishments, he touted: his open office hours; legislation to funnel permitting fee proceeds into parks; his negotiations with developers to bring new parks to downtown and his vote as a commissioner against a 2021 controversial compromise meant to spur redevelopment on a struggling Miracle Mile by lifting parking requirements for new buildings while enacting a strict four-story cap on height. Lago calls himself 'passionate' about the Gables, but his demeanor has earned him enemies — last year, he survived a recall vote. His inability to turn down the heat in difficult interactions is an issue. For example, last year, the city commission voted 3-2 — with Menendez initiating the vote — to censure Lago over disparaging comments he made to Spanish-language media about commissioners who voted for raises, including saying that they 'live off their wives,' the Herald reported. In February, Lago heckled the police chief at a news conference about human trafficking arrests in the city, complaining he wasn't invited to the event. Lago's past business relationship with embattled developer Rishi Kapoor has also followed him. Kapoor made headlines for paying Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a childhood friend of Lago's, to be a consultant for his firm, which had business before that city. The Herald reported last year that Kapoor was under FBI investigation. He also reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over a lawsuit claiming he defrauded investors of millions of dollars. Lago, who hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing, and his business partners were once Kapoor's landlords at a property at 1424 Ponce de Leon Blvd (the lease has since been terminated), which Kapoor wanted to use as a showroom for a condo project he was developing across the street, at 1505 Ponce, and that needed Coral Gables approval. Lago's real estate license was registered at a brokerage firm that made a $640,000 commission from the sale of the 1505 Ponce property. Lago has said he was not involved in the sale. He joined the firm, Rosa Commercial Real Estate, two days after the city commission gave preliminary approval for Kapoor's project in 2022, with Lago recusing himself from the vote, the Herald reported. He said his business dealings with Kapoor happened before the developer's issues came to light. 'I'm allowed to own property in the city of Coral Gables. I've done nothing wrong,' Lago said. Lago is entitled to pursue his private endeavors, but Kapoor's financial relationship with elected officials in city where he was doing business raises a red flag. Menendez, 62, is a lawyer elected to the commission in 2021. He said he's running to stop the 'toxicity' in city government, and that his top accomplishments are sponsoring legislation to fund historic landmarks as well as Phillips Parks and the creation of the Cavaliers Future Leaders Program, which allows students to learn how local government works. He has important endorsements from the unions representing Gables firefighters and police, which have been critical of Lago. Some of Menendez's votes on the dais, however, weigh against him. First is his 2023 vote to give commissioners a 78% annual salary increase, from $36,488 to $65,000, plus a car allowance. Menendez said the commission hadn't seen raises since the 1980s, but he approved shoehorning the measure into the city budget instead of discussing it separately. Lago voted against the raises and said he would not accept them. He said he's donated the money to charity but did not provide documentation or details of any donations despite multiple requests from the Herald. Last year, Menendez voted to fire then-City Manager Peter Iglesias and backed a rushed decision to hire a replacement. Amos Rojas, Jr., who has since resigned, was hired without a national search or a properly noticed meeting to discuss his qualifications, and, bizarrely, moments after he walked into city chambers to introduce himself to some commissioners for the first time. Lago voted against firing Iglesias and hiring Rojas, saying he wanted a formal search. The salary and city manager votes call into question Menendez's judgment. In the race for Coral Gables mayor, the Herald has NO ENDORSEMENT.
