Lago vows to be mayor of all Coral Gables? Then reverse course on renaming Dixie Highway | Editorial

During his campaign, Vince Lago insisted that he rejects racism and would govern fairly as mayor, despite putting his name on a controversial letter criticizing an anti-racism program in the school his children attend.

A day after his election, he has a chance to prove it: Mayor-elect, reverse your previous vote and support renaming Dixie Highway in Coral Gables for Harriet Tubman.

Coral Gables’ 3-2 refusal in January to endorse renaming the state road was an embarrassment. And Lago, now the top official in the city, was one of the “No” votes.

And it gets worse. Coral Gables — nicknamed the “City Beautiful” by founder George Merrick — is the only local government in Miami-Dade County to reject adding Tubman’s name to 42 miles of U.S. 1, a federal and state road also called Dixie Highway for a century.

Lago rejected bid

County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution last year to replace Dixie — a name often linked with the Confederacy — with the name of the country’s most famous “conductor” of the Underground Railroad, who led the enslaved to freedom. The resolution only created Harriet Tubman Highways on Miami-Dade roads along U.S. 1 that carried the names “West Dixie Highway” and “Old Dixie Highway.”

Lago’s refusal to back that effort — his opponent for mayor, Pat Keon, voted for it — looks even more serious in the context of his signature on the letter to the Carrollton catholic school in Miami. The school thankfully refused to change its teachings despite being pressured by Lago and about 150 parents and alumni. But racism became an issue in Lago’s campaign because of it.

During the Coral Gables debate on whether to endorse the change, Lago offered a bunch of excuses. He said he thought the city should concentrate on local matters. He said he was “uncomfortable” moving forward. He called it “playing politics.” He said he was worried about fueling an anti-Merrick sentiment. Merrick advocated for moving Black Miamians out of Miami in the 1930s.

Who is really playing politics here? Nine other municipalities, from Florida City to North Miami Beach, voted for the Tubman designation.

Herald Editorial Board drops its recommendation of Vince Lago for Coral Gables mayor | Editorial

Other names?

In an interview with the Miami Herald this week, Lago now said he’s not opposed to renaming “any street,” but he wants more time for affected neighborhoods to be a part of the decision. He said the community might have other names “they would prefer or support,“ another attempt to avoid the issue at hand.

Meantime, the proposal to start the process of changing the name has stalled in the Florida Legislature with just two weeks before the end of session. State Sen. Shevrin Jones, a West Park Democrat and a sponsor of the Senate version of the legislation, SB 1216, told the Miami Herald that the only opposition he has encountered is from Coral Gables. All of the municipalities with Dixie Highway running through them must say yes in order to move this approval forward. Perhaps Lago’s vote gave the Legislature just the excuse it needed to put off dealing with Florida’s racist past.

Mayor-elect Lago now has the job he wanted. Leading in these politically divisive times can be hard. But if he really wants to be a mayor for all of the people of Coral Gables — as he assured in no uncertain terms — it’s time to start proving it.