Mayor Christi Fraga pronounces on issues Doral is facing

DORAL, FL – In recent weeks, the City of Doral has seen growing conflicts at council meetings fueled by the approval of a resolution to remove City Manager Barbara Hernandez in Jan.31 at a council meeting and most recently with the termination of employment of City Attorney, Valerie Vicente. 

Due to these two events, Mayor Christi Fraga pronounced several statements on Thursday afternoon in a press conference at Downtown Doral Park.

“Over the past year, Doral has experienced significant progress, stability, and a renewed sense of civic confidence. However, at this moment I feel pain and outrage of having witnessed how people that once swore to defend the city’s interests are attacking its stability today,” Fraga said.

“I’m going to speak clearly,” she continued, while soundly stating the termination of employment of both Hernandez and Vicente is not only unfounded but “obey to a political plan designed to destabilize the city” and harm the management the current administration has been carrying out. “What a coincidence all of this is happening in an election year.”

Is unfounded because not only they both have extensive experience as public servants, but more so the current Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust dismissed allegations of a conflict of interest in the hiring of Hernandez appointed as the City of Doral Manager on Dec.21, 2022, following a unanimous vote by the city council. 

“It is simply about regaining power and control at any cost and without considering the damage they do to the city and its residents,” Fraga added, while explaining the reason behind this is the opposition against revoking the retirement plan for elected officials. 

“They don’t accept the fact that these immoral, everlasting and unpayable pensions that only benefited their pockets were removed,” Fraga said. 

She also mentioned the same people now suing the city and its residents for the aforementioned pensions plan are the ones that managed over $150 million allocated for the Central Park project that was delayed for three years. Under the current administration, the project is aimed to be delivered this year.  

“However, now with the dismissal of our City Manager, they are attempting to hinder this process,” the mayor explained to the public. She referred to this week’s council meeting where councilmembers openly deferred crucial items from the council meeting agenda related to the park’s development and opening dates.

“I want residents and our community to be reassured that as long as I remain your mayor and continue to receive the support of this wonderful community, not a single tax dollar will be allocated towards restored pensions or delays to our park.”

But in addition to explaining the motivations behind what residents have been seeing at council meetings, the mayor also shared that she believes the next step will be the termination of employment of the current Doral Police Chief “just because he gained the trust and respect of our residents and because he has lowered the crime rate in comparison to the previous government.”

And more concerning is what happened at yesterday’s council meeting in which councilmembers tried to ignore the city of Doral charter by bringing an independent law firm to provide an opinion while simultaneously presenting them as a potential candidate to replace Valerie Vicente. “If we are going to talk about a conflict of interest, this is a clear one.”

“Doral Residents deserve respect and not to be subjected to a political circus… Doral cannot go back to the days of governing behind closed doors. I encourage them to remain vigilant over the coming months, your city’s future is at stake, and I am saying to you, there is no turning back.”