Coral Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro is fighting to keep her seat while defending herself against a state finding that she likely violated Florida's ethics laws through her family's permit-expediting business. State investigators say 132 permit applications tied to her company's email address and office were submitted or processed in the city between June 5, 2024, and July 30, 2025, and the case is now headed toward an administrative hearing before an administrative law judge with no hearing date yet set.
The Florida Commission on Ethics investigation stems from a complaint filed by attorney Matthew Sarelson in November 2023 alleging Castro used her city position to benefit her permit-expediting business, according to the Miami Herald. Ethics investigators have since found probable cause that Castro violated state ethics laws, a determination that functions like an indictment rather than a final verdict. Under Florida Statute Section 112.313(7)(a), public officers are barred from employment or contractual relationships that create recurring conflicts between private interests and public duties, according to Online Sunshine.
Castro took over M.E.D. Expeditors in 2020 after her mother, the company's founder, died. The Herald's reporting notes she has a master's degree in industrial-organizational psychology and a specialization in applied behavior analysis. She was elected to the Group IV commission seat in April 2023 following a runoff victory, per the city's own website.
From Ministerial Filings to a Conflict-of-Interest Finding
Castro says she did permit-expediting work in Coral Gables from when she took office in April 2023 through June 2024, then handed the city's portion of her business to Madeline Perez, described in the Herald's reporting as a former trusted employee who now works as an occasional contractor for Castro's business. Perez's firm, M.E.D. Expeditors of Coral Gables LLC, is run by Perez, and the company shared Castro's business phone number and address for a time, per the Herald's account. Perez's company was registered less than a month before a June 2024 local ethics opinion, and it maintains separate contact information, a separate telephone number, and a separate email address, the outlet reports.
That June 2024 opinion from the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust determined that Castro and her business could continue only clerical, ministerial work in the city, explicitly prohibiting discretionary advocacy on behalf of clients, zoning modification requests, or settlement negotiations before staff or boards, according to Florida Politics. County ethics officials advised that Coral Gables staff treat M.E.D. permits like any other applications, without preferential treatment.
Castro Denies Any Financial Stake
Castro maintains she has no financial connection to Perez's business and says she does not own, manage, or profit from M.E.D. Expeditors of Coral Gables. She has said she and her company have not pulled a permit or conducted business in the city since June 2024, and that she received no direct or indirect economic benefit from the 132 permits investigators counted. Both Castro and attorney David Winker denied the complainant's allegations under oath, and Castro submitted a declaration to the state ethics commission on July 25, 2025, though the Herald reports she did not personally participate in the investigation. Castro told the outlet she expects to be cleared and that neither she nor her company have worked in the Gables since June 2024.
Not everyone is convinced that arrangement holds up. Melody Hadley told the Herald that Castro's claim of no longer doing permit business in the city was not confirmed, and Douglas Ramirez — who described a permit expediter as someone who follows up on matters, knows whom to call, and tracks deadlines — said he never personally saw Castro represent a permit application. The Herald also reports that M.E.D. continued to submit permits for clients after Castro's election, and that Castro's company website still lists Coral Gables as a service area.
Political Rivalry Sharpens Ahead of November Vote
The ethics fight has become entangled with an unusually contentious reelection campaign. Mayor Vince Lago has publicly called for Castro's resignation and criticized her handling of the case, saying she failed to explain concerns about potential conflicts between her public duties and private financial interests. Lago has endorsed Castro's Group IV challenger, Nestor Menendez, an attorney and former Planning and Zoning Board member, according to Florida Politics. The two commissioners have been prominent rivals on the five-member commission.
The election itself is happening on an unusual timeline. Coral Gables voters approved a charter amendment in April 2026 with 66% support that moved municipal elections from April to November, aligning city races with the general election and shortening several sitting officials' terms by about four months, according to the Gables Gazette. Castro had previously opposed moving the election date without voter approval, per the outlet's reporting. She is now seeking a second term in the November 3 general election.
What Happens Next in the Ethics Case
The case moves to an administrative hearing before an administrative law judge, according to the Florida Commission on Ethics. The proceeding will be heard by an administrative law judge. Attorney David Winker said no hearing date has been set.
If Castro is ultimately found to have violated state ethics law, the penalties available under Florida Statute Section 112.317(1)(a) include public censure, civil fines of up to $20,000, or a recommendation of removal from office, per the ethics commission's own guidance. Any such outcome would still require the full administrative hearing process to play out first.
The scrutiny comes even as Castro's profile has grown within statewide municipal policy circles. She was appointed chair of the Florida League of Cities' Development, Code Compliance and Redevelopment Committee for the 2026–27 term, a committee focused on development, code compliance and redevelopment policy discussions, according to the Coral Gables Gazette.
The ethics controversy also lands amid broader instability at Coral Gables City Hall. Alberto Parjus was appointed city manager in January 2025 by a 3-2 commission vote on a motion by Castro, after the commission's earlier 3-2 termination of former City Manager Peter Iglesias. That turnover has fed into the sense of a commission fractured well beyond this one ethics dispute, with the November election now shaping up as a referendum on both.
