This breaking news just in: An hour or two after Jose Mallea called Ladra to tell her he was only going to be the interim chief of staff for new Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Ladra gets the word that Key Biscayne Village Manager Genaro "Chip" Iglesias -- the mayor's former chief of staff when he was commissioner in District 7 -- got the permanent gig. (Kudos to fellow blogger Frank Alvarado for making the prediction).
He will start in mid September and will make an annual salary of $225,000 (that's more than his boss and it is not including benefits) as a Deputy Mayor. That's because in addition to representing Gimenez and running the mayor's office, Iglesias will supervise several of the departments that remain after the mayor downsizes the county. He also said that there might be more deputy mayors named in the near future. (There goes the mayor's cut in his salary).
We had already heard Iglesias' name float around and were told he might become the next fire chief. But even though he was once captain at the Miami Fire Department, that seemed off and we didn't use it. We do know Iglesias (who was also once chief of staff to former county commissioner Jimmy Morales and Gimenez when Gimenez was Miami City Manager) was restless in paradise and had become a finalist for the Pinecrest Village manager job. (He already called them and told them to take his name out of the hat).
Mallea could not be immediately reached and Gimenez is in a meeting, according to his press guy, so I will have to wait for details. Tom Martinelli, the former Marcelo Llorente campaign staffer now working on the mayor's transition team, also said he would get back to me later with a full list of who has been hired and what they are going to earn in pay and benefits.
Iglesias put in his 60-day notice with the village council and that will take him until Sept. 11, meaning he can start Sept. 12 -- one day before the first budget hearing. So, of course, he will be moonlighting. "I'll be helping out unofficially," he said.
Before this last minute change, Mallea -- who will apparently stay through mid September when Chip takes over -- told me he was only going to be a temporary chief of staff until the mayor got his office in order and that he would work for nada, as a volunteer. Just as he did on the campaign. Maybe his new restaurant, The Local in Coral Gables (opened this year with high school chum Mauricio Lacayo) is doing that well. But Mallea -- who also owns JM Consulting Group, a political consulting firm that also does "private advocacy work" (read: lobbying) in DC -- said he won't get paid a dime for county work.
Now, that worries Ladra. Because decent, transparent compensation (especially in a job that someone else is about to get about $18,000 a month for) is not only fair and ethical, it leaves little room for conjecture and things that make you go hmmmmm. Non-existing compensation makes you go hmmmmm because it seems -- at least from the outside -- like there is something under the covers. Quid pro quo? Future favors? A job for someone else close to him (although the mayor's recent history suggests Homey don't play that... sorry to steal, poet).
Maybe Ladra is just too cynical these days and there are other good people, other heroes like the ones who helped Gimenez get elected, that do it out of the goodness of their hearts (or their hatred for Robaina) or their concern for the wellbeing of this community.
Forget being chief of staff. That guy should run for office.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Gimenez starts to solidify his staff
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio's former campaign manager, local GOP wunderboy Jose Mallea, may have joined the Carlos Gimenez For Mayor team late in the game, but his plays were apparently pivotal in the win.
Mallea, 34, was introduced Monday to department directors at the 3 p.m. meeting as the new mayor's new chief of staff. Wonder how that makes former Gov. Jeb Bush, who stumped for former Hialeah mayor Julio Robaina in the close mayoral race, feel. After all, Mallea -- who at one point, records show, lived in a West Hialeah townhouse where his mother is still listed -- worked for dad George Bush's team once, as associate director for the White House Liaison at State Department. Public records show a 2004 lien on him and three other residents of his Courthouse High Rise condo in Arlington, Va.
But he has local roots, too: The former chief of staff for ex Miami Mayor Manny Diaz is also facing a foreclosure lawsuit on a little 2-bedroom, 1-bath home on 13th street in the Shenandoah neighborhood of Miami that he bought for $290,000 with someone named Helena Poleo in 2008. It was filed in April of 2010. (The home's assessed and market value has dropped from $244,000 in 2009 to $160,000 last year).
Ladra could not reach Mallea late Monday when she got the word that he had joined the mayor's office. We sent him a message of congratulations on facebook and asked him to call so we could get a little more background an
d info, but we will try again tomorrow. What we have reported so far was gleaned from public records, like the property info and the lawsuit, and from recollection of previously published accounts.
In fact, when we call tomorrow, we'll get a list of all the Gimenez staffers so far, which from what we hear also includes his former district 7 commission aides Frank Balzebre and Insom Kim. There also may be a place somewhere for Gimenez' old colleague, former Miami City Manager Edward Marquez, who specializes in airport, transportation, and general government financings and most recently worked as lead project manager for First Southwest Company, for clients such as the Miami International Airport; Miami-Dade Expressway Authority; Riviera Beach Community Redevelopment Agency; the counties of Broward and Palm Beach, the City of Naples and the Village of Key Biscayne. Before going to the city of Miami, Marquez worked for 20 years in different capacities at the county, leaving when he was the finance director. And in 2003 and 2004, Marquez took a one-year leave of absence from First Southwest to serve as Miami-Dade Schools CFO, pinch hitting, if you will, with its financial challenges.
Also joining the Gimenez team, we hear, is Les Pantin, son of Leslie and Martha Pantin, a 25-year-old recent college grad that has reportedly impressed some county staffers with his eager attitude and fast learning. Pantin, whose father is a longtime political operative who has worked with Julio Gonzalez Rebull among others (JGR worked on the rival Robaina campaign), earned $750 for consulting in June on the Gimenez campaign, according to the financial report. He may be the lowest paid of the multiple consultants, so maybe the job is his reward. But I don't know if the county has done his background check yet and if the mayor is going to let a little pot smoking change his mind when they do. Because, according to public records through the county clerk's website, Les Pantin was arrested for misdemeanor cannibus possession in 2009, though it seems it was never prosecuted. And Ladra -- who admits freely to inhaling as long as we are not deciding public policy right after -- is not judging anyone here by any means. She can't. But she don't work for the mayor either. Don't kill the messenger, people. It's not like nobody else was going to find this out. And maybe we can be transparent enough and not so hypocritical that this kind of thing won't matter. As long as he doesn't get everyone on the 29th floor buzzed at budget crunch time.
While we applaud Gimenez's "lead by example" move to slash his own $300,000+ salary in half, the standing ovation will have to wait until we find out how much standing room is left in his office and how much his expanding staff will cost in pay and benefits. Ladra is pretty sure it won't be what many saw as outrageous salaries and raises given by former mayor Carlos Alvarez to his inner circle, one of the main reasons behind his recall in March. But we -- and our new mayor, who is way smarter than I in these things -- would be foolish not to be paying attention.
Public records requests will be filed in the morning to add it all up and find out who else is waiting in the wings. Let's see how much the new mayor likes Ladra now.
Mallea, 34, was introduced Monday to department directors at the 3 p.m. meeting as the new mayor's new chief of staff. Wonder how that makes former Gov. Jeb Bush, who stumped for former Hialeah mayor Julio Robaina in the close mayoral race, feel. After all, Mallea -- who at one point, records show, lived in a West Hialeah townhouse where his mother is still listed -- worked for dad George Bush's team once, as associate director for the White House Liaison at State Department. Public records show a 2004 lien on him and three other residents of his Courthouse High Rise condo in Arlington, Va.
But he has local roots, too: The former chief of staff for ex Miami Mayor Manny Diaz is also facing a foreclosure lawsuit on a little 2-bedroom, 1-bath home on 13th street in the Shenandoah neighborhood of Miami that he bought for $290,000 with someone named Helena Poleo in 2008. It was filed in April of 2010. (The home's assessed and market value has dropped from $244,000 in 2009 to $160,000 last year).
Ladra could not reach Mallea late Monday when she got the word that he had joined the mayor's office. We sent him a message of congratulations on facebook and asked him to call so we could get a little more background an
d info, but we will try again tomorrow. What we have reported so far was gleaned from public records, like the property info and the lawsuit, and from recollection of previously published accounts.In fact, when we call tomorrow, we'll get a list of all the Gimenez staffers so far, which from what we hear also includes his former district 7 commission aides Frank Balzebre and Insom Kim. There also may be a place somewhere for Gimenez' old colleague, former Miami City Manager Edward Marquez, who specializes in airport, transportation, and general government financings and most recently worked as lead project manager for First Southwest Company, for clients such as the Miami International Airport; Miami-Dade Expressway Authority; Riviera Beach Community Redevelopment Agency; the counties of Broward and Palm Beach, the City of Naples and the Village of Key Biscayne. Before going to the city of Miami, Marquez worked for 20 years in different capacities at the county, leaving when he was the finance director. And in 2003 and 2004, Marquez took a one-year leave of absence from First Southwest to serve as Miami-Dade Schools CFO, pinch hitting, if you will, with its financial challenges.
Also joining the Gimenez team, we hear, is Les Pantin, son of Leslie and Martha Pantin, a 25-year-old recent college grad that has reportedly impressed some county staffers with his eager attitude and fast learning. Pantin, whose father is a longtime political operative who has worked with Julio Gonzalez Rebull among others (JGR worked on the rival Robaina campaign), earned $750 for consulting in June on the Gimenez campaign, according to the financial report. He may be the lowest paid of the multiple consultants, so maybe the job is his reward. But I don't know if the county has done his background check yet and if the mayor is going to let a little pot smoking change his mind when they do. Because, according to public records through the county clerk's website, Les Pantin was arrested for misdemeanor cannibus possession in 2009, though it seems it was never prosecuted. And Ladra -- who admits freely to inhaling as long as we are not deciding public policy right after -- is not judging anyone here by any means. She can't. But she don't work for the mayor either. Don't kill the messenger, people. It's not like nobody else was going to find this out. And maybe we can be transparent enough and not so hypocritical that this kind of thing won't matter. As long as he doesn't get everyone on the 29th floor buzzed at budget crunch time.
While we applaud Gimenez's "lead by example" move to slash his own $300,000+ salary in half, the standing ovation will have to wait until we find out how much standing room is left in his office and how much his expanding staff will cost in pay and benefits. Ladra is pretty sure it won't be what many saw as outrageous salaries and raises given by former mayor Carlos Alvarez to his inner circle, one of the main reasons behind his recall in March. But we -- and our new mayor, who is way smarter than I in these things -- would be foolish not to be paying attention.
Public records requests will be filed in the morning to add it all up and find out who else is waiting in the wings. Let's see how much the new mayor likes Ladra now.
Is Hialeah broke? Nobody's talking
Voters in Hialeah already see signs of the upcoming city election and will soon get barraged with junk mail and/or phone calls -- both robotic and humanly monotonous -- from between 10 or so and possibly up to 15 candidates. One issue is already becoming a hot topic: money, of course.
The city's financial state is somewhat of a question mark and, while more and more people have been asking, answers are elusive. Mayor Carlos Hernandez, Finance Director Vivian Parks and Budget Director Alex Vega (why two separate people? Beats me, but Ladra sees an opportunity for savings right there) have each refused to talk about the city's finances and rumors of a possible shortfall that will need to be overcome before even considering next year's budget.
In fact, the city may not be able to make payroll after two more checks, maybe three. But nobody wants to talk about this. Not publicly, anyway.
Privately, there is evidence of scrambling: The city offers 38 eligible employees -- including seven from solid waste and six from water and sewers -- a "window" (expires Aug. 15) to retire and cash out their "timebank" (earned sick and vacation time) at pre-salary cut hourly rates. Some of these are the longtime, highest paid workers the city intends to replace with part-timers or lower-level employees. Watch the flies DROP, ladies and gentlemen. It might be a good time to bail.
The mayor, also privately -- publicly he satys the union leadership will not meet with him -- threatens the same leadership with layoffs if they don't get $3.2 million in concessions. Is that how they plan to make payroll? Because it worked so well for them last time the city illegally fired firefighters and were ordered to hire them back and make them "whole" to the tune of $687,000 (which the city still had not done as of the last paycheck) and made them 115% overbudget in overtime in the fire department as of last month.
Hialeah Finance Director Vivian Parks told me last week, on Wednesday -- before the mayor shut her up -- that the city had $12 million in the bank, enough for four payrolls, or two months. (Yeah, I know: bad sign when the finance director can't multiply $3.5 million by 4 which is $2 million more than what they had last week... unless she knows something the other employees don't know). I say two paychecks because there are other bills to pay (or not pay, as it were, since we also hear that some vendors have been unpaid for months. But we can't get an answer on this, either). Parks said the city has other income, franchise fees and the like. But will that be enough? She said it would be. Ladra caught up with her at her home to ask about the shortfall and the payroll, about a supposed surplus of more than $10 million that seemed to have been paid to the city according to the monthly accounts receivables in which one month has $10.7 million and the next has $44,000. Someone would logically think that the city was paid and it's a legitimate question to ask where the money went. But Parks said she would answer specific questions the next day when she was in the office. After she did not return two calls the next day, Ladra went to her Miami Springs home again. "I cannot speak to you," she said, adding that administrators had gotten an email from the mayor directing them not to talk to any members of the press and refer all inquiries to the city clerk's office. She then swiftly slammed the door in my face. (Yeah, not the first time, lady).
Budget Director Alex Vega was reached at his office Monday morning and also said he could not answer any questions and that everything had to go through the mayor's office and a public records request. But Mayor Carlos Hernandez has not been too accessible and apparently takes his media [cross]training from former mayor and defeated county mayoral candidate Julio Robaina. I only got to talk to Hernandez for, like, 90 seconds and that was only because I did not leave a message when he did not answer his cell phone and he called me back not knowing whose missed call that was. When I introduced myself, I asked the softball about his cutting back his salary, you know, something he wants to talk about. (Should have gone for the big guns). He said he would do it immediately, not as of the November election as I had written, and that the council did not have to approve it. "I already did it," he said. And kudos to Hernandez for, again, cutting the mayor's salary that he had voted to increase (and it is still about a 400 % raise from his own salary two months ago and the salary on which his pension will be based. More on that later.). He calls this leadership. But leaders do not hang up on people as they ask the follow-up question. He said he had to go and I was trying to ask him to call me after his "meeting" or tell me when I could call him again. It would have taken the same amount of time as his "I'm sorry. I have to go. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." But, alas, I did not get the chance to tell him that either. And he has not returned one call. He may have saved my number on his phone by now so he would know when I am calling.
So, because I imagine some email or memo that says all queries must be made through the mayor's office or a public records request, and since Ladra loves public records and has found City Clerk David Concepcion to be far less evasive and much more polite and professional, we will file one today. And we will share it here with the public, too. Perhaps these questions can be answered at Tuesday's public council meeting.
The city's financial state is somewhat of a question mark and, while more and more people have been asking, answers are elusive. Mayor Carlos Hernandez, Finance Director Vivian Parks and Budget Director Alex Vega (why two separate people? Beats me, but Ladra sees an opportunity for savings right there) have each refused to talk about the city's finances and rumors of a possible shortfall that will need to be overcome before even considering next year's budget.
In fact, the city may not be able to make payroll after two more checks, maybe three. But nobody wants to talk about this. Not publicly, anyway.
Privately, there is evidence of scrambling: The city offers 38 eligible employees -- including seven from solid waste and six from water and sewers -- a "window" (expires Aug. 15) to retire and cash out their "timebank" (earned sick and vacation time) at pre-salary cut hourly rates. Some of these are the longtime, highest paid workers the city intends to replace with part-timers or lower-level employees. Watch the flies DROP, ladies and gentlemen. It might be a good time to bail.
The mayor, also privately -- publicly he satys the union leadership will not meet with him -- threatens the same leadership with layoffs if they don't get $3.2 million in concessions. Is that how they plan to make payroll? Because it worked so well for them last time the city illegally fired firefighters and were ordered to hire them back and make them "whole" to the tune of $687,000 (which the city still had not done as of the last paycheck) and made them 115% overbudget in overtime in the fire department as of last month.
Hialeah Finance Director Vivian Parks told me last week, on Wednesday -- before the mayor shut her up -- that the city had $12 million in the bank, enough for four payrolls, or two months. (Yeah, I know: bad sign when the finance director can't multiply $3.5 million by 4 which is $2 million more than what they had last week... unless she knows something the other employees don't know). I say two paychecks because there are other bills to pay (or not pay, as it were, since we also hear that some vendors have been unpaid for months. But we can't get an answer on this, either). Parks said the city has other income, franchise fees and the like. But will that be enough? She said it would be. Ladra caught up with her at her home to ask about the shortfall and the payroll, about a supposed surplus of more than $10 million that seemed to have been paid to the city according to the monthly accounts receivables in which one month has $10.7 million and the next has $44,000. Someone would logically think that the city was paid and it's a legitimate question to ask where the money went. But Parks said she would answer specific questions the next day when she was in the office. After she did not return two calls the next day, Ladra went to her Miami Springs home again. "I cannot speak to you," she said, adding that administrators had gotten an email from the mayor directing them not to talk to any members of the press and refer all inquiries to the city clerk's office. She then swiftly slammed the door in my face. (Yeah, not the first time, lady).
Budget Director Alex Vega was reached at his office Monday morning and also said he could not answer any questions and that everything had to go through the mayor's office and a public records request. But Mayor Carlos Hernandez has not been too accessible and apparently takes his media [cross]training from former mayor and defeated county mayoral candidate Julio Robaina. I only got to talk to Hernandez for, like, 90 seconds and that was only because I did not leave a message when he did not answer his cell phone and he called me back not knowing whose missed call that was. When I introduced myself, I asked the softball about his cutting back his salary, you know, something he wants to talk about. (Should have gone for the big guns). He said he would do it immediately, not as of the November election as I had written, and that the council did not have to approve it. "I already did it," he said. And kudos to Hernandez for, again, cutting the mayor's salary that he had voted to increase (and it is still about a 400 % raise from his own salary two months ago and the salary on which his pension will be based. More on that later.). He calls this leadership. But leaders do not hang up on people as they ask the follow-up question. He said he had to go and I was trying to ask him to call me after his "meeting" or tell me when I could call him again. It would have taken the same amount of time as his "I'm sorry. I have to go. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." But, alas, I did not get the chance to tell him that either. And he has not returned one call. He may have saved my number on his phone by now so he would know when I am calling.
So, because I imagine some email or memo that says all queries must be made through the mayor's office or a public records request, and since Ladra loves public records and has found City Clerk David Concepcion to be far less evasive and much more polite and professional, we will file one today. And we will share it here with the public, too. Perhaps these questions can be answered at Tuesday's public council meeting.
- If the city collected the nearly $11 million in accounts receivables, where did those funds go or get transferred to? Please provide specific department and line items.
- Or, alternatively, did those $11 million never really exist and were they put on the books purely for cosmetic reasons?
- How much does the city have in the bank(s) right now? This includes all accounts, reserve and capital improvement or storm water if separate.
- How much is the city expecting in revenue for the total month of July, of August and of September?
- Which private companies donated, and how much did they give to the city in order fore the public parks to be reopened in the mornings? Also, when and how was this funding initiative and avenue developed and by whom?
- If there is at least $11 or $12 million in the bank now, why has the city still not "made whole," as ruled by an independent arbitrator in April, the 16 firefighters wrongly fired last December and illegally unpaid for five months?
- What are the accounts payables for last month and for July, August and September?
- What vendors have not been paid in the last 60 days and have accounts payables outstandings (please provide amounts as well)?
These are questions that should easily be answered and since there is some advance notice here, I suggest city staff be prepared to give answers at Tuesday's council meeting.
In fact, the first ones who should be asking are the council members-- especially those up for re-election -- and the candidates who want to replace them.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Hialeah cuts are a campaign con
Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez has announced, very dramatically, that he wants to cut the mayor's pay by 30 percent, from $272,000 to $190,000.
But what he forgot to say was that he will never feel it in his pocket. No, siree. Hernandez will still enjoy six or seven more paychecks with an almost 400 percent raise from his council president salary of two months ago through November, when a new mayor (which won't be him) is elected.
That's because if the council approves his proposal at its next meeting Tuesday, he wants to put it on the November ballot as a charter change -- during the the mayoral and council election. So, basically, Hernandez wants to cut Raul Martinez's pay. The former mayor and current mayoral front-running candidate, who is wading in dough from Dominican Republic deals, might shrug it off -- what's $80,000 or so to a guy like him -- but it still is quite a brave move for Hernandez.
Or a lame [duck] move. He does not have to put it to voters but is couching it with an amendment so voters would have to approve all future raises, which is a good idea. Hey, here's a concept: Put future raises on the ballot and cut your salary now. Ladra is sure voters won't mind.
The interim mayor said in a statement Wednesday that he wants to cut the mayor's pay to $150,000 and expenses -- which currently do not have to be documented with receipts, so it's really like a second salary or bonus -- to $40,000. (The council should add a requirement that expense reports be submitted so taxpayers know what they are paying for). Hernandez said that brings the mayor's compensation back to its 2001 level (which is what Martinez made, so maybe this is an omen).
Now, yes, Ladra is a cynical conspiracy theorist at heart, but this should smell like a distraction ploy to anybody because there are already questions about the city's finances. Hialeah might not be able to meet payroll through the end of the year. These questions might be asked publicly at Tuesday's meeting. And this announcement -- with the mayor blocking out three hours Thursday morning for media interviews -- looks like a pre-emptive strike against public comments.
It also looks like Hernandez is in full campaign mode. Running as the underdog for mayor in November, Hernandez likely realizes that the salaries of recalled Mayor Carlos Alvarez and his former (and some say still current) boss, loser county mayoral candidate Julio Robaina, cost them politically. So did the Alvarez taxpayer-paid luxury car. Now Hialeah will re-evaluate it's take-home vehicle policy. So was the bloated budget at the county, with more departments than the state of Florida. And now Hialeah might do away with two departments and reassign those tasks to parks and recreation.
Not that these proposed cuts are not good things that need to happen. Just that they needed to happen yesterday. Hernandez -- whose pension is now based on this year's salary, a 400 percent increase -- should have proposed to cut the mayor's outrageous salary sooner, when his puppeteer, Robaina, was raking it in. Or at least the day after he was appointed to the position by Robaina, before he started demanding more cuts and concessions from the workers, cops and firefighters who do not make a third of $272,000-a-year. Take home vehicles should have been evaluated before Hialeah Housing Authority Director Julio Ponce got a $900 monthly car allowance. And some of those departments should never have been created for cronies.
"Leadership begins at the top," Hernandez said in a statement, loosely stealing the new county mayor's "lead by example" move, only Carlos Gimenez cut his own salary by 50 percent.
"I strongly believe that to hold public office is an honor and privilege, and those individuals who I serve should have a say in the salary of the mayor," Hernandez added. Apparently, the voters just obtained this say after the county mayoral election.
"The public has made their dissatisfaction with the high salaries and benefits of elected officials clear, and I agree. My job is to listen to the public and act in benefit of our citizens."
See? I told you it was a campaign ploy. And he still gets paid $272,000 a year to listen and act.
But what he forgot to say was that he will never feel it in his pocket. No, siree. Hernandez will still enjoy six or seven more paychecks with an almost 400 percent raise from his council president salary of two months ago through November, when a new mayor (which won't be him) is elected.
That's because if the council approves his proposal at its next meeting Tuesday, he wants to put it on the November ballot as a charter change -- during the the mayoral and council election. So, basically, Hernandez wants to cut Raul Martinez's pay. The former mayor and current mayoral front-running candidate, who is wading in dough from Dominican Republic deals, might shrug it off -- what's $80,000 or so to a guy like him -- but it still is quite a brave move for Hernandez.
Or a lame [duck] move. He does not have to put it to voters but is couching it with an amendment so voters would have to approve all future raises, which is a good idea. Hey, here's a concept: Put future raises on the ballot and cut your salary now. Ladra is sure voters won't mind.
The interim mayor said in a statement Wednesday that he wants to cut the mayor's pay to $150,000 and expenses -- which currently do not have to be documented with receipts, so it's really like a second salary or bonus -- to $40,000. (The council should add a requirement that expense reports be submitted so taxpayers know what they are paying for). Hernandez said that brings the mayor's compensation back to its 2001 level (which is what Martinez made, so maybe this is an omen).
Now, yes, Ladra is a cynical conspiracy theorist at heart, but this should smell like a distraction ploy to anybody because there are already questions about the city's finances. Hialeah might not be able to meet payroll through the end of the year. These questions might be asked publicly at Tuesday's meeting. And this announcement -- with the mayor blocking out three hours Thursday morning for media interviews -- looks like a pre-emptive strike against public comments.
It also looks like Hernandez is in full campaign mode. Running as the underdog for mayor in November, Hernandez likely realizes that the salaries of recalled Mayor Carlos Alvarez and his former (and some say still current) boss, loser county mayoral candidate Julio Robaina, cost them politically. So did the Alvarez taxpayer-paid luxury car. Now Hialeah will re-evaluate it's take-home vehicle policy. So was the bloated budget at the county, with more departments than the state of Florida. And now Hialeah might do away with two departments and reassign those tasks to parks and recreation.
Not that these proposed cuts are not good things that need to happen. Just that they needed to happen yesterday. Hernandez -- whose pension is now based on this year's salary, a 400 percent increase -- should have proposed to cut the mayor's outrageous salary sooner, when his puppeteer, Robaina, was raking it in. Or at least the day after he was appointed to the position by Robaina, before he started demanding more cuts and concessions from the workers, cops and firefighters who do not make a third of $272,000-a-year. Take home vehicles should have been evaluated before Hialeah Housing Authority Director Julio Ponce got a $900 monthly car allowance. And some of those departments should never have been created for cronies.
"Leadership begins at the top," Hernandez said in a statement, loosely stealing the new county mayor's "lead by example" move, only Carlos Gimenez cut his own salary by 50 percent.
"I strongly believe that to hold public office is an honor and privilege, and those individuals who I serve should have a say in the salary of the mayor," Hernandez added. Apparently, the voters just obtained this say after the county mayoral election.
"The public has made their dissatisfaction with the high salaries and benefits of elected officials clear, and I agree. My job is to listen to the public and act in benefit of our citizens."
See? I told you it was a campaign ploy. And he still gets paid $272,000 a year to listen and act.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Campaign man turns lobbyist
The heated campaign for county mayor seems to beaten down JC Flores. He's done with political promotion, he says. Now he wants to promote to politicos.
After what some might call his greatest achievement ever -- taking an underdog candidate with somewhat lackluster public speaking skills to the second highest post in the state -- Flores has accepted a job with AT&T. As a lobbyist, of course.
Many county workers were disappointed to hear at Wednesday's swearing-in of the new mayor that Flores, sporting a fresh beard after he shaved the longer one after Election Day, he would not be joining the staff.
"I wanted a life," Flores told me Wednesday after his last client, Mayor Carlos Gimenez took the official oath of office (he took it five days earlier to get started on the hard work).
This means that Gimenez must be looking for someone else to take over the 2011 campaign, and quick since there is only 13 months to the primary.
Maybe former State Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who is said to be vacationing in Spain or somewhere else in Europe (they have rehab there, too, you know) will land the job if he promises to behave himself. Maybe former State Rep. JC Planas, who has been hanging around also, will take over some of the duties. Maybe Ana Carbonell, who managed the Julio Robaina campaign quite skillfully (Oh, c'mon! She had to sell a really bad product) wants to use her skills and talents for good instead of evil.
Any other ideas/nominations from the public?
After what some might call his greatest achievement ever -- taking an underdog candidate with somewhat lackluster public speaking skills to the second highest post in the state -- Flores has accepted a job with AT&T. As a lobbyist, of course.
Many county workers were disappointed to hear at Wednesday's swearing-in of the new mayor that Flores, sporting a fresh beard after he shaved the longer one after Election Day, he would not be joining the staff.
"I wanted a life," Flores told me Wednesday after his last client, Mayor Carlos Gimenez took the official oath of office (he took it five days earlier to get started on the hard work).
This means that Gimenez must be looking for someone else to take over the 2011 campaign, and quick since there is only 13 months to the primary.
Maybe former State Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who is said to be vacationing in Spain or somewhere else in Europe (they have rehab there, too, you know) will land the job if he promises to behave himself. Maybe former State Rep. JC Planas, who has been hanging around also, will take over some of the duties. Maybe Ana Carbonell, who managed the Julio Robaina campaign quite skillfully (Oh, c'mon! She had to sell a really bad product) wants to use her skills and talents for good instead of evil.
Any other ideas/nominations from the public?
Oath taken today, test tomorrow
Although he has been at work since the day after the election and was sworn in privately so he could really start t
alking with authority to the unions and his staff, Mayor Carlos Gimenez (photographed here sitting next to his wife, Lourdes, between speeches) was sworn in at a public ceremony Wednesday that was more about family and faith -- three separate religious leaders gave their blessings (a reverend, a rabbi and a brother from Christopher Columbus High, where the mayor went to school) -- than pomp and circumstance.
He thanked his family and supporters and the standing-room only crowd was curiously devoid of the usual suspects. Like his victory party last week, it was mostlylongtime friends and supporters, county workers and firefighters and Republican Party women. Few lobbyists. None of the big ones.
But since he was already sworn in five days ago, the public oath also provided for a little campaigning opportunity. After all, Mayor Gimenez is also still a candidate who faces a primary in 13 months.
The mayor didn't have to reiterate his campaign promises about his own 50 percent salary cut and the cuts that would have to be made to roll back the tax. He didn't have to go on
again about March 15 as if it were a real mandate when 17 percent of the people vote (oh, right, fewer elected him). He didn't have to promise real reform and a return of the public trust. Because it sounded a lot like a campaign speech (maybe it was for the benefit of the media recording the moment) and it was pretty much wasted on an audience who (for the most part) voted for him and will again. Although, truth be told, Ladra couldn't help but create mental columns for how the commissioners voted June 28 and suspects not all cast for their new captain. Today they seemed to be on board his ship. Let's see if that's the case Thursday at the first commission meeting.
Because it's going to be a fun one. There are a few big-ticket items on the agenda for tomorrow:
alking with authority to the unions and his staff, Mayor Carlos Gimenez (photographed here sitting next to his wife, Lourdes, between speeches) was sworn in at a public ceremony Wednesday that was more about family and faith -- three separate religious leaders gave their blessings (a reverend, a rabbi and a brother from Christopher Columbus High, where the mayor went to school) -- than pomp and circumstance.He thanked his family and supporters and the standing-room only crowd was curiously devoid of the usual suspects. Like his victory party last week, it was mostlylongtime friends and supporters, county workers and firefighters and Republican Party women. Few lobbyists. None of the big ones.
But since he was already sworn in five days ago, the public oath also provided for a little campaigning opportunity. After all, Mayor Gimenez is also still a candidate who faces a primary in 13 months.
The mayor didn't have to reiterate his campaign promises about his own 50 percent salary cut and the cuts that would have to be made to roll back the tax. He didn't have to go on
again about March 15 as if it were a real mandate when 17 percent of the people vote (oh, right, fewer elected him). He didn't have to promise real reform and a return of the public trust. Because it sounded a lot like a campaign speech (maybe it was for the benefit of the media recording the moment) and it was pretty much wasted on an audience who (for the most part) voted for him and will again. Although, truth be told, Ladra couldn't help but create mental columns for how the commissioners voted June 28 and suspects not all cast for their new captain. Today they seemed to be on board his ship. Let's see if that's the case Thursday at the first commission meeting.Because it's going to be a fun one. There are a few big-ticket items on the agenda for tomorrow:
- The sale of $100 million in "bond anticipation notes" (read: loan) for "interim financing" for transit to pay or reimburse the county for improvements already approved in the People's Transportation Plan, including $6 million in new train cars for MetroRail and $85 million for the MIC Earlington Heights line. These monies are apparently part of the plan of providing for a balanced budget on nine days. The resolution provides that the loan be repaid in 14 months at a total of no more than $120 million. (Citibank is recommended as the loaning agent, not former Hialeah mayor, county mayoral loser and freelance loan officer-under-investigation Julio Robaina, whose interest rates might have been higher).
- The issuance of $42 million in bonds to pay for part of the paving of the new baseball stadium, adopted on first reading on May 17 -- after Gimenez had resigned to run for mayor in a campaign where his stance against public funding for the stadium was key.
- The issuance of $400 million in paper notes in anticipation of bond monies (read: another loan?) for financing of Building Better Communities projects already approved.
- The approval of a permit for MAT Concessionaire to drill 914 holes in Government Cut and fill them with "grout" in preparation for FDOT Port of Miami tunnel project.
- A change in the comprehensive development master plan and land use map, from "agriculture" to "office and business" for 120 or so acres between Southwest 132nd and 142nd avenues and 333rd and 336th streets in what is called "Villages of Homestead." The site is outside the Urban Development Boundary but within the Urban Expansion Area of 2025 and the applicant, Homestead-Miami Speedway, LLC, wants to have the site included in the 2015-2025 UDB area. This is a second reading. The first reading was approved 9-1 in March. But Commissioner Audrey Edmonson voted against it, not Gimenez, who said he supported Commissioner Dennis Moss' item because it was different from most UDB applications and that the commission could ensure protection (whatever that means). There will be a public hearing on this item at 9:30 a.m.
So, in the first meeting for our new mayor, who is loved by the tree-hugging UEL bunch, the commission is poised to move the UDB line, one of the things the mayor said he would not do while on campaign, and approve the drilling of 1,000 holes along our shores. Environmentalists are going to scream, even if there is wetland protection funding in a separate item and a fixed bicycle path crossing the Coral Gables waterway on the agenda, too.
Then, the county will vote on issuing $42 million in bonds to pay for paving part of the baseball stadium, which he voted against and also became a pivotal point in his campaign. Add to that another $20 million in debt right off the bat to budget for transit and the $400 anticipated notes (if we spend it now we can't spend it later) for the community projects.
Well, even Ladra knows that transit and community projects need money, it just seem
s like a lot packed into one meeting and, being a dog, she can't help but wonder if the mayor's former colleagues (who swarmed the mayor and waited in line to embrace him and have their photos taken with him) aren't piling it on the agenda on purpose. "As a former member of the board, I think you're good people," the mayor said, and the audience laughed a little. Maybe some of these items on the agenda are jokes, too. They sure sound funny enough. But too many of them are too real for this to be a coaster.
Ladra has a feeling this first test is not going to be so easy for the new mayor, who better have been pulling an all-nighter studying this agenda after the hoopla of the afternoon. He knows better than anybody else that voters are watching closer than ever, and could pass or fail him as early as in 13 months.
Monday, July 4, 2011
The tiny margin that mattered
The high-priced consultants and image brokers, communicators and veteran political advisers to our new mayor Carlos Gimenez certainly helped him win that narrow victory last week against the one-time front runner with three times the bankroll. But, in the end, despite what some 1A stories may say, the win came
down to Hialeah's own team of rabid Robaina refugees who hammered away day in and day out at the discrepancies and dishonesty of their homegrown candidate.
In an election won by fewer than 4,200 votes, they became the tiny margin that mattered. And Ladra takes her hat off to these very real and modern Independence Day heroes.
Using social media on steroids and hounding traditional news outlets with information they often researched on their own, they turned traditional word-of-[bad]mouth into an art as they pressed their point that the city's former mayor, Julio Robaina, was not someone who could be trusted with the county government (neither its public money nor its public workforce), which became the biggest distinction when the candidates started sounding the same on policy issues like taxes and budget cuts and reform.
This tiny margin that mattered is an unlikely cast of characters that includes retired Police Chief Rolando Bolaños, who discovered facebook and used it as "my own newspaper" to post history lessons about Robaina's connections and conflicts of interest; Eric Johnson, a mad-as-Hell firefighter who made it his personal mission to burn down Robaina's p
olitical aspirations, one public record at a time; former Councilman (and current council candidate) Alex Morales, who took the time after he was fired by Robaina as director of the Hialeah Housing Authority to put together a dossier on his questionable activities for authorities, reporters, anyone who wanted a good read; the most popular politician ever from Hialeah, former Mayor (and current shoe-in mayoral candidate) Raul Martinez, who came out of hiding and went on Cuban AM radio to try to try to balance out the pro-Robaina slant on most stations; the fearless woman in white, union president Barbara Hernandez, speaking on behalf of scared-stiff city employees who Robaina always sacrificed -- cutting pay and benefits instead of raising taxes -- because they could not vote for him before, but who are county residents who remembered to not vote for him when they got the chance in a county race; the cops who broke rank with the administration that, at least publicly, supported Robaina; Fire Union Prez Mario Pico, who became the Gimenez campaign point man for anyone who wanted to help in Hialeah and who motivated his troops and recruited his own army of a family for a volunteer door-to-door educational campaign to try to stop absentee ballot fraud by assuring elderly voters of their rights; even the impostor "Claudia Fernandez" posing as Robaina's first wife on facebook, and posting a hilarious photographic Who's Who of the former mayor's inner circle that really ought to be published as a coffee table book.
Gimenez himself said his "Hialeah support team" was "obviously" crucial to his campaign.
"They helped me a lot with manpower, with signs," Gimenez told Ladra between photo ops at the victory party Tuesday night. "They had some information about my opponent that obviously helped paint a better picture of who he is because they knew him better than I did," Gimenez said. "He did some things over there that I wouldn't have done."
Moments earlier, the former city of Miami firefighter and chief had locked in a grateful and emotional embrace with Hialeah Fire's VP Johnson, the ATV-riding redneck who breathed, ate and slept his obsession to obliterate Robaina's lead and, really,
candidacy for anything ever again. For Johnson, it was the end of a more than yearlong effort that was as much about keeping Robaina out of the county coffers as it was payback. Not for him -- he'll tell you a million times because he forgot if you are one of the people he's told this a million times to -- but for the single mothers who lost their homes and the babies who slept in cars because of deep salary cuts imposed unfairly on the lowest paid workers by his former boss. He says this with such conviction each time and fast blinks back tears in his macho man eyes that you know he's not only reliving the truth, but has given these colleagues whatever help he can. For his crusade, he has cashed in every single favor he's ever had. But his role, from Ladra's viewpoint, was pivotal. In addition to being one of Ladra's alleged "handlers," Johnson must have had his hands all over Jim Defede and Enrique Flor and Jay Weaver and Laura Isensee and Frank Alvarado and every other reporter and blogger that he hounded with information and documents he went to the trouble of getting and copying himself. You know, reporters are thinned out these days. He can take credit for most if not all of the "negative" (read: the ugly truth) stories that came out about Robaina's misdeeds in the Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald and all the television channels. But he doesn't ever. He told Ladra recently that he never wanted credit, just success. Which he got.
"They say democracy dies in the shadow of darkness and we just turned the lights on," Johnson said, though I am sure he ended it with "baby" or "boo-yah" or something cocky like that as redneck firefighters who feel vindicated might say.
More than simply turning on that light switch, however, these Hialeah heroes followed Robaina's campaign with a magnified spotlight, spreading questions and concerns like wildfire over dry Everglades in a controlled blaze.
Robaina knows that these thorns in his side could very well account for every single one of the 4,108 votes he was defeated by last week, only months after he was elected with a five point lead. If he had lost by those same five points, or 10 points as polls suggested, it might not have hurt as much as it likely still stings today that his machinery couldn't beat the tiny margin that mattered.
I know one former police chief, one pissed-off firefighter, one lady in white and a couple of others who might smile when they read that.
down to Hialeah's own team of rabid Robaina refugees who hammered away day in and day out at the discrepancies and dishonesty of their homegrown candidate.In an election won by fewer than 4,200 votes, they became the tiny margin that mattered. And Ladra takes her hat off to these very real and modern Independence Day heroes.
Using social media on steroids and hounding traditional news outlets with information they often researched on their own, they turned traditional word-of-[bad]mouth into an art as they pressed their point that the city's former mayor, Julio Robaina, was not someone who could be trusted with the county government (neither its public money nor its public workforce), which became the biggest distinction when the candidates started sounding the same on policy issues like taxes and budget cuts and reform.
This tiny margin that mattered is an unlikely cast of characters that includes retired Police Chief Rolando Bolaños, who discovered facebook and used it as "my own newspaper" to post history lessons about Robaina's connections and conflicts of interest; Eric Johnson, a mad-as-Hell firefighter who made it his personal mission to burn down Robaina's p
olitical aspirations, one public record at a time; former Councilman (and current council candidate) Alex Morales, who took the time after he was fired by Robaina as director of the Hialeah Housing Authority to put together a dossier on his questionable activities for authorities, reporters, anyone who wanted a good read; the most popular politician ever from Hialeah, former Mayor (and current shoe-in mayoral candidate) Raul Martinez, who came out of hiding and went on Cuban AM radio to try to try to balance out the pro-Robaina slant on most stations; the fearless woman in white, union president Barbara Hernandez, speaking on behalf of scared-stiff city employees who Robaina always sacrificed -- cutting pay and benefits instead of raising taxes -- because they could not vote for him before, but who are county residents who remembered to not vote for him when they got the chance in a county race; the cops who broke rank with the administration that, at least publicly, supported Robaina; Fire Union Prez Mario Pico, who became the Gimenez campaign point man for anyone who wanted to help in Hialeah and who motivated his troops and recruited his own army of a family for a volunteer door-to-door educational campaign to try to stop absentee ballot fraud by assuring elderly voters of their rights; even the impostor "Claudia Fernandez" posing as Robaina's first wife on facebook, and posting a hilarious photographic Who's Who of the former mayor's inner circle that really ought to be published as a coffee table book.Gimenez himself said his "Hialeah support team" was "obviously" crucial to his campaign.
"They helped me a lot with manpower, with signs," Gimenez told Ladra between photo ops at the victory party Tuesday night. "They had some information about my opponent that obviously helped paint a better picture of who he is because they knew him better than I did," Gimenez said. "He did some things over there that I wouldn't have done."
Moments earlier, the former city of Miami firefighter and chief had locked in a grateful and emotional embrace with Hialeah Fire's VP Johnson, the ATV-riding redneck who breathed, ate and slept his obsession to obliterate Robaina's lead and, really,
candidacy for anything ever again. For Johnson, it was the end of a more than yearlong effort that was as much about keeping Robaina out of the county coffers as it was payback. Not for him -- he'll tell you a million times because he forgot if you are one of the people he's told this a million times to -- but for the single mothers who lost their homes and the babies who slept in cars because of deep salary cuts imposed unfairly on the lowest paid workers by his former boss. He says this with such conviction each time and fast blinks back tears in his macho man eyes that you know he's not only reliving the truth, but has given these colleagues whatever help he can. For his crusade, he has cashed in every single favor he's ever had. But his role, from Ladra's viewpoint, was pivotal. In addition to being one of Ladra's alleged "handlers," Johnson must have had his hands all over Jim Defede and Enrique Flor and Jay Weaver and Laura Isensee and Frank Alvarado and every other reporter and blogger that he hounded with information and documents he went to the trouble of getting and copying himself. You know, reporters are thinned out these days. He can take credit for most if not all of the "negative" (read: the ugly truth) stories that came out about Robaina's misdeeds in the Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald and all the television channels. But he doesn't ever. He told Ladra recently that he never wanted credit, just success. Which he got."They say democracy dies in the shadow of darkness and we just turned the lights on," Johnson said, though I am sure he ended it with "baby" or "boo-yah" or something cocky like that as redneck firefighters who feel vindicated might say.
More than simply turning on that light switch, however, these Hialeah heroes followed Robaina's campaign with a magnified spotlight, spreading questions and concerns like wildfire over dry Everglades in a controlled blaze.
Robaina knows that these thorns in his side could very well account for every single one of the 4,108 votes he was defeated by last week, only months after he was elected with a five point lead. If he had lost by those same five points, or 10 points as polls suggested, it might not have hurt as much as it likely still stings today that his machinery couldn't beat the tiny margin that mattered.
I know one former police chief, one pissed-off firefighter, one lady in white and a couple of others who might smile when they read that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)