Earlier this year, a brief flurry of press called attention to the 2007 charter review commission for Miami-Dade County.
Commissioner Katy Sorenson implored citizens to become more involved in public meetings of the commission.
But predetermined outcomes are the order of the day for a commission controlled by lobbyists of the Growth Machine. The fact that crashing housing markets have forced developers to concentrate more on conserving cash than manipulating the county commission for new zoning decisions hasn't escaped anyone's attention.
Now, Miami Today reports that four county commissioners appointed themselves to the Charter Review Commission.
“The charter dictates the structure, powers and functions of county government.”
Former political star Maurice Ferre, appointed to the 21 member charter review commission, has advocated for a larger legislative body for Florida’s largest county, acknowledging how badly the single member district system of electing commissioners has failed.
The essential question remains: how to lessen the influence of powerful lobbyists who are hired, en masse, every time there is a particular zoning or permitting change before the commission.
It is the distortion of the functions of county government, enabled by single-member district commissioners, that allowed affordable housing to turn into a “House of Lies” and for our drinking water aquifer to be contaminated by the rock mining industry at the same time development was encouraged, by the county commission, to encroach on our wellfield protection zone.
Would a larger number of county commissioners have changed these outcomes?
And, will the self-appointed county commissioners to the charter review commission vote to sharply circumscribe the activities of lobbyists who have been their main beneficiaries in terms of raising money for political campaigns.
Just about every single lobbyist with a stake in our dysfunctional county commission raced to protect Natacha Seijas, for instance, during the effort by citizens to recall her from her district seat in Hialeah.
Apparently, 13 of the 21 seats on the charter review commission are still open. Look to see who is on that commission, to understand whether Miami-Dade County government has any chance at reform.
3 comments:
I haven't been following this with too much attention, but if the CRC is stacked with elected officials, and one of those officials is beaten in the upcoming election, do they retain their seat, or is that at the discretion of the incoming commissioner?
I predict the commissioners will go for a raise, increase the number of signatures required for them to be recalled, make it more difficult for areas to incorporate, go for an elected tax assessor (one less person the mayor can control) and anything that takes power from the strong mayor. In short, there will not be anything positive for the people!
Edmonson, Heyman, Vile Natacha Seijas, and Gimenez have all appointed themselves on the charter review. In my book that stinks. This is our charter --- there should be citizens on it not power grabbers. Maybe Gimenez when on to neutralize them. Natacha is just going to try to take over the whole thing and be her usual bully self -- and her pal Edmonson will parrot whatever Natacha wants. I am wondering where Sally Heyman will be on this? These three women went to Africa together. Maybe they cooked this up while away? I wouldn't put anything past Seijas.
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