I listened to the discussion on the Expensive Health Care Plan for County Employees as reported in yesterday's Herald: Favored healthcare insurer for Dade County is millions costlier than competitor: Problematic bids could lead Miami-Dade County to hire an insurance company charging almost 50 percent more than a competitor.
Gimleteye brought this up in his post yesterday and I did look up the AvMed Lobbyists. Chief among them: Miguel DeGrandy (See the full list in the comments section of Gimleteye's post). I think Miguel had a lot to do with what happened yesterday.
Only one Commissioner stood out and stood up for us: Carlols Gimenez. He really got Burgess riled up. He said the ranking in the RFP was arbitrary. He said they could have easily written it, ranking cost much higher.
How did these idiots write the RFP? You are not going to believe this: They did a survey of what employees wanted. Out of 28 thousand or so, 6 thousand responded (15%?). They weighted what the employee's wanted most. And you know the employees don't really care about OUR COST. It was up to staff to write a meaningful RFP that saved us money and weighted that highly. The RFP weighted highly, if employees didn't have to change their primary care physician. What??? Get real.
THE TAXPAYER COST should have been weighted at 25% or so. Not only did they weight it at 10% they then threw the 10% out! They should have thrown out all the bids and started over. The only Commissioner that cared was Gimenez. He spoke about the taxpayer. He dissected the costs. He wouldn't let Burgess wiggle around it. He took him to task. Burgess fumed. Gimenez was great. He moved up a notch or two in my book.
Sorry Katy Sorenson, you were way off base on this one. We the Tax Payers should come first. Cost HAS GOT TO BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION. You can't have bids on an RFP without cost being a factor. There is no way around that. They voted for the more expensive plan, except Gimenez. What a bunch of ass H----. And I would use an additional word before "bunch" except someone would lecture me on it.
That putz Miguel De Grandy wins again. He even spoke for AvMed at the meeting. ICK
26 comments:
I read the Herald article, but didn't watch the commission meeting. Here is what I don't understand: were bidders required to provide contract quotes on exactly the same parameters?
Yes, they were but they didn't do it without caveats. It was Gimenez's contention that they should rebid the contract. The fact that the county said they couldn't compare apples to oranges so they threw out the criteria was not okay with him. The legal eagles at the County said the Commission could have rejected the contract and they could have had them rebid. Gimenez believed that throwing out the criteria altogether was not the right way to go. Also he didn't seem to be happy that price was weighted at only 10%. I agree with him. His focus was saving us taxpayers dollars not to expedite the contract.
Further, they did not go over this contract in Committee because they were short on time. The public didn't have the time to comment.
The Government Operations County Committee meeting is going on right now. The Chair, Vile Natacha, appears to be wearing the same blouse as yesterday, although she did wear a shawl on top of it part of the time.
I always thought the worst job I could have would be a toll taker. Now I am not so sure. I think being a County Commissioner might be the worst job ever. To sit through the speeches of some of these dumb ass commisssioners is soooo very painful. Try to watch one of these commission meetings sometime. They did it all day yesterday and here they are, back here today.
Gimenez is on a roll again today, he is questioning the elections department on a "no bid" purchase of voting equipment. It looks to me like staff does not see the leverage the county would get with a legitimate competitive bid.
Hint: Whenever you see an RFP instead of an Invitation to Bid, political chicanery is on the agenda. RFPs allow Procurement to consider "intangibles" other than price or the interests of the taxpayer. Then, the Manager further considers his "intangibles" before he writes a Manager's Recommendation Memorandum. Of course, "intagibles" never are related to lobbyists, entrenched County-vendor relationships, or past contributions by vendors to Commissioners. That would have the appearance of impropriety--unknown in County government.
last Anon:
very good, made me laugh but good!!!!!!!!!!
the whole health care system is crazy, bring on universal care, bring on socialized medicine a la France and watch the indices on USA health care stats rise. See SICKO. This employer based stuff is crap.
i hope his intentions are real. my concern is that as he has intentions to run for a higher office he is padding his record but, in the end it is nothing more than the same old politician
Gimenez has a brain, at least, but lately he's turned into a grandstanding windbag bully who only cares about trying to prove he's the smartest boy in school and advancing his own political career. No doubt he's starting his run for Mayor -- and woe be too this community if he were to win.
I sure would like Gimenez to treat county employees and others at the podium with politeness. A commissioner can be firm, without being rude and nasty.
County Staff should not be publicly beaten, that is why staff has supervisors who can deal with the personnel issues in private. Often times, the commissioner is yelling at some poor soul that is selected to bring a message, not the mastermind behind the message. I can envision a pre-commission day conference with county staff gathered in a circle drawing straws to see who gets to be beaten at the podium.
The rudeness may play well for the news, but to be honest, Gimenez is getting to be a male version of Ms. Seijas. I wonder if he has raging hormones too?
From what I hear Gimenez has many problems including a horrible temper and a lack of tact when dealing with colleagues and employees.
Last anon, very true indeed as I know this from personal experience.
Giminez is a pompous ass whose next ambition is to be the County Manager.
We won't have to worry about firing employees, they will all take off before the Curt Carlos takes over!
Glad I'm not the only one who sees him this way. He really is getting to be as nasty as Natasha, and treats people like crap. He's a public servant, not King, yet all staff are expected to bow and scrape in his presence. Making him manager would definitely cut the budget, as the last poster said, because good people won't put up with that kind of verbal abuse for long.
So what if he is running for mayor. But I think you got it wrong readers: I think he is running for city of miami mayor. That is where he is better suited.I don't care if he was grandstanding: he was the only one who spoke up for the taxpayers (and yes he was forceful) and not the the employees of the county. He was the only one who had it right. Burgess was being a righteous a wuss. He deserved a beating in this case. The RFP sucked the way it was written. We need a bully on the side to counteract natacha. Maybe he can do some good on the charter review committee.
I can also tell you by personal experience that Carlos Gimenez is a fair, productive and compassionate man who has little patience for boloni!.
He makes no excuses about the fact that he is a stickler when it comes to cutting through red tape and getting to the bottom line…in your face!
His only " Special Interest" is the well-being of the residents of this community and I for one welcome his much needed forcefulness to deal with incompetence, corruption and waste.
We would only be so lucky that he would run for County Mayor, but I think Genious is right on her last comment!
After all, the voters of Miami Dade County have already demonstrated that they confuse politeness with weakness.
Giminez treats his own constituents like garbage. As a citizen, he snubbed me when I extended my hand to him at a public event. He would not even look at me. Asshole. Carlos, if you are reading this, go do some personal introspection. Maybe you will realize that you are not as high and mighty as you think.
shaking hands and holding babies...that will take this County to the next level for sure
Maria --- I don't know -- he has always been nice to me and he doesn't know me. I, in fact,I supported his opponent. I have met him a number of times at events and if I say hello, he smiles and says hello back.
I think you who are bashing Gimenez probably have no idea what he has to go through on a day to day basis dealing with the incompetence in the County, both at the staff and administrative levels. When he first started, he tried to be nice, but, the response was only lie after lie after half truth, and if there is one thing he hates, its that. The frustration that he has dealt with has caused a reaction from him, where he needs to hold the feet of the administration and staff to the fire, because if he doesn't no one does!!! That is why he is there. To protect our interests as our representative on the BCC. Unfortunately, the County staff and adminstration is full of cronys and liars, and they can't be dealt with as professionals, because what results are unprofessional, unwarranted, untrue responses. I urge you to take the time to watch what happens in the public process, and I think most of the critics here will change their tune.
What he does not do is grandstand. He takes a very methodical approach to reaching the truth, and he can't be direct, because the adminstration has canned bs answers for those types of questions.
I find that the protectors of the adminstration are Burgess fans. Well, I for one am not. He is a very ineffectual manager. With all of the scandals (affordable housing, WASD cell phones, etc.) the BCC seems to get a lion's share of the blame. While I think they were at the very least complicit in the incompetence, Burgess is charged with running the County's day to day operations. He failed, and yet the BCC (with only Gimenez voting against) voted to increase his compensation!
The City of Miami needed him once, and it needs him again. Frankley, the County as a whole, and that Commission, does not deserve to have him sit there.
He is not a politician, and never will be. He loves Miami, his community, and he has always served it to the best of his ability. You may disagree with him on an issue, or many issues, but his focus is always on the best interests of the community as a whole, and that is his overriding concern.
Natasha has had free reign of that Commission for way too long, and the previous dissenter, Katy, was never able to get under Natasha's skin like Carlos can.
He is not a hand shaker, baby kisser, etc. He treats people with class and respect, no matter who they are or where they come from. If the reader who said he snubbed him caught him on a bad day, well, that happens to everyone. That is not the measure of the man, nor the measure of his capabilities as a public official.
Whoever said he knows Carlos very well and finds that he is a a--hole and self-consumed, I seriously doubt that you know him well at all, and are probably a operative for one of his political opponents. Shame on you!
I for one am grateful to have him representing district 7 and the County as a whole, and wish that the remaining 12 members of the BCC cared as much about getting to the truth, efficient government operations, and competent governance.
W a nice guy????
Well, I will not speak for the reader, but, I would say that W was probably a guy that you would like to have a beer with, at least prior to 2005 for most (probably way before that for others)....
Frankley, I don't know that he has the requisite intellect to be a trully evil individual....
I have to say, I do agree with the reader's position as to the question of personal demeanor, and its relevance to results, there is little, however, in extreme cases, like Joe Arriola, one can see that being a huge a--hole can truly seep into results!!!
I would never want to have a beer with him. Ever. W seems surly and crude to me. I like to have a beer with intelligent people, maybe like Anders. Yes Anders it is.
Genius, lets be totally honest, you have the opportunity to have a beer and shoot the s--t with the President of the United States, and you are not going to take it because of politics?
I hate these religious born againers. I don't even like spending time with people in my family, so I don't know....I would probably be tempted to hit him.
Good point, especially after a beer or two...
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