The Miami Herald has almost completely ignored the Charter Review effort (pictured is Victor Diaz head of the Task Force) but the Herald has identified the cause for our bad County government in this editorial, namely the real problem is “Who’s Governing.” (NOTE: The editorial title did not reflect the subject of the editorial - it missed the broader points that the editorial addressed): Our Opinion: Initiative Process Should Be More Accessible. In the Editorial the Herald said:“A group of bright, involved individuals has been meeting in Miami-Dade County since July to determine if there is a better way for the county to govern itself by restructuring. On the face of it, that would seem a no-brainer: Of course the county could be run better. Just think of recent scandals at the Housing Agency, the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department, not to mention the huge construction-cost overruns at Miami International Airport.
Who's governing?
In actuality, these vexing problems had less to do with how county government is structured than with the people doing the governing. You can have the most time-tested form of government but still fail if the wrong people are in charge. The folks on the Miami-Dade County Charter Review Task Force can't do much about the quality of our elected officials, but they can recommend progressive structural changes at County Hall.”
The Herald says that a public hearing on all the Task Force's recommendations is at 6 p.m. Jan. 16 in the County Commission chambers. Everyone should go. Maybe I will go and paint mustaches on the Commissioner photos in the hall outside the chamber. Can’t think that my comments will do any good and the mustaches will give me something to do. Maybe we should all go wearing mustaches to protest this colossal waste of time because the only way to fix the problems has been off limits to the Task Force because the County Commission has to approve whatever the Task Force decides.
11 comments:
Good analysis of the editorial. I agree 100% with the the charter not being as much of a problem as the commissioners who are shooting bullets at it.
In a large US city such as Miami, isnt it the responsibility (in part) of the local paper to cover items such as the Charter Reform Task Force? Coverage makes it more accessible to the public.. no?
Yes it's some of the elected officials who are problematic. As much as it is the complacent and lazy coverage of the Herald.
The Herald didn't cover the SFRPC meeting either. They should out-source the meeting attendance.
In my comments on the herald site, I posted this and would like to repeat it here:
the Herald seems as though it is focused on profit, cutting costs = low quality coverage = low interest in readership = low #'s of subscriptions = a shortsighted need to focus on profit. Where's the vision?
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The Herald has no vision... no sense that they have a place in and a responsibility to this community.
very cute guy, I should have gone to the meetings. Who appointed him?
he was appointed by Bruno Barreiro. The ordinance provided that the Chair of the task force would be the BCC Chair's appointment. It was a good one. Victor Diaz has done a great job, not an easy task with that gang...
Victor Diaz has done a pretty good job but he allowed several lobbyist members to push him around and get their sleazy agendas advanced.
You guys should post Alvarez letter to Diaz regarding the topic.
We need more coverage on this issue . . .
The Taskforce MUST establish petition form requirements in the Charter to avoid ambiguity and litigation.
Those requirements then must be put forth for approval by the voters, DARNIT!
Frank: Do you have the letter?
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