Jim DeFede, reporting for Channel 4 television, also writes a noteworthy column.
"I finally understood how far Alvarez had fallen when I read Myriam Marquez's column (in the Miami Herald) extolling the greatness of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, whose term in office, she said was "heading toward a strong finish." In the same column she derided Alvarez as "not living up to his promise as a reformer." It was a column about a good mayor and a bad mayor and in Myriam's view Manny Diaz is the good mayor. Manny Diaz – the good mayor? Excuse me a second but while typing that last sentence I threw up a little bit."
DeFede's "Anger Rules the Day in Miami-Dade" is a must read and reminds me how much Miami Herald readers lost when he was forced out of the paper. He doesn't give Alvarez a free-pass: far from it. But he does enumerate why public anger is more appropriately focused on the serious problems in the tenure of Manny Diaz as City of Miami Mayor. That politics is a mess in Miami-- and poorly understood by observers like Marquez-- is no surprise: they were a mess before the economic crash and the crash has only magnified them. But failing to clearly see those political faults BEFORE the crash-- by the mainstream press in general-- has only magnified the blurry images as the crash intensified. There is a lot more to report, why anger rules the day in Miami-Dade. That anger is not going away, any time soon. How that anger is being harnessed by the same forces that unleashed it is well worth consideration by journalists and voters.
18 comments:
NOW YOU ARE ON TOPIC M
I know you don't appreciate "off topic" posts, but I think your readers should take a look at Jim Defede's column from yesterday to put this whole Mayor Alvarez thing in to perspective.
http://cbs4.com/defedecolumn/defede.carlos.alvarez.2.1182486.html
The raises might have been ill timed, but are they a re-callable offense?
You be the judge after comparing him to the others (Manny, Alex, Joe, Xavier, Raul, etc...)
The Miami Herald should watch out what they wish for, because, as my grandfather would say, you will most certainly get it.
m
This is so true, from DeFede:
"Let's also not forget the FTAA Summit in Miami in 2003 in which Diaz declared that his city's handling of protesters would become known as the "Miami Model" that other cities would emulate. I've actually lost count of the number of lawsuits and judgments and exactly how much money the city has had to pay out to protesters who were beaten and abused and whose rights were trampled on during the summit. The Miami Model turned out to be Miami's disgrace."
To be fair Marquez is new. She wasn't here for the entire 8 years that Manny has been in office. Who does she get her info from is more important.
And he was able to get his agenda through even if it was bullied through. He has more power than Alvarez, in his selling of his soul to Spence Jones, Sanchez, and Angel Gonzalez.
Thanks for putting this current election into focus.
What Defede does not know, is that lobbyists have more control over the 29th floor than ever before. the Strong Mayor form of government, afterall, was the brainchild of Alvarez confidant, and uber-lobbyist, Jorge Lopez. Ever wonder why Alvarez refuses to give credit to the author, even when asked time and again during the Strong Mayor campaign??? It is clear, it is much easier to manipulate one person than 13 people. It is not seen now, but, that is by design people. Wake up, smell the roses, because they stink!! Alvarez needs to go. A majority of the Commmission needs to go. Burgess, needs to go!!!
Time to clean house!
So Jim DeFede is now the arbiter of Mayors? I hope you will at least post that (1) he is regularly wrong on his facts (2) admits that he is merely "a columnist" because he never took a single college class in journalism or graduated from a colleg for that matter (3) is biased to the point where the Miami Herald had to terminate him and (4) speaks ill of the dead even before they are in the ground. Jim Defede? Please.
We don't take kindly to trashing reporters without training.
Well, he certainly qualifies as a reporter without training.
Duh, Mr. Anonymous, you are stepping on toes.
You can say that again...and he or she doesn't even realize it.
I thought this blog was all about stepping on toes. I guess some toes are off limits?
Go ahead step on toes..ouch! ouch!
I agree that Alvarez was a better Mayor than Diaz. DeFede pointed out why. Alvarez is not a politician and his mistakes can be attributed to that. Diaz's accomplishments were bullied through: like he is trying to do with the Virginia Key Master Plan. Citizens just don't matter to him.
Alvarez IS a politician. He survived in the Police Department for about 26 years. He did that because he knows how to dance the dance.
He isn't any different.
Manny Diaz is an ego maniac. He doesn't care about anyone except moving forward his own agenda. Really when you judge his term in office - what has he given the City of Miami except empty skysrapers and a financial nightmare.
I wonder if Mayor Diaz even recognizes how much people dislike him. The word is that his close allies at City Hall don't think much of him either.
Manny Diaz gave the City the Fire Fee, a $17 mil loss, the bailout of the Marlins, a $3+ bil loss, an over supply of 20,000 condos, a $4 bil loss... Manny Diaz gave away the Orange Bowl 40 acre site and he gave away 8 acres of Bicentennial Park getting nothing in return. Manny Diaz forced the taxpayers to pay friends of his over $4 mil in fees for the flawed new zoning code. The list goes on...
I hope the upcoming mayor's race will be about the legacy of Mayor Manny Diaz: dismal, dismal dismal and one that Sanchez embraces.
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