I am liking Norman Braman today in spite of all his money to Rubio and Rivera. The Auto Guy, Billionaire has finally committed to solving Miami Dade County's dysfunction in a productive way. I think more productive than recalling a Mayor with 2 years left on his term.The Miami Herald reported:"Declaring that a recall alone is not the answer, billionaire businessman Norman Braman and former charter review task force chairman Victor M. Diaz announced a slate of reforms aimed at changing the way Miami-Dade County government operates.
Called “A Covenant With The People,” the document stakes out eight areas to change in county government. The proposed reforms include creating two at-large seats, imposing term limits on commissioners of two four-year terms while increasing commissioner pay to attract better candidates, and repealing restrictions that make voter petition drives more costly and logistically difficult."
All I can say is: Thank you Norman Braman. Using your money in this endeavor will REALLY help the community. I respect you for this move. A note to the Miami Herald: Why did you bury this article in the back pages of the local section?
28 comments:
I truly hope they petition the people to get these on the ballot. The County Commissioners will not take the lead on this because, well, the majority are self preservationists, not representative of the people at all.
I would also like to see the addition in our charter that would prevent the County from hiring any relative of any sitting commissioner for any job or contract (yea, I know, I'll put that on my dream list)
And, one more, public employee salarys & benefits must be at par with the private sector for the same type of job, that would probably shave off about a billion dollars!
I won't hold my breath, but it would be nice, wouldn't it?
Agree with all you said anonymous.
I too am troubled by the family members in county government. Seijas and her two daughters as an example. And doesn't Moss's wife also work for the County?
County Commissioners should not have their family members working for the county.
The rules should also prohibit lobbyists for the county from lobbying the county on behalf of private clients. The commissioners are over-persuaded by the arguments (and campaign contributions) of their own lobbyists. And they don't want to risk the possibility that their lobbyist won't fight as hard for them in Tallahassee. As a result, the commissioners favor the agenda of their lobbyists' private clients against the interests of the public. See, for example, Ron Book and the Marlins ballpark.
Another worthy suggestion.
I have always liked Norman and am very happy that he is putting his money to advance wonderful things for the public.
These are my suggestions for Charter Reform:
(1) Term limits of 8-12 years. If no salary and no bar on outside employment, I say 8. If given a salary, and bar on outside employment, I believe 12 works better.
(2) Impose State Formula for Salary. That way the Salary is changed only by the demographics of the area, not by vote, or whim.
(3) With Term Limit and State Formula for Salary, there should be a complete bar on outside employment. That will allow Commissioners to focus 100% on County business, and not create so many potential conflicts of interest.
(4) Make it easier for the citizens to petition their government. Forget this one notarization per one petition, and one page per petition bs that Natasha threw in there after her previous recall.
(5) Reshape the Commission with a mix of district seats and countywide seats. Maybe go with 9, 6 districts, and 3 countywide, or 7 districts, and 2 countywide. We need to be very careful with this and run the demographics because the Commission should be representative of the community it represents.
I think the Charter Review Commission recommended these, or variations of these in the past. Thoughts?
I can't help but get the feeling that old Norman is just trying to keep alive the charade that this whole thing is about good government. I hope he is serious about this, but I think once the recall takes place, old Norm will just throw a few crumbs at this Government Reform Issue, and fade off in to the sunset.
It would be a shame if he is coning a good civic citizen like Victor Diaz in to this Dog & Pony Show.
From the article:
"For Braman’s part, he said Tuesday that structural reform is the goal but will only come after changing the leadership in the executive office first."
WHY?
" The businessman said petition drives for charter reform measures are more difficult than recall efforts – requiring, for instance, significantly more voters to sign a petition for a referendum to be triggered."
Already making excuses for not doing it?
M
We've already seen the type of politicians Norman think will deliver Good Government... They've been all over the news lately.
While the billionaire's taking the lead on this how sad is it that he has to?
Where are the politicians who said they would improve county government?
Yesterday's meeting was a prime example of county government at it's worst, they are a dysfunctional group who can't even get parliamentary procedure correct.
All they strive to do is hinder the county staff by nitpicking and insuring their benefactors get a piece of the pie.
Attention BCC you are the problem, the layers of costs you have added to just about every item that comes before you is hurting the county.
Get over yourselves, for once!!!
Put the people's business interests first, not your cronies or just your district, share the spotlight and another thing, you don't need to speak to every issue, be efficient, if it's good policy vote yes if it is bad policy vote no and then provide a clear and concise reason.
I know that rules out Souto from ever speaking. Sorry about that.
I would get down on my knees and thank Braman if he would add one more provision to his covenant.
IMPEACH RICK SCOTT!
The Miami Herald wouldn't publish this letter to the editor.
He has taken responsibility, as the man in charge at Columbia/HCA Hospitals, for orchestrating the most expansive Medicare fraud in U.S. history. So Florida voters were on notice that Rick Scott was thief when they elected him governor in 2010.
But the depths of his depravity and cowardice was only fully revealed with Gov. Rick Scott's first proposed budget for the State of Florida. Scott carefully calculated he could assault the most helpless and vulnerable among us and suffer little or no political damage. So while the newly elected governor's budget looks out for the powerful, property owners and businesspeople, it wipes out aid to the homeless and increases the vulnerability of victims of domestic violence and rape. His budget amounts to a declaration of complete neglect of poor Floridians.
In the twisted minds of Gov. Scott's supporters, this budget reflects the "hard choices" that must be made for the sake of Florida's economy. What's hard about watching homeless people die from the comfort of a gated community and banking your property tax break? In recent years thugs around the country have proven time and again that it takes no courage to set upon and hurt homeless people. It's a shame Gov. Scott has chosen to join their ranks.
Great comments. It is nice to know ours readers value good government as much as we do. Thanks for the letter on Scott-- the Herald's loss is our gain.
I love good government too.
I also love our democratic process.
Braman should run for mayor if he wants to run the county.
Come on people, this was just a politically timed move by Batman Braman to overshadow the Mayor and the State of the County address this morning. It is pathetic that the Herald has had Braman's article up since yesterday and as of 6pm today, still no mention of the Mayor's talk.
Braman has not spent a penny on any of this charter reform, all he has done is blow a lot of hot air up our collective rear ends and he is salivating at the thought of recalling Alvarez. Maybe Braman should work together with Alvarez and this community to really cure what is wrong with us, as Alvarez has been in favor of many, if not all of the reform items talked about in the article.
What a catchy name-Covenant with the people. Whats gonna be Batman's next move? It looks like many people are continuing to get bamboozled by Batman.
The problem that at-large seats present is that they are illegal after Judge Graham's ruling Meek v Metro Dade. We would be creating seats that Black candidates would have no hope of winning. That violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
I really don't understand why people in this community are so ready to do what a rich guy tells us .... why we don't demand he become accountable and be elected, why this community has the lowest turn out on election days, why we don't care WHO we elect.... and then... let the rich guy fix it for us!!!!!!!!!! he's a dictator.
Don't insult me and my readers. That is why you were removed.
And to the person above, you are a cynic.
The number of signatures required for a charter change is the same as a recall: 4 percent. The State law recall law requires a statement of grounds, signatures of 10 percent of registered voters, verification, a new petition, and signatures of 15 percent of the voters. We're easy by comparison.
We all forget that charter reform was supported by Mayor Alvarez, it was the anti tax commissioners that voted down the suggestions presented by by the Charter Commission.
May be I am a cynic but why isn't Old Norm running for office?
I just love people who are against everything but will not sacrifice to serve their community. It is a sacrifice to serve, I know that some will cringe at that statement but I feel it's true. Everything decision you make , everything you wear, who your friends are, what your family does, all of it is open to the public. Living under this microscope is not easy. We are human unless you run for office and then you are expected to be perfect and if you are not then your are the devil!
I think recalls are a poor substitute for informed voteing at election time.
And by the way, can we recall old Norm if he doesn't help to pass the Charter Reforms with the same fervor as the recall?
I plan to vote to keep Calos Alvarez as Mayor.
Dear Anonymous: Charter change requires 10% of registered voters through the petition process. One signature per page, one witness per page and each page has to be notarized. That is why it is almost impossible to accomplish without adequate financial support. Some of these requirements are in the charter itself and some are required by ordinance. The Home Rule Charter allows the County to have its own set of rules on this issue.
Some of these comments are written by Alvarez's office.
The Braman basher's, probably (and I'm just guessing here) either from Alvarez's office or his cronies, maybe even his dearly beloved Marlins supporters, are kind of like Fred Frost and Tom David "strongly" supporting VNS for spending OUR tax dollars for pet projects and keeping her own children employed and over paid for un advertised County jobs.
I think I'm going to start using the name "Really pissed off Miami Dade County Taxpayer" soon.
HEY, ALL YOU "ELECTED" OFFICIALS IN MIAMI DADE COUNTY - start representing the will of the people, now is as good a time as EVER!
Anonymous-> Section 8.01 of the County Charter requires 4 percent of county voters to sign an amendment or ordinance referendum petition. If the circulators get 8 percent, an election is called within 120 days. Otherwise the election is set for the next County wide election.
Dear Anonymous: Amendments to the charter are governed under 9.07 of the charter. The board can, at any time, place admendments to the charter on the ballot. A petition process requires 10% of the electors registered in the County. That would be around 130,000 signatures or so. It is confusing, but go to section 9.07.
Genius! What has happened to you? It seems like every day, you continue to get a little closer to the Herald. Whatever happened to the First Amendment?
This is a blog. It is editorial. If you want unbiased news, don't read a blog. If you want to write whatever you want, go get your own blog.
Where can we find the actual document with the suggested reforms? I cant find it anywhere. Could you please post a link? Thanks.
http://www.miamidade.gov/charterreview/
Last anon ... that is not Braman's "A Covenant With The People." I highly doubt the county will be posting Braman's document on their site. Again, where can I find Braman's document? I would like to read all 8 points.
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