Mayor Gimenez is banking on $135,000,000 in Employee Concessions, Service and Revenue Adjustments of $163,000,000 and an FRS rate adjustment of $111,000,000. Those three add up to $409,000,000 and wollah! We have a balanced budget!
Quick look: 3 positions gone from Ethics and Public Trust. Positions in Elections, Inspector General and Human Resources seem stable. Sustainability is losing 1 of 6 positions. Recreation & Culture is hit hard. Public Service is going from 506 to 344 positions and Support Services from 68 to 46. I think that is the library but what do I know about reading budgets. Go look for yourself to see if you still have a job.
25 comments:
Mayor wiped out the Agricultural Manager. Also looks like he assumes the unions will accept the concessions. He eliminates 2 fire boats and all the positions associated with them. I think he started a fire. Good work Mr Mayor. Get ready for the sh*& to hit the fan.
hahahaha blogspot should have a "Like" button. LIKE Anon Above-hit the nail right on the head!
Shouldn't Gimenez be thanking the Governor and the Republican legislature? They put the $111 million on the table, right? Maybe that vote for Sink wasn't the right call after all.
The Agricultural community get ready with your tractors,plows,
sprayers, nursery carts, tractor trailers, farm labor buses to stampede city hall for the now, dim wit mayor to realize the 2nd largest $ industry in the county
wont be excluded in his budget.
The Mayor has never professed to know anything about agriculture, and his votes have shown that. It is a shame or a sham, not sure which one. I like his budget tough!
The Ag Manager was something Alvarez put in to place. He's done a good job, when lobbyists have left him alone. However, he was at Bell's side bashing DERM, Katy Edwards/Farm Bureau ally in making some very serious changes to our master plan, which should not have even come to see the day of light and of course, Schneby as well.
One day, I hope the majority of the County will realize the importance of our Ag area, and it's more than just "holding the line". Hopefully, some of it will still be left in the next decade!
Urban Planning is great, but not understanding one of our richest natural resources - our Ag Area will be a huge loss to all of us.
All the tractors and pitchforks in the world will not save the ag manager. No one in the downtown power circle cares anything about ag except the potential for the land it sits on to be developed. The Ag Manager is a good guy and honest , I know this because he has pissed off many high level staffers and bureaucrats with his knowledge and failure to put up with any bullsnot.
This Ag mgr. was a toad for the farm bureau and now for Linda Bell. I say good riddance.
Did you notice the commission chair's budget was almost cut in half? Joe must be fuming.
I betcha the Ag Manager gets a position with Vision Council...maybe even replacing the current director. He is on the friends and family plan with the person who controls Vision Council. So, Dennis when you get summned to the inner sanctum on Biscayne Drive, be prepared.
I think more could have been cut from the County Commission....I hope they're paying attention. I would also hope (dreaming) they'd give up at least 1/2 of their slush funds, and what they didn't use during the year would go into the general funds, instead of carrying over. That would show good faith - but heck,I'm just one of those footing the bills for their train wrecks!
GREAT Work Mayor Gimenez. Anyone that supports Bell's idea is flawed. The farmers do not need the AG post. The farmers have been farming for years without this beaurcrat. Save the money and give it to the farmers as an incentive to improve and upgrade techniques and modernize the industry.
Mayor Gimenez is banking on more than $100 million in VOLUNTARY employee concessions from the unions. How absurd is that? They will all say no. There are 10 unions and none of them will be the first to agree to a steep cut just to fulfill Gimenez's campaign promise.
So what is the endgame? What if the BCC approves his low millage rate and, as expected, the unions balk at steep voluntary cuts?
Personally, I don't believe Gimenez's real budget has been introduced. This budget was a stall tactic. I think the real Gimenez budget comes in September in a heavily amended version.
Personnly I think he's the same shit that we've had, nothing changes! Long live the Banana Republic!!!!
2 anons above: You are probably right but think about the PR problem Gimenez created for the unions. If they force a showdown, which is likely, then Gimenez has to lay off workers in much larger numbers.
I would bet Gimenez would have no problem using his emergency powers to avoid the carry over union contracts. The bad news for Gimenez is that the commission will not have the same intestinal fortitude and he may not get the votes even to roll back the rate. He is definitely facing problems with the cuts to social programs.
In the end, he could lose union support, his liberal base, the Braman block and, along with them, the next election.
If he stays on track, though, lots of conservatives may reward him.
If the Unions don't want to sacrifice for the good of the entire county, well, I say start laying off Union personnel to get the figure where it needs to be. Have a job and give a little or lose a job and join the ranks of the 10%+ population in the County. I'm sick of feeding Union coffers. If they didn't politic so much I'd be sympathetic, but basically, you're using my tax dollars to pay Union dues, who back candidates I don't support. Cry me a river and then you can swim in it without a paddle!
I am so disappointed with this budget. The so-called "cronies," who are the highly paid appointed executives at the top, were left almost completely untouched. The 1,300 positions proposed for elimination are almost all low-level employees. Like the George Burgess budgets of the past, this budget just seems to be another edition of the same old crony-protection program. Gimenez needs to start by cutting the administrative fat at the top, not the little guys who do the actual work at the bottom.
Gimenez didn't have time to consolidate the departments and get rid of high level staff. Give him a break for crying out loud.
The changes in senior staff and the departments will be done over time, which is eminently fairer than just chopping off heads.
There are many serious and competent people that keep the county from careening into the ditch. They suffer with far too many managers who would be fired instantly in the private world.
Separating these two will take time.
Nothing will change as long as Gimenez keeps Jennifer Glazer Moon as his budget director.
How crazy is it that Glazer Moon, the budget person who put us in this financial mess under Alvarez is staying onboard and advising Gimenez?
The funny part of all this budget mess is that nobody really knows how we got into this giant budget gap. The first reason is that the current and past commissioners approved all union contracts year after year even if we could not afford them when they voted for these contracts and they did this for more union votes and manpower to get voters to the polls to get elected or re-elected. Now these same whores who screwed us with these sweetheart contracts sit at county hall like gods with unlimited funds which are just giant slush funds that each commissioner gets as soon as they get elected. Hey thats our money not theirs. Maybe I can get Martinez and Diaz to show me how I can get sweetheart deals on homes and no show jobs or Barreito who has connections with the real power people behind the Giant Billboad signs. To think these low lifes are our community leaders, no wonder we are broke!!!
Gimenez was not a team player as a commissioner, GREAT NEWS!! Either the unions will take the offer or layoffs will be the alternative.
All senior staff will be evaluated unlike the usual start all over again strategy which is what is being pushed by a few comments.
Get the budget out, listen to the BCC and do what a REFORMER would do. If that means unloading some pencil pushers and bureaucrats he will do it. I don't think Gimenez has tolerance for the sacred cows, not at this time. Remember he wants to run again.
Gimenez made a dumb move by hiring a new staffer $225,000 per year. Giminez needs to bring down pay and benefits 35% or more.
We have two libraries within a few miles of each other in West Kendall. This makes no sense. I was furious when I saw the second one going up.
Gimenez is blowing it. Is he the return of Carlos Alvarez?
Remember that Chip is not going to replace Burgess and the mayor took a pay cut.
the concessions on one page total 230M not 135M. The shortfall is being balanced on the backs of the rank and file. Lets fire them and brong in more heavy hitters at $225k+. My bet is we will have 5 deputy mayors.
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