Friday, November 04, 2011

Proposed Home Rule Charter Changes Yesterday. by Geniusofdespair

Truthfully it was hard to figure out what they were and were not passing by watching the proceedings. Truthfully it was hard to figure out what they were and were not passing by watching the proceedings. The Miami Herald has a report today and here is what they claim:

The county panel voted 10-3 Thursday to put on the ballot a single, multi-pronged question: Should commissioners be allowed to serve only two, four-year terms instead of the unlimited tenure that exists now, be banned from all outside employment, and be paid $92,097 a year instead of their current $6,000?

They get to finish their current term...so that means someone like Lynda Bell could have 11 years in office. On the salary change, Mayor Carlos Gimenez was a voice of reason reminding Commissioners how much the people they serve make. (Read my posts yesterday on Charter Change).  I would probably vote for the above, would have to see the details. Not happy about the 8 years on their current term.

The petition changes for recalls I cited yesterday was not withdrawn it was REWORKED under a different resolution. We DO NOT want recall petitions only during GENERAL ELECTIONS. Charter petitions are okay during General Elections. This isn't clear to me. As it stands now, an election had to be scheduled for a recall within 60 and 120 days. They did in fact pass this under a different resolution (hit read more). Do not vote for this change until it is clear what the ramifications will be!!!


Here is the language I DO NOT LIKE unless it only refers to charter changes and not recall petitions but it sounds like it refers to both:
112108 Resolution     Esteban L. Bovo, Jr.        
  RESOLUTION CALLING A COUNTYWIDE SPECIAL ELECTION IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, TO BE HELD ON TUESDAY, [ ], 2012, FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUBMITTING TO THE ELECTORS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY THE QUESTION OF WHETHER TO AMEND THE CHARTER TO INCREASE FROM 60 TO 120 DAYS THE TIME ALLOWED TO CIRCULATE INITIATORY PETITIONS, AND TO PROVIDE THAT ELECTIONS TO AMEND THE CHARTER, EITHER THROUGH INITIATORY PETITIONS OR BY BOARD ACTION, BE HELD IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE NEXT SCHEDULED GENERAL ELECTION RATHER THAN WITHIN 60 TO 120 DAYS, AS CURRENTLY REQUIRED Amended
  REPORT: It was moved by Commissioner Bovo that the foregoing proposed resolution be adopted as amended. This motion was seconded by Commissioner Sosa, and upon being put to a vote, passed by a vote of 12-1, (Commissioner Jordan voted "no").

The amended version was assigned Resolution No. R-941-11
  10/18/2011 4 Day Rule Invoked by the Board of County Commissioners
11A15

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

The pay thing will not end the corruption. For example, how many spouses and kids of commissioners have county or county contract/ contractor/ zoning related jobs, or jobs with city police departments ?

The pay thing MIGHT draw a better class of rif raff ( sarcasm) who can take office without having to keep another job.

Anonymous said...

You managed to get two things wrong in your very first sentence.

The petition time and the change to general election WAS PASSED and will be on the ballot in January.

And it has NOTHING to do with recalls. It was a recommendation of the charter task force to require petitions changing the Charter go to a general election where you maximize turnout and have the greatest participation.

Read, research, then type.

Geniusofdespair said...

I read the minutes of the meeting and the paragraph mentioned yesterday was not approved.

Geniusofdespair said...

http://www.miamidade.gov/govaction/commminute.asp?cmbmeetdate=3138&file=false

Geniusofdespair said...

 It was amended:

112108 Resolution     Esteban L. Bovo, Jr.        
  RESOLUTION CALLING A COUNTYWIDE SPECIAL ELECTION IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, TO BE HELD ON TUESDAY, [ ], 2012, FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUBMITTING TO THE ELECTORS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY THE QUESTION OF WHETHER TO AMEND THE CHARTER TO INCREASE FROM 60 TO 120 DAYS THE TIME ALLOWED TO CIRCULATE INITIATORY PETITIONS, AND TO PROVIDE THAT ELECTIONS TO AMEND THE CHARTER, EITHER THROUGH INITIATORY PETITIONS OR BY BOARD ACTION, BE HELD IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE NEXT SCHEDULED GENERAL ELECTION RATHER THAN WITHIN 60 TO 120 DAYS, AS CURRENTLY REQUIRED Amended
  REPORT: It was moved by Commissioner Bovo that the foregoing proposed resolution be adopted as amended. This motion was seconded by Commissioner Sosa, and upon being put to a vote, passed by a vote of 12-1, (Commissioner Jordan voted "no").

The amended version was assigned Resolution No. R-941-11  
  10/18/2011 4 Day Rule Invoked by the Board of County Commissioners  
11A15

Anonymous said...

It sounds to me this is just for charter change petitions not ALL petitions.

Geniusofdespair said...

Is a recall petition an initiatory petition?

Geniusofdespair said...

To Read Research and Type.

Besides fuck you,

All I know is the discussion was about citizens petitions. They did not differentiate what kind in the discussion. Aren't all citizens petitions pretty much the same? I am not a lawyer, I am a citizen trying to understand what the hell they were doing. They were merging 11A13 and 11A17 and 11A19 and I looked at these to get my story this morning and guess what they made a NEW number: R-941-11

How am I suppose to follow that? Can you say categorically this R941-11 will not effect all citizen's petitions?

Anonymous said...

Can anyone tune in what I think commissioner Joe Martinez said at the end of the commission meeting. go to hour 8:17:50 listen to the last seconds

http://miamidade.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=1827

Anonymous said...

The language is misleading... we are not fools... this language allows us more time to collect signatures however, we have to wait until the next general election to vote on it?
Bobo or his staff should educate themselves more before putting this on our faces.. it really is insulting

As for outside employment.. yes... all they have to do is legally change the business to a relative's name and continue to do the work illegally.

Anonymous said...

It sure sounds like he says lets get the f-ck out of here.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like "Let's get the f-ck out of here"

Anonymous said...

There is barely a smart ethical commissioner made up of the 13 dummies currently serving.

Term Limits, and term limits that include term limiting these 13 bozos, should be approved immediately.

Anonymous said...

Sadly, WE elect those bozos.
My biggest disappointment in the last few years was the last elections. 5800+ votes cast in the entire election for District 2 ???
That was SAD.
I don't buy the excuses that "my vote doesn't matter." Or "I feel disenfranchised." I would be disenfranchised too, if I didn't vote. But I did.
It is very depressing.

Anonymous said...

The Charter is available online at:
http://www.miamidade.gov/charterreview/library/charter.pdf

The ballot item would specifically amend Article-9 General Provisions, Section 9.07, Amendments.

Article-8 is for Referendum, Initiatives, and Recall. The only change I can find to that section was the change in time from 60 to 120 days.

SERGIO said...

Dear GENIUS. This is your friend SERGIO. I agree with the proposal of changing to 120 days instead of 60 the time to collect signatures for a petition. However, I recommend we vote against the salary increases, for the following reason.
I go along with the 2 terms and the salary of $92,027 ONLY if they add language agreeing to the following:
The salary should be part of the $814,000 budget of each Commissioner, and they must agree to stop using any funds within their budget for pet projects. They should also agree to discontinue their policy of roll over their unused funds. They should be required to use the resources strictly for office expenses. Their budget should be subject to close supervision and accountability. In my opinion there is no reason for each Commissioner to have $814,000 slush fund. The requested salary, must be included in the existing budget, and stop giving away money that has nothing to do with their office expenses. That is my opinion. We should vote against the salary increase unless changes are made to the current proposal. One final point. This should be changed to the November 6,2012 National General Elections, instead of the JANUARY 31, 2012 ELECTIONS. Lets hear from your reader about these issues. Saludos. SERGIO