As a chronicler of Miami's chronic deficits, I can't quibble with Forbes Magazine's new designation of Miami as America's most miserable city. The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce has more goo to wipe off its shoes in the sand. (The Chamber might want to look into putting goo removal dispensers next to the glass of water when the board meets.) And what about the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation whose leadership long professed to invest wisely in charitable causes to promote the city's cultural and social development.
Forbes looked at "10 factors for the 200 largest metro areas and divisions in the U.S. Some are serious, like violent crime, unemployment rates, foreclosures, taxes (income and property), home prices and political corruption." Ah, that.
Forbes notes, "A whopping 364,000 properties in the Miami area have entered the foreclosure process since 2008, according to RealtyTrac. The number of foreclosure filings slowed in Miami and across the country last year, but the housing market is far from a comeback."
And still, the Miami Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) and its lobbyist-studded cast of directors is moving to put infrastructure in place for more crappy subdivisions to be built by the nomenklatura. By that metric, Miami Dade excels.
The horrendous deal-- approved by county commissioners like Joe Martinez-- for the Marlins Stadium is duly noted. And Joe Martinez believes he can be elected Miami Dade Mayor.
The only good piece of news for the day: the Florida legislature may not be able to summon the political will to approve full scale gambling for Miami. The measure pushed by one of Miami's challenged politicians, Erik Fresen who is also head of the county GOP, may not make it out of committee. On a day of bad news, that would be a ray of sunshine.
5 comments:
Disgraced ex-mayors Carlos Alvarez and Manny Diaz acted like paid lobbyists for the Marlins as they forced the taxpayers to pay at least $3 BILLION for the Marlins Stadium and Garage. Yes, debt service must be included in the costs.
No wonder Forbes considers Miami a joke.
Duh. Lobbyists elected a Carlos Alvarez and a Manny Diaz...
It’s not only Forbes that considers Miami a joke. Miami's reputation is worldwide. I hear all the time from overseas visitors and when I travel.
The main reason I hear is political corruption! It is so over the top in Miami-Dade County and its environs that it has become a way of life. People have grown accustomed to dealing in corruption as a way to survive: churches, businesses, schools and any other place you can think of. Yet, we talk about it and nobody even tries to do anything about it.
Politics, if we can call it that, are conducted as no place else in the country, except maybe Bell, California. The people who pretend to serve have no idea what politics are about. In Miami, they make up the rules as they along. There is no set procedure.
In the County we have 13 little ethnic fiefdoms that fight against each other and nobody is looking at the County as a whole. In other words, how does what goes on in each of those fiefdoms affect the others and, Miami as a whole. They don't even have enough sense to understand that.
Where else in the country do we have so many commissioners? A body that large becomes unwieldy to operate and always bring problems. Los Angeles County, with a population of almost 4million has five members on the County Board of Supervisors. And we have 13? How much sense does that make?
And look at our so-called leaders. Where did they come from? What are their life experiences? Their education? Where did they work before going into elected office? What are their backgrounds? They are never vetted and we run to the polls (13% of us) to vote these under-investigated, uninformed people into office to lead us without knowing anything about them and, once they get in, they think they own it.
And it’s not only the County. It is every city council, school board and anywhere else we find elected officials in Miami-Dade County. The county sets the standards and they follow.
And so it goes!
How can we change it? That is a question for another forum, if the meager number of those of us who care ever get together and begin the long process of returning our communities to the people. It did not become corrupt overnight, and it will not be changed overnight. But we should at least begin the process because, if we don’t, we will be leaving our children a legacy which will make our forefathers turn over in their graves.
it is obvious that in today's world,we are in a "Hate All Politicians" frame of mind. I don't believe all of them are bad or corrupt, but the media is out to destroy all politicians. The perception of them is very negative.
Gim/Gen,
LOVE the lobbyist cards!
But what are the real legal jail-time risks for Miami's politicians? Guessing that's why so much falls through the cracks.
Some major re-org of Miami-Dade's government is long overdue. Easier said than done, so just tell us where to send the $$ or for whom we should vote!
Eyeofwisdom
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