Good to know how alert the guy is. The public must have been speaking, he is all ears for developers.
Wednesday, October 01, 2014
Picture of the day: County Commissioner Javier Souto Alert Guy. By Geniusofdespair
No that is not County Commissioner Javier Souto sitting up in his coffin. It is him sleeping on the dais in September. He is waaay past his prime and pretty much an embarrassment. But he was on the right side of the ban on fences in front yards, the ordinance Lynda Bell got repealed. That should be revisited.
Good to know how alert the guy is. The public must have been speaking, he is all ears for developers.
Good to know how alert the guy is. The public must have been speaking, he is all ears for developers.
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26 comments:
You would look like this too after a career of serving the public.
I wouldn't be sleeping. If it went that far I would resign.
Resign, Javier! Keep some dignity!
Way to trash a guy who has worked hard serving our community. Should be proud of yourself.
Thank you EOM. A picture IS worth a thousand words.
He may or may not have done a lot for his district but if he cannot stay awake, right now, today, during a public, televised meeting, he really should consider retiring. Seriously.
As he is newly reelected and thus protected for another four years, this situation is like the grown children who cannot have the reality talk with their senior parent about taking away the car keys.
Look to his senior staff - those are the people defending and propping him up. The word respect carries weight just so far until it masks decisions that harm people.
Four more years....
How dare you!
This is. Public servant who has done more for this community than anyone I can recall! No, I am not a member of his staff; I am a constituent who relies on Senator Souto for the protection and well-being of our District.
Senator larcencia Bullard was carried the same way by her staff and that of her state rep son. Half the time she was on bed rest or mentally out of the room.
Gimlet (aka Alan):
I recall seeing you doze off at a couple of SFWMD meetings up in WPB. Wish I had taken pictures of you.
For all we know this could be a split second pic of the man blinking! Don't destroy a man's reputation because of a silly picture!
Not only has he served the community honorably but he also has the one of the best constituency service I have seen in a long time. However, to be fair, anyone sitting on that dais for hours and hours listening to the lobbyists and special interests drivel on and on definitely needs a break.
Javier Souto voted YES on the $3 Billion Marlins Scam. Souto voted YES to put a $120 Mil concrete museum dedicated to Cubans on the waterfront park known as Parcel B. (Oh, the Cuban group promoting that boondoogle is flat broke.)
Do you get that Alan is not voting on anything at the South Florida water management District and Soto is voting on something and should be listening.😳
Seems to have struck a nerve. Sure, the photo could be a moment in time where this gentleman was in mid-blink. But, the truth is that it corresponds to drawn out monologues that are irrelevant to the subject at hand. It goes hand-in-hand with votes that directly oppose his statements.
I can understand defending him, I defend my grandparents even as I realize that aging has changed them and reduced their abilities. It's sad.
As a resident of district 10 I do not like more than 50% of the votes the commisioner has voted but I must say he really has taken care of district 10 and is the best protector of county parks and agriculture on the dais , and from my standpoint he has always been on top of everything going on in the district and really helps everyone . I have called his office to have my sidewalk repaired and little things in the neighborhood and turns the place upside down and makes it happen quickly so he has his defects but he has been a great commisioner for us
I don't like bullies. This article reflects the true man behind the curtain:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/15/3099688/miami-dade-county-reinstates-aide.html
Miami-Dade County reinstates aide fired by Commissioner Javier Souto over police report
Commissioner Javier Souto fired a longtime aide after she didn’t back him up when he reported an upset constituent to the police. The county attorney’s office had to settle with the aide, who is back at work — but no longer with Souto
BY PATRICIA MAZZEI
PMAZZEI@MIAMIHERALD.COM
A dispute over a traffic circle in Horse Country during a meet-and-greet held by Miami-Dade Commissioner Javier Souto resulted in a police report and the firing of Souto’s longtime aide for not backing him.
After 19 years of service, Margarita Gonzalez was terminated after refusing to support the account Souto gave police when he called them to report a constituent who he felt was verbally abusive at the event.
The constituent denies the claim.
Capping all the drama, the county has been forced to reach a legal settlement with Gonzalez, finding her a new job — at a public library — until she retires next year.
Souto, who has long been known for his impetuousness from the dais, has been left with the smallest staff among the county’s 13 commissioners. He has two employees.
The commissioner, who represents a wide swath of unincorporated West Miami-Dade, walked away from a Miami Herald reporter this week when asked about the 2-month-old incident with his former aide.
“It’s an internal matter,” Souto said, adding that he had nothing more to say. “I don’t talk about family matters — do you?”
The saga unfolded after a gathering Souto held in September at his mobile office at Concord Park. A constituent, horse breeder Diana Greenwell, complained that a traffic circle recently built by the county blocks horse trailers and other large vehicles from entering her five-acre farm in Horse Country.
She has had to pay to keep horses housed across the state because she can’t bring them onto her property, Greenwell said, and she is paying more than double for retail-priced hay because her commercial wholesaler cannot drive his trailer onto her farm anymore.
part 2
According to Greenwell, Souto would not let her finish explaining her concerns, “badgering” her, she said, as to why she was not part of a group of homeowners that apparently requested the traffic circle.
“I said, ‘Listen, I need to tell you what my issue is. May I please speak uninterrupted?’ ” Greenwell said. “And he said, ‘You are verbally abusive.’ I was just floored.”
Greenwell said she complained to two sympathetic staffers — Gonzalez and a part-timer no longer with Souto’s office — as Souto told her to take her complaint to Mayor Carlos Gimenez. The mayor’s office has not gotten back to her, Greenwell said.
She added that she was “aghast” by Souto’s response.
“I didn’t vote for him to be ruler of the fiefdom,” she said. “I don’t care if he doesn’t like my issue. He needs to hear my issue. He needs to understand what’s going on.”
Greenwell said she went to the car, where her boyfriend was waiting, and told him what had happened. The boyfriend, whom she described as a “big guy,” got out of the car but “didn’t even come within 15 yards of the commissioner.”
“The presidential debates were more heated, for God’s sake,” she said.
That’s not what Souto told a police lieutenant and the commission’s sergeant-at-arms, who arrived at the park after Greenwell had left. Greenwell found out police had been called from reporters who asked her about the incident.
According to the police report, Souto said Greenwell “became irate and began to raise her voice.” Her boyfriend, the report says, “attempted to approach [the commissioner] in an aggressive manner.”
A witness cited in the report told police that Greenwell and her boyfriend “were verbally loud and unhappy” with Souto, “but at no point made any sort of threat” toward the commissioner or his staff.
Gonzalez, Souto’s aide, does not appear in the report, which lists the incident as a “verbal dispute.”
But two days later, Souto wrote Gonzalez a letter informing her that she was being suspended without pay as a result of the incident. Souto wrote that Gonzalez, 61, witnessed “the disrespectful manner” in which a constituent addressed him.
“When I stated that you were a witness to her behavior towards me, you stated that you had heard nothing despite the fact that you were present during the conversation and were less than 5 feet away from me,” he wrote.
“Your conduct in refusing to acknowledge that you were a witness to the conversation was disrespectful to me and was untruthful. In doing so, you engaged in conduct unbecoming a County employee and conduct that was offensive to me as your supervisor.”
Three days later, Souto terminated Gonzalez’s employment. She declined to comment through her attorney, Michael A. Gonzalez.
News of the firing spread quickly among County Hall staffers and insiders, who expressed disbelief that a nearly 23-year employee — Gonzalez had previously worked for Commissioner Mary Collins — would be let go over perceived disloyalty.
But the story didn’t end there.
Gonzalez sought the legal advice of her son, an attorney. A month later, she and the county attorney’s office signed a legal settlement reinstating Gonzalez. She will be “on loan” from Souto’s office to work at the West Kendall Regional Library. Her base pay of about $88,000 will remain the same, she will receive back pay since the date Souto fired her, and she will be eligible for her longevity bonus this year.
In return, Gonzalez will voluntarily resign as of April 30, 2013. And she agreed not to sue the county over the temporary termination.
Not the rest of us. If you are satisfied with a pot-hole fixer, I feel sorry for you. That is exactly why we have such a shitty government, because men and women with no vision are in office.
That person should be forced to watch Souto at commission meeting with toothpicks holding his eyes open and he should have to memorize one of Souto's insane speeches. He would be less of a selfish bastard.
Maybe it was the "wine and cheese" that made him sleepy.
Ah, the wine and cheese! LOL.
Soooo, where was Lynda Bell?
Once in a while when he can stay focused, he's not bad. However, fixing potholes in his district while making horrible decisions for the County, when he's awake or not, is inexcusable. It's past time for him to retire. His moments of clarity voting on behalf of the people of this county have long passed.
$88,000 per year pay PLUS benefits? For an aide? Really?
Souto voted yes to the Marlins Scam.
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