Miami-Dade County Commissioner for District 7, Xavier L. Suarez, launches a campaign to collect signatures to reform the county’s Home Rule Amendment and Charter. This initiative will cap the salaries of Miami-Dade County employees at $162,200 per year. I wonder if he can get his fellow commissioners to place it on the ballot? I think his idea for a referendum is too hard for the entire county, unless you have the billions of a Norman Braman.
23 comments:
It's more than "an interesting concept", it's vital to our county economy. Way to go Commissioner Suarez!
It is vital----If he can talk his fellow commissioners to put it on the ballot or if he has enough money to mount the campaign to get the signatures.
He will get the signatures needed if the Commission won't approve it. The voters are that mad about the county hall cronyism.
Let's all contact our county commissioners and urge them to support this endeavor. Government jobs have reached an outrageous high. And please don't respond that police and firefighters put their lives in the line, I am not referring to them. It is the Administrative Assistants, the clerks, the top floor of WASD's Douglas Building. The many who go from "Assistant to the Director" to "Assistant Director" in their last years to raise their retirement.
Did anyone out there gag when they read that retiring Bill Johnson left with. $900+K package and $14,000K monthly retirement for-the-rest-of-his-life?!!
The man is only 60 years of age. He could be receiving this amount monthly for the next 30 years. There are many, 55 and 60 leaving the county with similar packages. No government can afford that.
Eager to see how this is possible, given the collective bargaining agreements that the County is contractually bound to with police, fire, Transit workers, etc…
This is just a ruse to gain some media.
M
We need this. Carlos Gimenez was supposed to reduce pay and benefits but he failed. Maybe Gimenez was too tied to his fire union but either way he failed. Public sector pay and Defined Benefit Pension Plans will bankrupt the private sector. Good for Xavier.
The pension plan is through the state. The Florida Retirement System, FRS, has investments that are the envy of the entire nation and is healthy. It's not bankrupting the county.
I wish I still worked for the County and could look forward to a comfortable retirement after 30 years. For the rest of us, a meager social security check.
I'd vote for it because we will have to spin off the airport, seaport, police department, fire department, and re-establish the water and sewer authority since the county will be out of the running for top administrators. The ultimate outsourcing opportunity, so go for it!
This is just a gimmick to appeal to the angry abuelita vote. If he wants to go after waste and corruption, he know where to look and who to expose.
I like the idea, but I feel there should be an increase/decrease clause (in relation to inflation). It is almost never popular to give public employees raises.
It may not be a problem for the next twenty years, but I would love if our leaders began thinking a bit ahead of the current voter generation.
Example : County Commissioners getting paid "$5,000" which they then add various packages and benefits to artificially inflate the salary. Just future proof it...
To the anonomous who wishes he/she still worked for the county
"wish I still worked for the County and could look forward to a comfortable retirement after 30 years. For the rest of us, a meager social security check. "
Didn't you save money for the future? Defer gratification today in order to protect your retirement?
Didn't anyone suggest to start when you were in high school so then the money escalates and works for you.
Try getting rid of cable, growing your own veggies and herbs, cooking at home, carpooling, selling on Ebay, gasing up at Costco or BJs, mowing your neighbor's lawn, walking the neighbor's dog.
That's what it takes to earn a little but save a lot.
Or you can just jealously grouse at what you think the majority of "others" have when in actuality it only the top layers who are well compensated.
I was thinking I should also start collecting cans and bottles along the railroad tracks. Or selling my blood. Maybe adopting a lawn grass diet, with an occasional doodle bug for protein.
. Lol. I'm definitely thinking of moving out of Miami.
See ya.
"wish I still worked for the County and could look forward to a comfortable retirement after 30 years. For the rest of us, a meager social security check. "
A 30 year County employee would earn just 45% of their average final compensation. That really isn't that much folks. Learn a little something about FRS before you get crazy.
The proposal is for limited SALARIES. there are no cops firefighters knocking down a buck and a half, they are all hourly. . Some hourly workers put in over 2,500 plus hours and reach six figure but this isn't aimed a them. This is aimed at the well connected, commonly called the friends and family plan. (ie county attorney) Ironically most of these connected people haven't worked a billable 2000 year in decades.
The proposal is for limited SALARIES. there are no cops firefighters knocking down a buck and a half, they are all hourly. . Some hourly workers put in over 2,500 plus hours and reach six figure but this isn't aimed a them. This is aimed at the well connected, commonly called the friends and family plan. (ie county attorney) Ironically most of these connected people haven't worked a billable 2000 year in decades.
There s plenty of talk about individual's retirement plans and what they are worth....... the real issue that no one has addressed nor asked is what does it save the county in its budget:
1) If all current employees over a specific threshold took the immediate pay cut?
a) What would be the effect on the current workforce if immediate cuts happen?
2) Will there be a deterioration of quality of life in our community services, because we are reducing salaries and very possibly quality and experienced staff ? Engineers (think safety) , attorneys (think legal), etc / i.e. medical doctors, economist, accountants, financial managers and housing and urban planners!!!!!
There are the same questions even if you phases it in over what period! What is the saving and what is the cost?
Remember we current limit the salary of our Commissioners and you see what you get! if we would pay our commissioners maybe we could eventually get real professionals with valuable experiences ........ creative broad minded people that think about improving the quality of lives of its citizens.
I believe if we raise the salary (over a period of time) to that group of 13 people; we will more than raise the quality of our leadership.
It not how much money....it's what our money buys for us!
Cheap leadership is cheap leadership
Actually, I think it's great that county employees get a good retirement and earn a living wage. Everyone and every employer in the community should follow county guidelines and employee protections. The reason the middle class is lost and young people can't find decent full time jobs with benefits is because employers are exploiting workers, hoarding cash and hiring temps. . Meanwhile, corporations are enjoying tax loopholes and gift subsidies. In Miami developers of luxury malls and multi million condos get tax incentives and give subsidies. Lobbyists get richer. And the working poor - the rest of us- struggle to pay road tolls and rising rents and insurance.
Florida is a bleak place for steady, decent jobs. Don't expect to retire on much if you work in this State. On the upside, maybe you could catch your dinner in a fetid canal.
Thanks Rick Scott and the GOP-controlled legislature. Your policies are working. Not.
http://www.saintpetersblog.com/archives/177852
Average Median Income in Miami-Dade County for a single man is $29,000. Average pay and benefit cost for a Miami-Dade County employee to the taxpayers is $90,000+. Fire and Police and Attorneys average far more. Many County employees sleep during their shifts. I have photos.
Every time the "List" gets into the conversation we hear the same comments- I sounds to me a lot like communism - let's not let anybody have anything! we should all be destitute. For what I've been able to find out through my research, if the County Commission or the County Mayor wanted to change the way the county employee salaries escalate to the point that so many find offensive, they can fix it! - But it takes work, there is a document- The Pay Plan - where all the positions and salaries are listed, this is a document that can be amended and take care of whatever caps they's like to have on positions - you don't have to go through a petition drive for that, just fix it! - I've also found out that although there are some that make high salaries there are county employees that receive food stamps - this can only happen when you don't make enough money to support your family. The pension? It's a State managed fund and is one the healthiest in the entire country. By the way, I also spoke to a Publix employee this week - who will retire with a nice pension, started as a bag boy and now manages a store.
Suarez is such a cheap politician. If he had an ability to legislate, he has the power to deal with public salaries at any time. The County Commission approves a Pay Plan every year with its budget. Suarez votes for it without reading a single page. Being a lazy commissioner, unwilling to actually understand the compensation schedules for 35,000 public employees, is no excuse. Taking this matter to the voters with a petition drive is just low-ball politics. I used to admire the guy as a public servant with a soul and a high IQ, but he is acting like a mental midget, trolling for cheap votes from easily stoked elderly voters. His petition covers all county employees, so if it passes, look for the entire leadership at Jackson Memorial Hospital, the Medical Examiner's office, the County Attorneys, and the Finance office who handle billions of your public dollars to resign. "Stupid is as stupid does." Suarez should withdraw this petition and try and introduce policies that actually produce smart changes in the compensation system. But that would be work. Lazy and pathetic, I will X the X from any future public office he seeks.
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