MAYOR CARLOS A. GIMENEZ APPOINTS LESTER SOLA DIRECTOR OF MIAMI-DADE WATER AND SEWER DEPARTMENT. A case of the blind leading the blind.
How would you motivate us? What do we need to do to make you read? I am playing Words with Friends instead of writing. How many comments did I get yesterday? Not worth it frankly. I would rather watch the Walking Dead Marathon starting Friday. Is that what I should be doing with my time? I don't think many people care about the County. They would rather just let it lumber along and that is what I write about.
Anyone got a picture of Carlos Gimenez rolling his eyes? I am collecting them.
26 comments:
Trying to elicit a comment from the convicts regarding their bosses is extremely hard in this city. Basically everybody goes along and gets along as the 1 or 2% hoard all the property and money whereas the rest feel it's their duty to try to do the same. Why else would this area be number one for crimes such as drugs, pill mills, Medicare fraud, real estate fraud, etc. etc. I have lived in 24 different cities and not one even comes close to what I experience here in Miami. I do read your blog every day and hope you continue what you're doing as I believe some people still care.
People still care! You guys helped get a new county commissioner. There was a great turnout at the zoo about this insane development.
Well. with the county, the struggle continues. iIt is an on-going battle until we get some real leadership in power.
Please do not stop writing - I read everything u distribute but rarely comment - I apologize for not commenting more often. Please do not consider that a lack of interest on my part or that your many other readers and fans
Please take the time to educate us about Lester Sola many of us know so little about him and his background to deal with Water and Sewer
Thank you for your great work
Lester Sola is a nice man. No one can deny that. But does he have an engineering background? Experience in water issues? Sewage? How on earth can he lead this multimillion project?
Don't stop! We will send $!!!
Keep up the good work!
I live 3,000 miles away but worked for the County for 30+ years and read your blog every day. Why? Because like the other commenter wrote..no place can compare to this zoo. I also have lived in several other cities and it's truly a sad situation to see how the county has become. Lester Sola is perfect for this new job... a total yes man who will be loyal to the Mayor and do what he is told. He's just like all the rest of the County's executive staff.
Lester Sola is another lightweight. Worse than Bill Johnson?
The water and sewer dept is one of the most important and most f-d up. Witness the $30 billion (yes, billion) in repairs and upgrades needed. The federal lawsuit. The daily sewage spills. The challenges of climate change sea level rise to protect our fresh water for drinking. Is Sola up for it?
What happened to John Renfrow?
The level of corruption brought about by Mayor Carlos Gimenez in the last three years is beyond compare. His 29th floor office at the county building is the perfect helipad for corruptors such as Jorge Luis Lopez, Rafael Garcia Toledo, the Munilla brothers, the Ferros, Armando Gutierrez, Felix Lasarte, his own son, etc. Only in a third world city such as this does a corrupt mayor such as Gimenez flaunts his violations of Sunshine laws and bid rigging and still gets a pass from federal to state to local law enforcement authorities. This is the worst county in the entire nation.
Do not stop writing. You can have followers without even knowing. Please go to pbcgov. my commissioners would go after Labrador puppies with a cattle prods. Go to meetings everyday from Tallahassee to the Keys. You do not do it for thank yous or recognition. You Do it because you care.
One of the laziest, overpaid, and least competent county administrators. The old incompetent Burgess/Alvarez cronies, to whom George Burgess and Carlos Alvarez handed $200k jobs without competition, are now incompetent Gimenez cronies to whom Carlos Gimenez gives $200k jobs without competition.
We voted for reform and yet we got the same bullshit.
lester sola? cuz, you know, there isnt anyone in the ranks worthy of the job. Gimenez may well be even worse than Alvarez. miami the reality show.
Why is this job, Director of WASD, given to someone without going through a competitive process?!
There are MANY inside the department who would be much better for this job!
Gimenez will continue behaving this way until the people stop him!
Nothing new here folks. Gimenez is nothing but a tyrant the likes of Julius Ceasar. Experience, education and dedication to duty mean nothing to Gimenez. All that matters to be director of a major department in the county is for you to say how high when he says jump. Current examples are Alina Hudak at Public Works/Waste and J.D. Patterson at the police department. Forget about a legitimate selection process. All that matters here is how much will you allow him and his lobby friends to get away with.
The irony is Gimenez is one of the better politicians and is not corrupt. Not at least by Miami standards. Which is like saying he is the in the sanest person in the insane asylum..
As for Lester, there is a handful of bureaucrats who have run the county for the last 30 plus years I have been here and they just play musical chairs. Airport, seaport, Zoo, water and sewer.. any department with a Revenue stream useful for manipulating the budget by trusted sycophants. So it's not about hiring the most qualified administrator but about the most qualified bagman.
This one has Alina Hudak's fingerprints all over it. For some odd reason, Gimenez has allowed Hudak (aka "The Crony Queen") to call the shots on hiring department directors. What's up with that?
Love ya man
Keep up the good work don't get discouraged . You have the Giminezites sweating bullets !!
He is calling in his chits from his lobbyist friends and raising money like crazy in the hopes of buying his reelection.
Can you say Raquel ?
She is smart .. Independent .. And competent .. She would be a breadth of fresh air .
I strongly believe all lobbyists should be banned from the 29th floor
Any meetings with an administration official or the Mayor should be posted and in the sunshine (commission should follow same rules)
Contributions from any registered lobbyist AND their immediate family should limited to NO more the $100 in total for any election cycle
But bottom line is his arrogance along with all the Giminezites need to go!
Juan
why has there been no effort at a recall of gimenez; it would surely be successful. that would be a good place to start.
ted baker
I understand the musical chairs game played by Gimenez, Hudack, etc. But people, this is the Water and Sewer Department!!!! Does no one understand how serious this is?! This department will soon be awarding BIG contracts to repair and rebuild the sewage system. Millions/Billions of taxpayer and user dollars! And the person to lead this effort lacks all qualifications except that he knows how to kowtow to Gimenez and his lobbyists!
Where is Renfrow you ask? After being the last to screw up the department, he and his team all retired! They each left with a hundreds-of-thousands dollars package and each is receiving between $12K and $22K retirement a month For. The. Rest. Of. Their. Lives. They are all creating LLC's to come
Back as consultants to WASD.
as a former county employee, my respect for sola and his abilities is very low.... I never saw his step up and leader... only be contrarian and lazy.
He is a true example of a left over bureaucrat being still protected in the bubble of our previous county managers and mayors. The list is long and you just need to look to those in authority and how long they held on to their county jobs and more importantly, how many times they have been reassigned.
Lester has been put all over the place, people like the Ag Manager has not changed position but protected by hiding his salary in other department's budgets...his salary has been assigned to departments who have no idea who he is.
Why don't more taxpayers flood the mayor's office with phone calls, emails, nasty letters, etc about his hiring practices. Copy all the Commissioners and drive them all crazy until something is done. That is the only way to get them to act and address this disgusting issue. Lester Sola is so not qualified for WASD director. Get them to advertise the position and hire a search firm to bring in worthy candidates. Stop filling exec positions with insiders and clean up that cesspool.
Not sure why the fuss is starting now. Of course Sola is unqualified and has been given job after job simply because he is a buddy of George Burgess and Alina Hudak.
But his predecessor Bill Johnson was even less qualified and Johnson was notorious for his incompetence and botched projects.
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