No one expected Mayor Gimenez would want to financially cripple the household budget of every county worker...
Mayor Carlos Gimenez must be in a Depression. The Great Recession is over, but Gimenez is still walking around under a really, really dark cloud. No matter how much he nods his head, he just can’t shake the negative thoughts. In his head, he must see everything coming to a bad end. Maybe he needs some Prozac or something. The only time he has positive thoughts is when he is sharing the stage with David Beckham or some other billionaire stadium owner. When he is with those billionaires, he is all bold and willing to raise hotel taxes and give property tax breaks worth hundreds of millions of dollars.But when it comes time to balancing the annual budget, poor old Gimenez just can’t seem to figure it out. He always says he has a budget gap, and the only way to close that gap is to hit up the workers. Like we don’t have expenses, obligations, mortgages, car payments, childcare, children in college, or sick parents? Last time I looked, I don’t have an ATM machine in my kitchen for Mayor Gimenez.
Gimenez sent a memo to the Commissioners saying he was going to reduce everyone’s pay by 10%! What is wrong with the man? Even that bonehead Rick Scott figured out the recession is over. State workers actually got a pay increase. According to the Mayor’s memo, the labor unions have not asked for anything. It makes sense that the unions didn’t ask for anything: no one in the county is expecting any pay increases. But no one expected the Mayor would want to financially cripple the household budget of every county worker.
For some reason, this Mayor thinks he can just crap on us. We do not work on the Gimenez Plantation! He wants a 10% pay cut in base pay and another series of cuts that will reduce take home pay by an additional 5-15%. Why would the elected leader of the county want to insult every employee with these crazy salary cuts? Where does all this vindictiveness come from? Why does he have such hatred for county workers?
Gimenez listed 10 other ways he was going to reach into the employees’ pockets. According to his plans, he wants to make the furlough days permanent, eliminate the floating holiday, end pay supplements, and eliminate longevity bonuses. His labor negotiators are also busy working on ways to cut $80 million from the healthcare plan. That means the 35,000 employees (County and Jackson) will be paying another $2,200 out-of-pocket for healthcare next year.
If the Mayor has any friends who care for him, it might be time to sit him down and ask him how he is doing. Maybe this job of Strong Mayor is not right for him. This is not working out for anyone. The negative outlook of the Mayor is now reflected in the county bond ratings. He is making everybody have a negative outlook. Maybe it’s time for him to just go golfing every day. If you are his friend, tell him it’s OK to resign. Really, it’s OK, Gimenez. You can go home now.
Lynda makes the arguments of all my trolls. It is fascinating, comparing the salaries of Miami which is one of the lowest paid cities in the country to County workers. then of course she brings her husband into it - who does not have a plumbing license. It is always her family with her, good at producing babies but not saving money.
Also see in the Miami Herald Today: The Gimenez administration drained $50 million in hotel-tax reserves, then used the money to replace property taxes that subsidize Zoo Miami and other parks. Now the surplus is gone and local taxpayers will have to provide the funding.
