Friday, May 20, 2016

Will The Strong Mayor Form of Government Die on the Ballot? By Geniusofdespair




On May 18th, Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, District 6, had a sunshine meeting with Esteban L. Bovo, Jr., Vice Chairman and Commissioner Juan C. Zapata, of District 11, to discuss legislation going on the election ballot.  I believe they specifically discussed the Strong Mayor form of Government. Before the last charter change supported by Mayor Carlos Alvarez, we had an executive Mayor form of Government. Alex Penelas was an Executive Mayor.

I believe the charter change proposal on the Strong Mayor form of government is going to be heard by the Strategic Planning and Government Operations Committee June 14th. If they move fast enough, and it is approved by the full Commission in a future vote,  it would then go on the ballot in November,  to be voted up or down by the voters.  I would hope it would be retroactive so if the Mayor is elected in August he/she would have to abide by it, but the Commission is not big on retroactive stuff. They would probably make it effective with the new Mayor. That would be crappy.

This didn't have to happen, but Carlos Gimenez's tyrannical reign over Miami Dade County forced us into this move. Everyone now realizes Mayor Gimenez just has too much power. I originally supported the strong mayor proposal when the Commission was more evil (Natacha Seijas), now the Mayor is the tyrant.  As the HOME RULE CHARTER says now:
The Mayor shall serve as head of the county government. 

The Mayor would also serve as the County Manager. The strong-mayor form of mayor–commission government usually consists of an executive branch, a mayor elected by voters, and a Commission as the legislative branch.

If it were an Executive Mayor:
An Executive Mayor and the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners (BCC) govern the County. The County Departments would be run by a County Manager. The County Manager could be fired by the Mayor or a majority of the County Commission.

In other words, the Executive Mayor would have veto authority over the Commission and propose the County Budget. A professional County Manager or "County Administrator" would handle personnel decisions and implement the policy directives of the Board.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

In this case, I think it would serve the commission well to make it effective immediately after the 2016 mayoral election. The voters are so mad right now, it would easily pass. To give Gimenez four more years of public money/land/job to insider giveaways is just too much. No more!

Anonymous said...

can we stop the subterfuge and pay these people in bananas already?

Anonymous said...

Rebeca Sosa shows courage and leadership to address something that has gone terribly wrong. Thank you Commissionrt Sosa.

Anonymous said...

OK, I can't stand Our Supreme Leader, Carlos Gimenez. He is a smug jerk who is, on his best day, a mediocre manager.

I also can't stand having no one accountable.

This is nothing more than a power grab by commissioners who want more control over the county purse strings. It's all about contracts, contracts, contracts.

You are fooling yourselves if you think reverting to the previous system will be better. It will just divvy up the pie a little more equitably.

We need to finally have a true strong mayor. What we have now is still a hybrid system.

Anonymous said...

last anon-- maybe when/if Trump loses, he'll be available; failing that, you seem to want a Batista--we have plenty of them--regardless of the system

Anonymous said...

Courage? She walked out of a meeting prior to a vote on Levine-Cava's request to identify who is soliciting for a political committee.

That's called cowardice. Have you noticed the Mayor gets all of the donations for campaigns now, the pigs want back in the trough. That's what this is all about. They are now second fiddle.

Anonymous said...

I would vote against the strong mayor format of government tomorrow if it were put on a ballot. Poll the 26,000 county employees who see the disasters their departments have become and they wil tell you that Gimenez's county department mergers have served only to create confusion and resulted in little or no savings to the county. On the meantime you can go down the line of contributors from Gimenez's campaign account and PACs and match with certainty the same recurring companies that secure the juiciest county contracts. Gimenez has been a huge failure and will give us four more years of the same medicine if reelected. Giving a single person such power has resulted in nothing but tyranny where only those who lick Gimenez's boots are able to succeed in business in this county.

meow said...

Ahhh... don't forget... Becky is in her last term as Commish (term limits, remember). Maybe she plans to run for Mayor when the time comes and is building support??

Anonymous said...

I do not think you can mix politics with good managmen. I vote against a strong mayor in a second.
The man how runs the mayor and making tons of money is his driver, Ralph Toladi Garcia.

He is making millions if dollars selling access to the mayor.

Anonymous said...

This experiment in electing a benevolent dictator has run its course. Even though Gimenez rode into office as an former administrator, he has been completely corrupted by the political power of the office. Everything he does is seen through the eyes of his fundraising operations. Money talks, and Gimenez has become a great listener. If he was truly strong, he would have been able to resist the temptations of catering to money...but ultimately he is a weak soul, browbeaten at home and whipped by money at the office.

Anonymous said...

George Burgess was a crook. He lied to Commissioners as he conned them into diverting over $3 Billion from the taxpayers to the Marlins.