For months, there have been whispers about a possible recall of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Tainted Boy” Gimenez, who was 
put in the county’s top position through the recall of his predecessor Carlos Alvarez.
This week, the firefighter father of one of the young men killed in a boating accident on the Fourth of July said he was going to actually start the process.
My first reaction was where do I sign? I told Captain Jack Garcia to send Ladra 100 petitions. I can get those signed, too.
And, while my heart goes out to him, it’s not just because of the his tragedy. The death of his son certainly gives the recall effort an emotional angle. And Garcia’s grief-stricken drive could give it the fire it needs.
“I’m not a bullshit guy. I’m not a politician,” Garcia told Ladra. “I realize this is a David and Goliath situation, but we all know how that panned out.”
Especially since this David only needs about 50,000 signatures or so. Let’s say 60,000. We got 114,000 against Alvarez, if I recall correctly. I think Gimenez will be easier, even without a benefactor like car mogul Norman Braman behind the effort. After all there are about 20,000 employees or so — excluding the top tier of six-figure executives — and their immediate families to start with. That could be your quota right there. You might not even need to go after the signature of voters at the polls in November, but you could probably double your number there.
“This guy has burned every bridge he ever built. Even Chip Iglesias bailed on him,” Garcia said, referring to the mayor’s longtime right hand man and confidante who resigned recently to take a job with a lobbying firm. “They’re bailing on him every day.”
There is widespread support for a recall on Gimenez.”We like the idea,” said PBA President John Rivera. With the police department alone, we got nearly 6,000 employees, retirees and their family members who will not just sign but go out and collect signatures. Volunteer petitioners.
“Hes’ not going to govern under threat of recall,” the mayor’s spokesman, Michael Hernandez, told CBS4, which broke the story. “He feels he has done what is in the best interest of the county.”
Yeah, like not funding the fire boat to spite the union, despite pleas from the community in the wake of the tragedy, is in the best interest of the community. That is just the latest in a long list of reasons that make this mayor much more recallable than the last one ever was.
Gimenez decimated the police department, threatened to shut down libraries, cut out fire rescue paramedic services, made the 29th floor a paradise for lobbyists and special interests, gave away the farm to the Miami Heat for the arena deal, gave away millions of our tax dollars to Miami Dolphins’ billionaire owner Stephen Ross to mak
e improvements to his privately-owned stadium, gives millions more to cruise companies and art galleries, refused to respect to the 64% vote of the people on the Pet’s Trust Initiative, awarded a $4 million contract to the company that hired his son, had countless of bid protests and problems due to the undue influence of his friends and what else? Oh, yeah, took a much-needed vacation to Paris and Rome, where he saw the Pope with his favorite lobbyists Jorge Luis Lopez.
Prohibido Callarse host Roberto Rodriguez-Tejera baptized him Carlos II, like the second king of the county, and it has stuck.
The former mayor was recalled for giving his cronies raises and the Miami Marlins stadium boondoggle. But since Gimenez was elected, he’s had a far bigger dirty laundry list of sins committed on the public. The fireboat es el colmo ya, but like I said, people had been whispering about a recall campaign for months.
And for any politicians who may want to run against him in 2016, it would certainly be easier to run in an off year after he is recalled by a low turnout of motivated voters than it would be to beat the incumbent arrogant tyrant with millions of dollars in a presidential year election.
But let’s say the recall is a given. Then what? Might we not end up with Carlos III.
There needs to be a parallel campaign to repeal the strong mayor form of government. Gimenez 
would be expected to campaign against a recall, and use his million dollar PAC and the deep pockets of all those in his friends and family plan that benefit from him being in charge.
But how could he, the onetime “great reformer” on the dais, fight a grassroots movement to put a referendum on the ballot that would repeal the strong mayor? Especially since he has advocated for that himself — of course, when he wasn’t mayor — as commissioner on the charter review committee and later on the 2011 campaign trail.-
“The way he viewed it then is that you run the risk of electing the kind of person who wouldn’t move the county forward,” Hernandez told Ladra. “Back then, he didn’t believe in putting that kind of power into one person.”
Reminds me of a recurring Mel Brooks line in History of the World Part I: “It’s good to be the king.”
Y ahora? What made Gimenez change his mind? Hernandez (and this is why he answers rather than the mayor) couldn’t say exactly even if he had changed his mind. He said that Gimenez had cut top staff and divided functions to five deputy mayors. “It’s a cost savings because we aren’t paying George Burgess and 13 assistant managers,” he said, referring to the former county manager, “and we’re not paying the deputy mayors anywhere near as much as we were paying him.”
“Voters had their voice heard and voted overwhelmingly in favor of the strong mayor initiative. The mayor is proceeding with the path that the voters wanted,” Hernandez said.
“This is the form of government we have now,” he added.
Well, for now maybe.
Because after speaking to many community activists and the stakeholders — librarians, union leaders and just people like Ladra who are can’t believe they fell for it and voted for him the first time — there’s as much or more support for the repeal of the strong mayor measure than there is for a recall.
And Gimenez would be hard pressed to fight this campaign with is vast PAC funds. Not only because he’s advocated for the very same thing. But also because it just doesn’t look good for him to go all out on such a movement. It would be perceived as a king trying to protect his kingdom — which would immediately provide the recall campaign with fodder for mailers and robocalls.
Ladra believes we that the voters will want to end not just this tyranny, but all future tyrannies.
We should recall both the mayor and the strong mayor, Mr. Garcia. Call me.
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Congratulations Elaine. Please follow up on this story. This grass roots effort to unseat Gimenez and the monopoly of a strong mayor would succed if properly organized. You have just listed a long platform of abuses that justify his recall but failed to mention Gimenez’s absentee ballot fraud campaign of 2012. That election should have been overturned. Please, give us a telephone number, email address, website, Facebook page or any other information that may help us contact this fine gentleman to support his cause. Also, the county unions and every democratic philantrophist in this county should support this effort. We need an administrator not a tyrant to lead this county.
Facebook – Recall Major Carlos Gimenez
My condolences to Captain Jack Garcia. There is an old saying, “If you are going to raise your sword up, you better kill the king.” He needs to make sure that he does this right. First, he needs to have a petition drafted that is legal. Harvey Ruvin is given the task of approving the recall petition as to form. The unions and Pets’ Trust screwed up because they didn’t do the form right. The easiest thing to do? Get a copy of the form approved for Carlos Alvarez and just change “Alvarez” to “Gimenez” where it appears. Second, he’ll need 4 percent of the signatures of the total voters registered on the day that Harvey approves the petition as to form. As of June 30, 2014, there were 1,283,777 registered voters, so 4 percent equals 51,352. These have to be valid signatures, so figure at least 75,000 would have to be filed. Vanessa Brito fell short on her petition drive against Bruno Barriero and she just phoned it in on her aborted attempt in Doral, turning in photocopies of petitions hoping the Elections Department would not notice. The signatures have to be canvassed at a cost of 10 cents each. (This is a hard cost that can’t be waived because of poverty.) Upon certification of the proper number of signatures, the Commission must call an election not less than 45 nor
more than 90 days. (This is something that the Mayor can’t veto.) Then figure you’ll need about a quarter of a million to wage a campaign to recall the Mayor. A shorter schedule will benefit the Mayor, a longer one will allow the recall committee to marshal their forces and gather cash. Gimenez will just get on Brian Goldmeier to start hitting up the downtown lobbyists and lawyers, and the developers and county contractors to pony up. Jorge Luis Lopez will lead the charge against it. Good luck, Captain Jack. But now you have been forewarned.
Nothing like positive thinking… and proactive, yes-we-can attitude. Get out of our sight. Either lead, follow, or get the hell out the way. And if you are so knowledgeable, why the hell don’t you help. Love armchair quarterbacks…
Has anyone done the math on the salaries of (5) deputy mayors vs (1) county manager?
A complete waste of time…..the mayor will be on the ballot in 2016. If you don’t like him or want to recall him then have at it. But if you think that taxes payers are going to warm up to the idea of conducting two elections at a cost of $5 million per, you got another thing coming.
If the goal is to honor the death of his son, then advocate that the boats are fully funded. That I believe will make his son death not in vain.
Recalling Mayor Carlos Gimenez is not a “waste of time” but a necessary expense to bring about honest and moral government to Miiami Dade County. To say that the cost of a recall election is cause enough not to pursue it is akin to giving a nod and a wink to the corruptive form of government that has been instituted by Gimenez in the two years he has been in office. If the cost of an election is reason enough not to recall Gimenez then perhaps the FBI should not have spent millions investigating Michael Pizzi, Manny Marono, Steve Bateman, Julio Robaina, etc. We support those investigations and the expense they incur for the right to honest government. Recalling Gimenez is no different.
In the two years Gimenez has been in office he has abused the strong mayor format that was voted on by Miami Dade county citizens in many aspects. Whereas former Mayor Carlos Alvarez was recalled for his involvement in the Martlins stadium sweetheart deal and his knack for letting Chief of Staff Dennis Morales run amock, our current Mayor Carlos Gimenez was elected to office with millions of dollars from the Dolphin organization and the powerful lobbying industry. Since he took over the role of mayor Carlos Gimenez tricked the public into thinking he was saving them monies by shrinking government and annihilating the work force. Today the cost of running 26 departments is higher than it was to run 52 three years ago. In Gimenez’s administration lobbyists, consultants and out of state contractors are sucking our coffers dry. The mayor’s influential friend Jorge Luis Lopez has the keys to the candy store to rape and pillage our tax dollars and to push agendas for the Dolphins, Heat and a soccer stadium. The damage done by Gimenez is quite lengthy and it will take sometime before it is undone however, we can make a difference by removing him from office, ridding ourselves of the strong mayor noose and bringing sensible government back to our county.
Sir get your facts straight….
As far as I am concerned investigating and indicting me and my husband was a huge waste of time and taxpayer money. Another point the indictment was NOT related to my husband’s administration I am tried of everyone lumping us in with people that were arrested for corruption. Julio Robaina was not charged with any wrongdoing as Mayor. Then after investigating OUR ENTIRE LIVES the Feds could not find anything so they had to justify the time and taxpayer money wasted with an indictment and that’s why they lost the case because they had nothing…
But what they did do was create a cloud during the election and if I recall most if not all the unions were on the Carlos Gimenez bandwagon he was the savior come to save us from Julio Robaina. All of our supporters KNEW who Mr. Gimenez was including some that worked in the County, they warned you guys NOT to vote for him because they knew what he was about. He didn’t just become arrogant he always was. He looked down at Hialeah but had zero trouble with getting help from them when he needed it. He always knew it was good to be king because he always thought he was….. And while I commend Elaine for finally taking her blinders off maybe if she focused a little more on her “Golden Boy” she would have known that he didn’t change he was and is exactly the same as he has been. As Mr. Grimm from the Herald said Miami Dade County was lucky that they elected Gimenez, you guys wanted him “ahorra que se lo coman con ketchu” !!!
Michael Hernandez is so far over his head on some of the topics he addresses for King Carlos II, that he almost sounds juvenile in his responses.
Niñito de Teta, step aside, the adults are speaking now and they want your daddy gone. Go tell papi we said so.
Captain Jack, the community is behind you. Unfortunately sometimes bad things happen in order for other good things to occur. You son was not lost in vain.
Ladra, keep on this!!!! Even Braman can’t save him now.
I’m sure if all chipped in we will have more than enough money to finance this recall ! But I don’t think money will be a factor this time ! It’s about what’s right ! And I want to believe that had that vessel been in water that day it would have most likely saved the lives of one if not all ! But we will never know ! What we do know is that the vessels were not in service due to the Mayors ‘ I do what I want mentality’ and for that he will have to live with the consequences of his actions and know in the back of his mind that his decision possibly cost the lives of 4 innocent people! When you are given the responsibility to lead you must do so with respect ! Cause once you loose respect for your workforce and community you simply just loose! It hurt me to loose King James but I will not loose sleep over losing ‘King Gimenez ‘ and it really don’t think you were ever worthy of being called a king !
I think 5mil is money well spent fir the county considering all the mismanagement that has occurred on his wTch by him. He is more of a crook than Carlos Alvarez ever was!!
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Is this what we’re going to do now? Elect, recall, elect recall? The question we should be asking is why Miami-Dade voters CAN’T EVER SEEM TO GET IT RIGHT. I highly doubt they ever will.
The day voters start taking their responsibility seriously is the day this vicious cycle will end. We need to do our homework, research the candidates, and elect intelligent, honorable representatives. We can’t rely on advice from the Herald or other publications… Everyone in this city owes someone a favor. People run for positions knowing they are not qualified, but can buy the election by stalking absentee voters. It’s an embarrassment to democracy.
This gives us hope.
Thanks Ladra.= Where I sign, keep this other “Carlos” wolf in sheep clothing out for ever.
Eltumbe…..Again we have an election in 2016, if you have ants in your pants about recalling the Mayor, you will have your chance to vote him out soon enough. But the logic of getting rid of him because of a fire boat issue will fall on death ears. That poor boy died of an accident, I don’t believe a fire boat would have saved him.
From what I have read…..the Mayor has cut taxes and/or has held the line on taxes (the commission, or at least some, have raised taxes). He is in a battle of protecting my pocket, against the wishes of unions and government employees run a muck.
Chino, did anyone name you Director of the Miami Dade Elections Department? Who are you to tell people whether they can recall somebody or not? Seems to me you have not read well enough to understand that your precious little mayor is a thief who has engaged not only in absentee battle fraud but in an organized scheme to defraud county contracts and our tax dollars. You may think your taxes have not gone up but how many bonds have the citizens of this county voted for in the last two years? That in itself is a tax. Also check the cost of running 26 county departments today. You may be surprised to find that the cost is higher than running the 52 departments that were in existence in 2011. Your infatuation with Gimenez has blinded you. Have you ever heard of the Dolphins, Heat and soccer stadium scams? You surely have heard of Jorge Luis Lopez unless of course that is your real name. In that case you have it made turn off your laptop and get a life.
P.S. “Chino”, that is the nickname of Irain Gonzalez, the former corrupt mayor of Sweetwater who was arrested for all kinds of illegalities years ago and is now the right hand man and absentee ballot collector for Jose Luis Castillo. Are you still running your illicit ballot operation in that house out in west Dade? I may just give Investigator Carillo your name and address and have his outfit watch the comings and goings of all your employees.
Chino, I’m sorry to say this, but keep dreaming.
It is not about him going against the wishes of the unions and county employees. If you must know he only wants to save you $25 a year really and make the employees pay for it you have to be kidding me where is your common sense you save $25 a year and employees pay over $3000 a year plus they are tax payers to lets not forget that. Get your facts correct. Im a tax payer and I don’t mind paying $25 more to keep all of my services in tact. Oh and don’t forget some employees haven’t had a pay raise in over 5 years and is still not receiving one why to help the county in their situation. Oh and one more thing remember when the county received more money in property taxes than they expected and what did carlos do lowered the tax rate to cancel out the new money they had just received only to reduce the employees wages again to pay for the lower tax revenue that he reduced so he created this problem not the employees and unions. Get your facts correct.
all most forgot…..did you compare cost of government to 52 years ago??? As Ladra would say….really, really??
You know all the money the mayor saved me by slicing the Library’s millage in half? I’d be happy to donate it to the recall campaign.
He needs to go before he destroys this community!
From what I have read…..the Mayor has cut taxes and/or has held the line on taxes (the commission, or at least some, have raised taxes). He is in a battle of protecting my pocket, against the wishes of unions and government employees run a muck. –
Really, run amuck? I thought I was just going to work each day and giving it my best.
Seems like a broad brushstroke saying 25,000 county workers
Are running amuck. Did no one pick up your garbage, is your water not flowing out of the faucet? Highway full of potholes?
Ask a librarian how they’ve been treated and how few are left.
They are the stewards of your tax dollars and
The mayor was set on jettisoning hundreds of millions invested
In infrastructure, equipment and other capital.
The Mayor saved you money? Explain forcing the library system to hire a Texas consultant for $85,000 for three weeks work to quiz residents whether they like the library. To top that, he didn’t
care about the results.
Mrs. Robaina,
Just because you were acquitted by a jury, doesn’t mean the crimes weren’t committed. You and Julito associeted with Perez and the Blanco’s, some of the shadiest characters in Hialeah. Your trial spotlighted Hialeah’s “shadow” banking industry of high-interest loans. As a sitting mayor, your husband loaned $750,000 to a Ponzi schemer, Luis Felipe Perez, who would eventually be convicted of swindling $40 million from you and others.
Así que no te hagas la santa, and please crawl back into that little hole you and your turtle headed husband have been hiding in for the last few momths.
How many of those 6,000 cops live in Miami-Dade? How many of those 20,000 county employees live in Broward. When the Alvarez recall petition hit county employees lined up to sign and look what happened. I have bad news for you all. No one is going to be elected mayor saying that they are going to give the unions what they want and raising taxes. It just isn’t going to happen. So you recall Gimenez and you will get someone who does the same. Good luck.
RAISA PLEASE REMEMBER, TWO WRONGS DON’T MAKE A RIGHT. HANG YOUR HEAD IN SHAME AND STRAIGHTEN UP YOUR CROOKED LIFE. REALLY!!!!
Miami Dade County needs a clean sweep and new beginning. Not only just the mayor be recalled, we need new Commissioners for Miami Dade County. They are all tainted and corruption is their playing field. They don’t have any cares for the people. It like watching Scareface, first you get the power then the money and everyone of them are power hungry. They are all very complacent in their positions. They meet behind close doors making decisions an it’s all for one and one for all. As long as we keep them in office we have no chances to a better life here in Miami.
To The Ibis, first of all there isn’t 6,000 cops in the Miami-Dade Police Dept. There’s 2,700, this is down from 3,200 back in 2007. So down 500, laying off 217 and over 300 leaving within the next 18 months. That’s 1,000 less cops. The unions are not asking for a penny more, they are asking to give the employees back what they took from them three years ago, like all the holidays. When Gimenez got into power, the first thing he did was roll back property taxes to what they were in 2007, we are now in 2014, what has he done with the monies from employee concessions for the last three years. Spend it on projects and friends. Think of the millions spent training those cops that now you are going to layoff, so that other departments can hire for free. Some of these cops have been protecting our street for three years, now you are going to lay them off because there’s not enough monies to go around. Really!! We need a mayor who’s a leader, and less divisive.
Old Timer – I apologize for talking out of my rear end on the number of officers but the challenge in recalling him remains the same. At the end of the day taxes have not been raised, county employees have been laid off and people in general are happy…and trust me I am not defending it. Cops may think they have it bad but their contract is much better than what AFSCME and even GSA contracts. No one questions the dedication of officers…but don’t tell me that there isn’t a little padding on the pay…especially as you near the end of 25.
Don’t ever remember an AFSCME or GSA employee responding to an armed robbery, sexual battery in progress or domestic violence complaint. At the “end of 25” cops are so burnt out that statistics show they die at a much younger age due to accumulated stress than most professions. They don’t pad their retirement they earn it. Next time you hear noises around you house call GSA and ask them to stop by. Too bad this community is full of ingrates who value little what police officers do for all us. The job for county police was always open to anyone who wished to apply. What stopped those that complain from applying?
Hopefully Llorente and Lopez will be removed from the county ASAP, they are the main culprits stealing and raping!
Well said F. Marrero, those that complain about officers’ pay and pensions don’t realize there isn’t a price on your life. Officer put their lives on the line everyday. Also those complaining had the same opportunities to apply. Perhaps at the time they were making more money than entry level cops, or didn’t want to work shifts, or they didn’t have the testicular fortitude, or maybe they couldn’t pass all the required tests. Whatever the reason they could have, but didn’t. Stop being a hater. Cops never complained about what other people were making. I hate haters.
The County should lay off all the people who are in the DROP. They are already retired, banking their pension with a huge interest rate and banking all their sick time for a gigantic pay out when they leave. Meanwhile the lowly $40,000 employee is getting cut after cut and lay off after lay off. Someone also needs to look at all the reclasses most upper management employees are receiving, in lieu of raises. Last and final vent is why do the 26 departments that we now have, include a Director, Asst. Directors, Division Directors, Managers and Supervisor. What happen to all the indians, oh I forgot, we only have chiefs.
My sincere condolences to the firefighters family, many thanks to the remaining officers NOT sitting behind a desk, risking life and limb for citizen safety every day but it should also be noted that there are also many other employees protecting public safety making the water that you drink, cook and bathe with safe for everyone- whether they are in the plants exposed to hazardous chemicals such as anhydrous ammonia, fluoride or corrosives like lime that are used in the purification process or working underground to repair broken sewer mains exposed to raw sewage and the plethora of bloodborne pathogens, chemical grouts and the ever present threat of explosions due to the fluctuating levels of hydrogen sulfide. Miami dade county sits on all the countless men and women permanently hurt and in some cases disfigured due to preventable accidents caused by Carlos Giminez slashing budgets and eliminating safety equipment or refusing to repair dangerous conditions altogether. The broken water main that flooded Hialeah around NW 57th ave had been budgeted and approved for repair until Giminez decided to withdraw the funds at the last minute for the construction of the Marlins Stadium 6 months BEFORE THE RUPTURE TOOK PLACE. The entire water infrastructure of Miami Dade County is in extreme danger of complete failure because Giminez keeps withholding funds for these projects. Employees who ensure public safety are more than just police and fire, they are also your medical, your solid waste and your plant operators and maintenance workers who keep your facilities running 365/24/7
Dear Chino,
You get what you pay for. Let me know how you manage if our aging sewer system (which needs major repairs, except there’s no money to fix it) blows out the force main in front of your house, or a water main breaks and you have to boil all your water for a few months.
I guess you’re not a library person. Too bad, you might learn something there. I would recommend that you don’t get in any boating accidents. And if you’re a crime victim, good luck on getting any justice.
For the rest of us, if the folks collecting signatures for the recall put a tip jar on the table, I’d be glad to donate a few days’ lunch money. Anything left after the election could be donated to Friends of Animals.
Where do I sign the petition?
recall him
We need to bring back the days of Alex Penelas. Under his leadership, Miami-Dade thrived. Since then, it’s been one embarrassment after another.
La Vaca,
Let me take you back to the days of Penelas. Back then we were experiencing the residential housing boom, which meant the following:
1- Because of the expansion of residential areas in Miami-Dade, more money was budgeted for infrastructure development.
2- All the construction developers were making money off their developments and no real need to depend on County contracts (Steal from the County like MCM).
3- Most of the corruption and flim flamming was occurring with the construction projects at MIA.
4- Carlos Alvarez took over and continued business as usual, except we had the housing market and economic crash. Alvarez would have probaly done OK had he not sold his soul to the devil with the Marlins stadium project. (Not verified but he is suspected to have made some money off that by buying some nearby property that was later bought out to expand the stadium project).
5- Alvarez did realize we were in a hole and slightly raised taxes but the timing with the stadium deal and the raises to the police managers is what killed his career. Unfortunatwly, he was on the ight track with the taxes in order to maintain service levels.
6- Carlos Gimenez immediately and aggressively slashed taxes back to rates of nearly a decade before; cutting critcal services (fire boat, police officers, DERM, etc.) but he continued to give his friends government contracts. No need to mention the list of thugs again. Gimenez also started a war with the police union after cutting the public corrution unit that came very close to involving him in the absentee voter fraud case of 2012. He’s added further insult to injury to his County emplyees by giving away monies to the fat cats in private industry by way of tax and advertisemnt credits.
The point is that Penelas had an easy ride with lots of money coming in. The demise of the other two has come from greed and just dumb political decisions. One obvious note, Penelas was a true politician that tried to appease everyone, where the other two bring the gangster mentality to politics. And we all know what happens sooner or later to poliicians with this mentality… Their political death through recall.