COVID-19 rollback reveals Mayor Carlos Gimenez is flying blind here

The COVID-19 response in Miami-Dade has been to take one step forward, two steps back. And Monday’s decision to rollback the reopening of our economy was no exception.

At 10:15 a.m., financial experts were on Radio Caracol AM radio explaining the RISE Miami-Dade Fund program’s $25 million in low interest micro loans for local businesses that just became available Monday to help them stay afloat during the pandemic-caused economic crisis and survive beyond it (learn more at webinars Tuesday, at noon in English, 4 p.m. in Spanish on AxisHelps.org where people can learn more about exactly how to apply. Register at: axishelps.org/rise).

An hour later, at 11:15 a.m. Monday, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced the re-closing of the reopening, going back to pre-Phase I, shutting down dining rooms in restaurants again, allowing only drive-through, delivery and take-out service as of Wednesday. He’s closing gyms and short term rentals like AirBnB, too.

Well, maybe. Don’t make any decisions based on what Gimenez says.

Because almost 12 hours later, just before 10 p.m., and presumably under intense pressure, Gimenez reconsidered his decision — why stop now? — and ruled that restaurants can still serve people outdoors. And have live, soft music.

“After discussions with our esteemed medical experts, the members of the Miami-Dade County League of Cities, and the restaurant industry group, I have determined that my forthcoming emergency order will allow for outdoor dining, where possible, to continue, with restrictions that include tables of no more than four patrons, appropriate distancing, and music played at a level that does not require shouting, to prevent the emission of potentially dangerous airborne droplets,” Gimenez said in a email statement sent by his communications team.

But expect more changes to come. Ladra bets even before these new rollbacks take effect Wednesday. Nothing is ever set in stone. It’s more like Play-doh.

“As I continue to evaluate conditions in Miami-Dade County,” Gimenez said in his statement, “I will be seeking the input of our wellness group as well, and I will be making modifications accordingly that will put the least economic strain possible on our local businesses, while keeping the health and well-being of everyone in our community as the top priority.”

One has to wonder if he got a call from the owners of his favorite brunch spot, Greenstreet Cafe in Coconut Grove — where he was seen brunching with buddy Ralph Garcia-Toledo years ago (right) — begging to keep the outside tables, where groups have been seen sans masks and closer than six feet apart, according to social media posts by employees who have complained.

After all, Gimenez is a reactionary leader, knee-jerking to every little change, responding to his friends and family and donors, acting in a vacuum without talking to other community leaders or stakeholders that aren’t in his private boys’ club. How many times has he gone back and amended an executive order? How many times has he gone back and amended the amendment to an executive order?

“The county mayor hasn’t communicated with me, nor with many other municipal mayors about his decision,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said, also expressing concern over the back and forth.

“We need a long-term plan,” Suarez said. “To close to open to close to open is not a solution.”

How about some serious testing, Francis? That’s the best long-term plan we can have. National medical experts and scientists have been super clear in their guidance for reopening the economy in any community: There simply must be aggressive testing and contact tracing.

And we haven’t been able to get that right. People complain about waiting up to 11 days to get test results from the state-run county drive-throughs. Well guess what? Ladra got tested at the Hard Rock Stadium. In May. And there has been no follow up about the results. Nada. I hope that’s good news. Fingers crossed.

Especially as the number of positives stay high. According to the Florida Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard, Miami-Dade residents have had over or almost 2,000 positive test results for the last five days. Sunday’s number was the first below 2,000 (at 1,984) since Wednesday of last week, when Miami-Dade residents consistently tested at about 25% positive. That’s one in four people. Look around you. if there are three people near you, one of you is likely sick.

And that was before a couple hundred scientists said over the weekend that this stuff is airborne.

Gimenez blames the recent spike on protests and the fact that we’re all losing focus. But he’s going to re-close the restaurants because… that’s where people go to eat after the protests? Or is it that they marched to the gyms? If outdoor contagion is unlikely at restaurants wouldn’t it be at protests also? Or is it, more likely, that he cannot admit that the rushed reopening before this community was ready is the real reason for the rise?

He wouldn’t be making any adjustments at all if the hospitals weren’t sounding the alarm about the ICU capacity filling up quickly with COVID19 patients. We’ve gone from having 75 people on ventilators two weeks ago to having 164 — more than twice that many — today, Suarez said.

“We are at the boiling point,” Suarez said. Different reports have ICU bed capacity anywhere from 70% to 83%. That’s not much of a margin.

So of course Mayor Gimenez is making moves. But why is the county commission letting him go nuts on us? This penchant for executive orders — wonder where he got that from? — needs to stop and the Miami-Dade Commission needs to act legislatively so that he can’t be the drunk, dysfunctional uncle who tells you the same story over and over again a couple different ways. Other municipalities have dealt with the crisis legislatively already. If we can have virtual meetings to discuss zoning issues, grants and contract extensions, our commissioners can certainly make decisions on something as important as COVID-19 testing and the reopening of the economy.

“This could have been avoided if we had put in place the contact tracing and isolation strategies I called for early on in the pandemic, but these were ignored,” Commissioner and mayoral candidate Daniella Levine Cava said in a statement.

“Now our businesses and workers have to endure this economic pain yet again.”

What would Gimenez know about that? What would he know about 1099s and making payroll? Please don’t point to his administrative experience as a city manager. Because that doesn’t count. He has never worked in the private sector. He doesn’t know what it’s like to rehire your staff, retrofit your place of business so it meets the “new normal” guidelines and invest in new, safer processes only to have your establishment closed again.

Ooops. My bad.

“We have paid with pain and sacrifice and the lack of leadership means we will have to go back to close our businesses again,” Levine Cava said in her statement. “We can’t continue to fall into the trap that we have to choose between our economy or public health. We know by now that’s a false choice. Full economic recovery and controlling the spread of the virus go hand in hand.

“Furthermore, we are unlikely to receive additional recovery dollars from the Feds. It will fall on local government to absorb the cost and pay the price of a rushed and poorly planned opening.”

Carlos Gimenez, COVID-19, Daniella Levine Cava, reopening, testing

COVID-19 rollback reveals Mayor Carlos Gimenez is flying blind here added by Ladra on July 7, 2020
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