Call it the calming before the storm. Miami-Dade Police Deputy Director Juan Perez sent a feel good memo to all department personnel Friday morning telling them that he was going to do “everything necessary” to avoid “this worst case scenario” — the firing of 283 positions, including 228 officers. The memo comes more than a […]
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez will present his budget today for the first time publicly — his proposal to run the $6.2 billion business that is county government and, more specifically, the $4.45 billion that is the general operating budget (the other $1.6 mil is for capital improvements). Oh, that doesn’t mean we aren’t […]
Forgive Ladra and her friends if we have lost all faith in Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez and the county bean counters. First, there was a $208 million shortfall in the Miami-Dade budget. Then it was $200 million. Then, if I recall correctly, it fell to $160 million. Then it was $90 million. Then it […]
In what can only be seen as another backpedal moment, at best, and another bait and switch, at worst, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez dropped his demand for 10 percent wage cut across the board for county employees, saying that he can balance the budget instead by reducing the workers’ healthcare benefits. There are still […]
Some call it payback for the 5% loss and the veto override that arguably strained some of his already-limited ability to negotiate with the county employee unions, but Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez is proposing new contracts that ask for a 10% cut in base pay and hints at a new battle with our county labor […]
Aside from Miami-Dade County’s lay off of 21 employees in the last couple of months to help deal with what Mayor Carlos “Not So Golden Boy” Gimenez says is a bulging budget shortfall, the incoming crop of new police officers has been cut in half from four academy classes to two. But Gimenez assured commissioners in […]
Although the county has more than 500 vacant budgeted positions — salaries that are never collected though the expenditures are reflected in the 2014-2015 budget — Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez has laid off almost two dozen county employees so far this year. These are reportedly only the first “heads to roll” in an expected employee […]
A breakfast chat about minimum wage and labor issues hosted by the Miami-Dade Democratic Party has changed venues after it received notice that two employees at Versailles Restaurant had sued alleging that they were fired after reporting illegal activities there that included wage violations and accusations of sexual harassment. The event this coming Saturday, billed […]
Well, duh. It was very unlikely that the union representing Miami-Dade Police officers or the firefighters would back Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell — who has drawn the ire of labor leaders with her consistent votes against county employees — in her re-election. Wednesday, they officially endorsed challenger Daniella Levine Cava in the race for District 8. […]
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez doesn’t only have his much-talked about five deputy mayors who, combined, make more than $1 million a year. He’s also got 12 aides, six secretaries, three assistants, three media people and one senior advisor who I think is now his chief of staff. Oh, and two student interns. No wonder Gimenez has […]