Nobody thinks that the single, unimportant mathematical error made by the county when advertising the budget hearings on page 6B of the Miami Herald is that big a deal. To err is human. And while nobody expects that we should just immediately forgive and forget, either, the punishment should fit the crime for those who […]
Oooops. Ladra doesn’t know if it was the worst case scenario budget or the best case scenario budget, but the annual budget passed by the Miami-Dade Commission in September and under which the county has been operating for almost two months since Oct. 1 is invalid. So says the Florida Department of Revenue, which is […]
We all heard Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez say it repeatedly last month and in August: He had saved the day. There were not going to be any layoffs at the Miami-Dade Police Department. Well, either he lied or he flip flopped, because at least three police department employees received notices Wednesday that their […]
No me digas. For months, the lowest paid county workers — garbage collectors, librarians, bus drivers, janitors — fought to get back the 5% they had been providing for five years to a bogus “healthcare fund” that was used to balance the budget. Finally, they got that deduction from their paycheck restored, but Miami-Dade Mayor […]
You could see it coming: As Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez found money here for this, money there for that, signing five union contracts and balancing the budget without cutting jobs or closing libraries, the anger that drove a petty recall effort launched emotionally by a father in mourning is pretty much out of […]
Looks like for the first time since the county budget process began months ago with threats of a 10% pay cut and reduced library hours and the threatened layoff of somewhere around 700 employees, from police officers to park workers, we are quite possibly looking at a really best case scenario where there won’t be […]
Even if Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez comes to terms with all ten of the workers’ unions by giving them back some of the sacrifices they made five years ago — like holiday pay and furloughs — there are some employees who are left out of such negotiated agreements. Across the county, 2,000 to […]
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez got another labor victory Thursday when the largest group of county workers, members of the AFSCME Local 199, voted overwhelmingly — with 97 percent approval — to ratify a new agreement with his administration. Gimenez was proud of the achievement — the third agreement with labor unions signed so […]
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez took the stand last week in the public corruption case against former Homestead Mayor Steven Bateman, who is accused of using his elected position and office to benefit Community Health of South Florida, which had hired him as a consultant (read: lobbyist) to help get a clinic approved. Gimenez […]
Have all the budget town hall meetings been like the one Thursday at West Dade Regional Library? The room was packed, that’s for sure. But if you removed all the county employees, including the seven cops in uniform and the multiple people from the mayor’s staff, the library supporters and three members of the media, […]