After months of debate over the choices made by Miami-Dade County Mayor, Republican Carlos Alvarez, the county ousted the mayor by an overwhelming 88-12 margin. Alvarez, who was first elected in 2004 and later re-elected in 2008, had just under two years left in his final term, but local businessman Norman Braman spent over $1 million of his own money collecting signatures to bring the recall to a vote this past Tuesday.
Being a Republican, as well as a resident of Miami-Dade, I enjoyed voting for the third time in a special election that seemed to transcend party lines, and simply put the common-sense principles of fiscal responsibility on the line.
In the past two years Alvarez has come under much scrutiny for four major incidents during his second term:
In February of 2009, he secretly gave at least 10 percent pay raises to 12 of his staffers, including an 11 percent pay raise to his Chief of Staff Denis Morales to bring his salary to more than $206,000. Morales was later demoted from the position once news broke that he had been receiving pay while on leave working as a security consultant in Panama– essentially getting a secondary income while not even living in the county.
Since taking office for his second term, Alvarez has been seen driving a new BMW 650i coupe, during a time when Miami-Dade’s unemployment hit 13%.
In March of 2009, he pushed and won a vote on funding for a new Florida Marlins ballpark in which the county will pay 70 percent of the $515 million project. These numbers are astounding compared to the Cardinals Stadium which received just 12 percent funding, and the Mets Stadium which received 27 percent funding.
Then after fighting off a recall by taking a citizen-funded petition that did not reach the 50,000 signature requirement, he proposed a budget for 2009 with three to five percent raises for all public employees including 13 percent pay-raises for the Police Department, which he was chief of before being elected mayor. And how did he balance the additional spending? By raising property taxes close to 14 percent on many homeowners who have seen their property values cut in half. Miami-Dade has consistently been listed as one of the areas hardest hit by the real estate crisis.
Alvarez’s ouster serves as a refreshing example of governmental accountability. The recall illustrates the fact that grossly irresponsible politicians are not safe from the will of the electorate, regardless of party affiliation.
So who will be next? The Democrats who left the state in Wisconsin? Newly elected Republicans who promised spending cuts in their take-over of the House? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure, the American people will have their say, one way or another.
Photo Credit: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703512404576208911475446864.html
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