"Chairman Joe Martinez… Members of the Board of County Commissioners, Property Appraiser Garcia, Fellow Elected Officials, members of our Consular Corps, distinguished guests, Mr. Manager and my Executive Office team, County Attorney Cuevas, Department Directors, Miami-Dade County employees and residents…"
This is how it begins, and how it ends --- the residents are last.
During his State of the County Address delivered earlier today, Mayor Carlos Alvarez continues to deliver the platitudes that bounce of the rarefied air in his 29th floor echo chamber, without addressing the major issues facing the County government.
Click here for a copy of the remarks as prepared for delivery.
In a speech filled with excuses and blind ambition, not one did the Mayor apologize to his constituents for raising taxes amidst a recession, and not once did the Mayor come out and directly say he would lower taxes on the already overburdened citizenry.
"Most recently, our investment portfolio received the highest rating possible from Standard and Poor’s, a testament to the skills of our cash management team. Our taxpayer’s money is being invested in a prudent manner. Our professional management team… led by County Manager George Burgess… is doing the hard work today to bring about our best tomorrow."
Burgess' "hard work" for which he is paid $422,000 includes:
---Fiscal chaos at Jackson Memorial Hospital
---Fiscal chaos at Miami-Dade Transit
---Fiscal chaos at Miami-Dade Housing
---Fiscal chaos at Miami-Dade Water and Sewer.
And these are the ones we know about.
Instead of investing taxpayer money "in a prudent manner," this "professional management team" is merely buying their time, padding their salaries, so they can collect higher returns on their life long pensions.
"Attacks are easy. Solutions are hard."
But what solutions have you proposed Mr. Mayor? None. And while every day bring another financial scandal to Miami-Dade County Government, you continue to offer platitudes, without solutions.
"And so I say to those critics, rather than try to divide us politically, work with us. Join us in our efforts to keep our County moving forward. We have made tremendous progress, but our challenges still loom large. The only way we can solve them is by working together – all of us."
You have been on office six years Mr. Mayor, with all due respect to your position, the time to work together has long since passed you. These are all things you should have considered before you raised taxes and handed out salary increases to members of your staff.
You have failed to make the truly tough choices, including firing Manager George Burgess, and your inaction coupled with Burgess' ineptitude and disdain for taxpayers are leading the County into a fiscal abyss.
Miami-Dade County needs strong principled leadership that will significantly reduce the 29,000 strong County bureaucracy, streamline County operations, and deliver tax relief to our citizenry.
Mayor Carlos Alvarez and Manager George Burgess are incapable of doing it.
In the Mayor's speech, residents do in fact come last. But come election time, the residents will speak loudly.
And for Mayor Alvarez and Manager Burgess, the day of March 15th will be their last.
