Unemployment falls throughout State, but not in Miami-Dade.

Recent unemployment numbers continue the bad news for Miami-Dade County with region joblessness topping 13 percent.

Contrast this with statewide numbers where Florida's unemployment rate dropped to 10.8 percent, and in metro areas such as Tampa-St. Petersburg dropping to 10.5 percent and Orlando where the rate dropped to 9.9 percent.

Why is the unemployment rate dropping throughout Florida and yet continues to rise in Miami-Dade County?

Perhaps former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's comments to The Miami Herald can shed some light as he describes Miami-Dade County government as "a monstrous beast that is unaccountable, not transparent and allows far too much corruption."

The unaccountability, non-transparent, and thoroughly corrupt government at Miami-Dade County quashes the motivation for any serious companies to make the investments necessary in Miami-Dade County that create high wage jobs. Public corruption at Miami-Dade County tells investors that unless you are willing to "pay to play," Miami-Dade is closed for business. Businesses have recognized this and are going elsewhere in the state.

Sources are indicating that major private sector investment projects are coming to the Tampa area in the next six to twelve months and Orlando continues to grow with private sector activity. Yet, when was the last time a major private sector company decided to expand operations into Miami-Dade County? Were it not for the positive tourism numbers, the unemployment rate would be much higher.

The mayor elected today has a serious task ahead to clean house at Miami-Dade County government, starting with the 29th floor, and to restore confidence in a broken system, so that businesses will once again be confident in the ability of Miami-Dade government to provide a level playing field.

Until then, Miami-Dade County and its residents will continue to suffer while opportunities for jobs pass us by toward other areas of the state.

Transit troubles are the tip of the iceberg: Feds promise more to come.

Sources inside the Beltway are indicating that the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General is broadening its scope of investigation into the alleged criminal activities at the Miami-Dade Transit Agency. Investigators from the United States Department of Justice are also considering involvement.

Federal officials are expected to focus on the alleged cover-up at the Agency and are reportedly astounded at the lack of truthfulness and disclosure from county officials involved. One source close to the matter has stated how federal investigators "can't believe what they are finding down there" and that "[MDT] ought to be shut down."

Areas of concern reportedly include the use of American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) monies, and procurement practices at MDT, including Metrorail and Metromover contracts.

Ironically, County Commissioners voted this week to eliminate pay hikes to non union employees, patting themselves in the back for saving $2 million on their way toward plugging a $250 million budget hole.

Commissioners, however, have yet to take action to stop hundreds of millions of dollars from being wasted at MDT.

Did Ysela Llort cover up woes at MDT?

"Why are we airing dirty linen in front of others?"

These are the words of Assistant County Manager Ysela Llort contained in an October 29, 2010 email to Assistant Transit Director Marjan Mazza when Mazza complained about the conditions at MDT.

Mazza was then fired November 23, 2010.

According to Miami Herald articles, the lax financial practices at MDT date back to at least October 2009. In November 2009 "FTA found flaws in MDT's federal procurement practices" and in "February 2010, outside auditors for MDT flagged the same problem, saying the agency 'did not comply with requirements regarding procurement.'"

"[b]y Sept. 8, the FTA regional administrator warned the transit agency it intended to restrict the county from withdrawing certain federal funds through an online payment system, instead demanding proof of valid expenditures before approving reimbursements."

In November, "Mazza took her case to Assistant County Manager Llort, who oversees Transit, claiming in an e-mail that same day that [former MDT Director Harpal] Kapoor had 'provided false information' to federal auditors and the FTA.

"Despite the unfolding chaos, top county officials including Burgess and Llort failed to intervene to address auditors' growing concerns."

And now County Manager Alina "Burgess Lite" Hudak expects Llort to fix MDT.

When given the opportunity, instead of taking charge and fixing the issue immediately, Llort asked Mazza not to air "dirty linen" and then Mazza was fired. This is leadership according to Ysela Llort and the 29th floor at County Hall, who went on to tell county commissioners that "[t]his is not a sky-is-falling issue."

But now the skies are indeed falling, including a federal investigation into criminal activities, and the person put in charge to oversee this mess is the same person that created it.

Since at least late 2009, Ysela Llort has been instrumental in ignoring or hiding the truth of what is going on at MDT. For this she is paid $260,970 a year by county taxpayers.

Our high paid so called professional bureaucrats, starting with County Manager Alina "Burgess Lite" Hudak, have failed us.

It is now time for the political leadership in Miami-Dade County to take the reigns and fix this mess once and for all.

We urge County Commission Chairman Joe Martinez to personally meet with officials at FTA immediately, to plea the County's case, to show FTA that there still exist some responsible accountable parties in County government, and to restore some semblance of normalcy in an otherwise chaotic situation.

As we reported: With criminal investigation, the Beltway tightens around MDT.

We reported this past April that federal interest was growing into County misappropriation of federal funds with Congressional staffers making a broad range of recommendations on how to deal with the MDT scandal.

Beltway Rumblings: Congressional interest grows into County misappropriation of federal funds.

The Miami Herald is now reporting that "county officials confirmed for the first time that the U.S. Department of Transportation is conducting a criminal investigation at Miami-Dade Transit."

The Herald's editorial page goes on to state: "It should never have come to this."

If, as the old saying goes, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, then why should the results at MDT be any different when the same people are in charge now that were in charge back when this all began?

Alina "Burgess Lite" Hudak, Ysela Llort, and the rest of the team that brought this mess onto MDT are still there.

That we are six months into this scandal and it is yet to be resolved shows the complete and utter lack of leadership and common sense that permeates County Hall.

We put forth these three suggestions:

1. Remove Ysella Llort and all top level management at MDT, replace them with a new management team that includes a turn-around specialist that is an expert on federal matters and has a relationship with the FTA and U.S. DOT.

2. Conduct a complete forensic audit of MDT down to every single red cent, including a review of procurement practices and accounting methods.

3. Admit wrongdoing, eat some crow. Then ask the FTA to come back and complete their audit with your full cooperation.

Alina Hudak sadly learned from her predecessor that leadership can be achieved by writing memoranda covering the collective bureaucratic behinds.

As long as this behavior continues, we can all expect the same disastrous results over and over again.

Whither the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission?

While browsing the local blogosphere this past week, our curiosity was piqued by postings in The Crespo Gram Report and Take Back Miami regarding the status of the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission, specifically questioning why its executive director, Robert Meyers, was still at the helm. Meyers resigned as executive director in February after he was "accused of engaging in a questionable 'personal relationship' with an aide."

As is typical with all things Miami-Dade, ethical indiscretions are not a bar to being the head of the ethics commission, and to continue "earning" your $230,000 a year taxpayer supported salary.

The story of Robert Meyers, well documented by CBS 4, started when "an anonymous complaint about Meyers was sent to Mayor Carlos Alvarez accusing Meyers of engaging in a 'personal relationship' with an assistant" who was Meyer's subordinate. "The complaint included hand-written notes from Meyers to the assistant discussing lunch plans."

Rather than investigating Mr. Meyer's actions, Ethics Commission advocate "Michael Murawski [$146,671 a year salary], who is also called a prosecutor, focused on who obtained the lunch notes, apparently from the office of Meyers’ assistant. In a memo to most of the staff, Murawski wrote that he was going to conduct 'an investigation' to 'determine the person(s) responsible for rummaging through a co-worker’s office.'"

The investigation, referred to as an "inquisition" by one Commission staffer was encapsulated by another staffer who commented "'They are focusing on all the employees instead of all these notes between the director' and his assistant."

This is the behavior of the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission that is supposed to enforce and maintain the public trust by keeping an eye on the politicians of Miami-Dade County. No wonder that MDT, Jackson, WASDA, Housing, and so many other agencies are running amok when the public watchdog is asleep.

What's worse of all is that Mr. Meyer's actions are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the behavior of Commission members, all calling into question what ethical and moral authority does this Commission have when it has been unethical itself?

In its nearly thirteen years of existence, when is the last time the Ethics Commission actually made a difference?

It is time to put the "Ethics Commission" and its $2 million budget to rest and transfer its jurisdiction and mission over to the Office of Inspector General.

Hudak replies and hides behind Charter; Llort arrogantly blames FTA for MDT woes.

It is comforting to know that Miami-Dade County officials can take the time from their busy schedules running a multi-billion dollar government enterprise to reply to a blog posting. But reply they have.

From Suzy Trutie, Assistant Director of Communications:

According to Article 2, Section 2.02, D of the Miami-Dade County’s Home Rule Charter, it states: “…the Mayor shall have the power to appoint all department directors of the administrative departments of the County. Appointment of these department directors shall become effective unless disapproved by a two-thirds majority of those Commissioners then in office a the Commission’s next regularly scheduled meeting.”

We expected the typical bureaucrat reply, hiding behind process to excuse a lack of action on important matters as is in this case.

We also fully understand that Ms. Hudak is powerless to name a director, however she has the full authority to place a caretaker to oversee MDT as she has already done.

So here is a question for the County Manager: of the 3,000 plus employees at MDT (several of which make salaries in excess of $100,000), is there not one who could have taken over Mr. Kapoor's duties and act as an interim director?

Instead we get Ms. Llort, whom in the May 5th edition of Miami Today states:

"FTA understands that the longer it goes on the harder it will be for the county to maintain the services provided to the public. That this comes at a cost."

At no time have Ms. Hudak or Ms. Llort publicly accepted responsibility for the complete financial chaos at MDT, and Ms. Llort has the gall to blame FTA, as though the federal government has any fault whatsoever that the bureaucrats at the county seem incapable of running MDT. County executives would rather cut public transit service to over 320,000 people than accept blame and responsibility for their actions.

Candidates for Miami-Dade mayor must tell the voters exactly how they will put an end to this utter hubris from these so called public servants, and restore true leadership, confidence and faith in our county government.

Advice to graduates: forget the private sector, join Miami-Dade County instead!

UPDATED: Interesting to note that County Commissioner Barbara Jordan, a 30+ year County bureaucrat, receives a $178,850 a year government pension for her former "public service."

Read more in the Miami New Times

Inspired by President Barack Obama's commencement address at Miami Dade College together with a wonderfully revealing piece in this weekend's Wall Street Journal titled "California Prison Academy: Better Than a Harvard Degree," here is our advice to newly minted college graduates:

Forget the private sector, join Miami-Dade County instead!

There used to be a time when college graduates competed for jobs on Wall Street or created new jobs on Main Street all on their way to middle class prosperity. These days, and in the midst of tough economic times, why go through all that hassle and uncertainty when a job at Miami-Dade County is the most secure and lucrative way to get ahead.

Consider this from the WSJ article:

As a California prison guard, you can make six figures in overtime and bonuses alone. While Harvard-educated lawyers and consultants often have to work long hours with little recompense besides Chinese take-out, prison guards receive time-and-a-half whenever they work more than 40 hours a week. One sergeant with a base salary of $81,683 collected $114,334 in overtime and $8,648 in bonuses last year, and he's not even the highest paid.

Sure, Harvard grads working in the private sector get bonuses, too, but only if they're good at what they do. Prison guards receive a $1,560 "fitness" bonus just for getting an annual check-up.

Most Harvard grads only get three weeks of vacation each year, even after working for 20 years—and they're often too busy to take a long trip. Prison guards, on the other hand, get seven weeks of vacation, five of them paid. If they're too busy racking up overtime to use their vacation days, they can cash the days in when they retire. There's no cap on how many vacation days they can cash in! Eighty officers last year cashed in over $100,000 at retirement.

The cherry on top is the defined-benefit pension. Unlike most Harvard grads working in the private sector, prison guards don't have to delay retirement if their 401(k)s take a hit. Prison guards can retire at the age of 55 and earn 85% of their final year's salary for the rest of their lives. They also continue to receive medical benefits.

Sound familiar?

Miami-Dade County offers such benefits to "public servants" and they only get better the longer you stay with the County. Click here the County's employee benefits highlights.

You don't even have to work all that hard or be good at what you do. Just think that the current county manager, Ms. Alina Hudak, lists on her official biography that she "has also managed the County's intensified oversight of the Jackson Health System." We all know how well that is going!

And former County Manager George Burgess. He left Miami-Dade County with a multi-million dollar deficit and financial scandals in several departments. In his taxpayer funded golden parachute, Burgess gets, among other benefits, a severance of one year of base salary, $326,340, plus deferred compensation of $22,000. He and his family will get medical and dental coverage until he’s 65 years old, and will also get an expense allowance of $3,000 a month and a car allowance of $600 a month until March of next year.

Similarly, recently departed bureaucrat Harpal Kapoor, whose greatest claim to fame is leaving the Miami-Dade Transit department in complete financial shambles, will receive a lifetime pension derived from his $242,000 salary.

For the sake of argument, if Mr. Kapoor takes 50% of his former salary as a pension, he will continue to make over $121,000 a year for life. We all know that the percentage he gets to keep is much higher however. And all this for running a department into the ground.

Alvarez, Burgess, Hudak, Llort, Kapoor, and the rest of the County bureaucracy can always rest assured that no matter how bad their decisions, no matter how much taxpayer money they squander, no matter how much animosity they incur from taxpayers, they can all count on a lifetime windfall once they leave.

Why would anyone then enter the risky world of the free market economy, when economic security can come from County government, and the pockets of captured taxpayers?