Mayor Carlos Gimenez governs by poll, loses trust

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Maybe he was damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez made a very well publicized about face last month when he backward flipped on his original budget proposal — going from what he said would be a necessary but small tax hike to keep services at current levels to a flat tax rate that will close down libraries and fire stations.

He says he was “listening to the people” — though he certainly turned a deaf ear when he was pushing the public funding plan for the private Miami Dolphins stadium.

And the only problem with that is, well, is he listening to the people now? And which people would that be?

According to county spokeswoman Suzie Trutie, the mayor’s office has received more than 3,000 phone calls and emails about these budget items. But she broke them down for me, too.

The bulk of the emails and phone calls — 1,200 and 677, respectively — have been about the no-kill shelter. She doesn’t say, however, how many of those calls are people who, like me, would say, “Yeah, I voted for the no-kill shelter but screw that if it means I get fewer firefighters.”

The possible firing of up to 149 firefighter paramedics has generated 346 phone calls and 381 emails, Trutie said. The possible closures of up to 22 libraries (which now may only be 16, no 14, no… counting down) has led to 271 phone calls and 503 emails.

When it comes to just the tax increase, Trutie said that only 51 calls have come in against the hike while six calls actually came in advocating for an increase. But wait. Are you telling me that the 503 emails about the libraries were not advocating for a tax increase to keep them open? You mean the 346 phone calls about the firing of firefighters were not people begging to keep them employed?

Of course they are. Trutie said they were callls “to save fire units and libraries.”

“The ‘for’ and ‘against’ tax increase calls are trickier,” she said. “When some people call and say they don’t want taxes to go up, they may or may not mention library or fire.”

How does that saying go? “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.

This is a classic example. It’s also a classic example of governing by poll, which he may have actually done to gauge the public response to his proposed tax increase.

The night before the budget switcheroo was considered by the commission, somebody commissioned an automated poll that got responses from about 800 voters. In it, they asked a specific question: Would you be willing to pay about $20 more in annual taxes to keep fire rescue services in tact? A majority of anglo and black voters said yes. But while a majority of Hispanic voters had previously answered that they did not want to lose fire services, only about 30 percent said that they would be willing to pay for it.

And since the voting population is about 54 percent Hispanic, and the poll was weighted to that, the Hispanics moved the margin to just under 50 percent supporting a small tax to keep the firefighters.

But all Gimenez did by switching his position was switch the people he was “listening to” or the people he was pleasing this time.

Was it Hispanic voters who make up the bulk of the high-performing ballot casters in this county? Was it county commissioners who have voters to appease, like Rebeca Sosa, who is running next year, and Xavier Suarez and Lynda Bell, whose son and husband, respectively, are running for mayoral offices in their cities this year? Was it property owners who wrote and called and begged him not to raise taxes and animal lovers who urged him to properly fund the shelter to meet the voter-mandated no-kill status? Was it the lobbyists and consultants who are always in his ear (read: former State Rep. Marcelo Llorente and sports lobbyist Ralph Garcia-Toledo)? Actually, that last one seems less likely since they would only benefit from more tax monies to go around.

Whatever the reason, it is hard to believe that Gimenez suddenly switched gears because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. One would imagine he did what he thought was right the first time. This might be the politically expedient thing to do.

This is how the mayor — who was put in place by the recall of former Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez , dui in part to a tax increase — explained it in a piece published in the Miami Herald shortly after the commission set the zero increase tax rate that Gimenez proposed on the third try.

“When I presented my initial budget proposal to the community two weeks ago, that plan included what I believed at the time were reasonable increases to the fire and library millages to maintain current levels of service. These proposals did not fund salary increases or new government programs — they simply allowed us to maintain current service levels. Also proposed was a small increase to the countywide millage rate that would have provided for the full implementation of the no-kill plan.

“Despite these modest proposed increases, it quickly became clear to me that there is simply no support in our community for any tax rate increase at this time. The difficult reality is that many of our families and neighbors are still struggling. Our economy isn’t out of the woods yet.”

Must have been some powerful feedback to make what he “believed at the time” to be the right thing on a Thursday to be wrong by Monday night.

All Gimenez did by switching his position was listen to some people more than others.

And there would have been others, last week in fact, if the mayor had not so cynically orchestrated the cancellation of last Tuesday’s commission meeting, the only time that firefighters and library lovers could voice their concerns. You know, so he could listen to them.

Some county commissioners — like Suarez and Juan Zapata — praised  Gimenez at the meeting for changing his mind. “I know it takes courage sometimes to rethink one’s position,” said Zapata, who is also facing re-election next year since his win in November was just to finish out the term left behind by former Chairman Joe Martinez, who left to run for mayor against Gimenez (and who should try again in 2016).

But doesn’t it also take courage to stand one’s ground when you believe at the time that it’s the right thing to do?

All Gimenez did by switching his position was further lose trust with the people who helped put him in office in the first place.

“He lost our trust,” said Rowan Taylor, the president of Miami-Dade Firefighters union. “He told me in March that he was going to raise the taxes a little to keep us at current levels and that we had to do what we could to keep operating with the same budget. Then, in a matter of days, something changes his mind? How can anyone have confidence in anything he says?”

And the firefighters and Ladra are not the only ones who sees less of a shine from the once Golden Boy mayor who has tainted his honest brand.

The director of one of the largest homeowners associations, a group that endorsed Gimenez twice for mayor, said she would be hard pressed to support him again. Not just because of the budget bungles but because of other matters — the Dolphin stadium scam he was pushing, his lack of leadership on the MDX tax increase, the baggage wrap drama at the airport, the AB scandal from last year, the trip to Spain, even — on his recent track record.

“His word does not mean anything anymore,” she said.

A lot of people are not going to like a tax increase. A lot of people are not going to like budget cuts.

That’s why leaders have to do what is right, and let the polls be damned.

  budget cuts, Carlos Gimenez, Joe Martinez., Miami-Dade Fire Rescue