Miami-Dade Commissioner Juan Zapata had the “leader moment” Ladra hoped for and became the hero for public e
mployees Tuesday — and a hero for democracy everywhere.
But that may not have been his intention when Zapata became the swing vote that gave the county commission the super majority it needed to override Mayor Carlos “Not So Golden Boy” Gimenez‘s second veto of a commission majority decision to return the 5% taken from employees to balance the county budget for the last five years.
“I voted to support the Mayor’s veto override not because the unions were right but because admin has not shown true leadership,” he tweeted, adding hashtag #realreform.
Ouch! But it needed to be said.
Ladra is looking forward to speaking with “El Zorro” Zapata later in the day, thanking him for restoring my faith in democracy and congratulating him for recognizing an opportunity to really lead and represent.
All he could text from the meeting was “Not a moment I’m proud of but it was necessary.”
Necessary, indeed. The mayor needs to be reminded that he is not the dictator around here and that a board of commissioners elected by the people are the ones who have the final say on everything. He needs to know that a system of checks and balances will exist, much to his chagrin perhaps. He needs to understand that strong mayor does not mean strong arm mayor.
But for Zapata, it is more about a lack of leadership by the mayor’s office.
To be sure, he’s absolutely right. There have been no policy memos or initiatives on the “skyrocketing” health care costs. There has been no oversight of this alleged healthcare group trust fund where the 5% is collected. There is no suggestion from the mayor’s office with how to deal with a reported $75 million debt owed to public employees for accrued sick and leave time, which is a problem that predates Gimenez.
But if you are worried about how this might affect Zap’s relationship with the mayor, you can also be sure that there is already a strain in that flash-in-the-pan bromance. Las malas lenguas say that they have not been as friendly as they used to be. They started drifting apart with the budget battles of the summer, when Zapata expressed concern about conflicting numbers coming out of the mayor’s office and the budget director’s office. But a County Hall insider said the gap between them widened during preparation for the recent taxi cab reform vote, when Zapata’s resolution was reportedly hijacked by Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz — with help from the mayor’s office.
So what that the strained relationship maybe also fueled Zapata’s rebuff of the mayor’s veto, which sort of takes the wind of of Gimenez’s sails after having beaten the first override?
For the last couple of weeks observers have have been quietly talking about which of the “5% Five” would be the easiest to flip. Zapata always topped the list.
“We weren’t sure. But we were hopeful,” said PBA President John Rivera. “We thought he was the most reasonable of the bunch.”
Still, Zap’s move was a surprise to most people — as evidenced by the loud gasps and at least one audible “wow” in commission chambers. But one of his friends told Ladra Tuesday that the commissioner had been thinking about this since last week.
Juan Zapata leads, rebuffs Carlos Gimenez 5% veto added by Ladra on
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