Fight, fight!
But Ladra bets the ugly, public brawl between a group of Republican legislators and the beloved president of M
iami Dade College isn’t really over yet and that the former doesn’t know what they have gotten themselves into.
Jaws dropped all over the county last week when the typically staid and methodically elegant MDC President Eduardo Padron — who I hear is actually a really tough cookie behind closed doors — very uncharacteristically lashed out against a group of lawmakers he says have blocked a bill that could create a stream of revenue for the beleaguered institution, if county voters approve it.
So frustrated was Padron, a Democrat, at not three years of failed attempts to get a tax referendum on the ballot but closer to 10, that he went so far as to call State Rep. Jose “Cigar Czar” Oliva a college drop-out who didn’t know the value of higher education.
Yawn. But apparently Oliva was so offended, allegedly, that he and his Tally crew demanded an apology. Or maybe it was just so he could play the injured party to better suit his reported intention to kill the bill. Because as a fellow college drop-out — get over it, Representative — Ladra really did not find Padron’s obvious at-my-wit’s-end outburst that offensive.
Insiders, journalists and political observers have speculated that the real reason for the snub of the bill year after year is the cushy relationship legislators with the for-profit college industry and, particularly, Dade Medical College and it’s president Ernesto Perez.
It’s an Ernesto vs. Eduardo thing (couldn’t resist).
The House bill — which would allow voters to decide on an additional half penny in sales tax for the next five years to fund about $1 billion in improvements to the college — has passed two committees but is reportedly in limbo as Oliva and his buds — State Reps. Carlos Trujillo (R-Doral), Frank Artiles (R-Country Walk Now) and Michael Bileca (R-Pinecrest) — act against it, walking the halls and urging their colleagues to, once again, give MDC a pass.
It has also been noted by the aforementioned peanut gallery how jarring it is to have our local delegation — and not some angry, white anglo legislators in the Panhandle or Central Florida — working against a local institution that according to all the recent published reports generates billions in economic impact. You know, since that’s the barometer so much of the time.
The plan has changed throughout the years. It is now a five year temporary increase, rather than a 10-year deal. Ten percent of the funding would go to Florida International University, a legislative favorite. Both carrots were added to make the bill more amenable to the local legislators who seem to indicate every year that it’s got support, only to let it die in the end.
Oliva did not return repeated phone calls. Neither did Artiles or Bileca.
But Trujillo says his position is consistent with his stance against any tax. After all, he notes, this is roughly $1 billion in additional tax revenue levied on the people and tourists in Miami-Dade.
Trujillo — who was among those that killed the Dolphin stadium tax grab last year — said the economic recovery had not reached a point where he was going to send a $1 billion tax to the people. He said the college had not done a good enough job of explaining how it would spend the money.
“They basically sent me a one page document,” Trujillo said, adding that the lack of detail concerned him.
He also said it was ludicrous to think that because he had represented Dade Medical — and because some of the other legislators may also have connections — that this has anything to do with anything other than their zero tolerance on new taxes.
Padron did not accept repeated attempts to talk with him about this. But MDC spokesman Juan Mendieta — yes, of former Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas fame — said that Trujillo had been mistaken about the materials provided to his office.
He forwarded Ladra the same document, a six-page report that shows how much will be spent by campus for new construction, renovations, maintenance and technology. But, indeed, as Trujillo noted, there are glaring line items that call your attention: $200 million for scholarships, more than $180,000 in information technology. Only $19 million would go to increased faculty and support staff. For the number of students that $200 million in scholarships would bring in?
Mendieta also told me that the sales tax increase is an effort to stop the bleeding:
- Overall State funding for fiscal year 2013-14 is down $18.7 million or 9.8% from what the College received in fiscal year 2007-08.
- Overall State funding per full-time equivalent student (FTE) has dropped 14.2% from $3,643 in fiscal year 2006-07 to $3,127 in fiscal year 2013-14.
- The College does not receive funds for approximately 7,531 full-time equivalent students. This represents an annual underfunding of $27 million.
- State funding now accounts for less than 50% total College revenue, significantly down from the target of 75% of 15 years ago.
- PECO funds for physical facilities have dramatically decreased during the last few years from a high of $45.6 million in 2007 to no allocations in 2011 and 2012, and only $8 million in 2013.
This is why, Mendieta says, the focus has to remain on getting the bill passed and the half-penny sales tax increase measure on the ballot, he said. He is confident — though Ladra has her doubts, especially given some of the details — that the voters will pass it.
“From our perspective, we are going to keep pushing for what’s right, and that’s for people to be given the chance to vote,” Mendieta told Ladra.
So, long story short: What’s the chances this beat up bill will have in Tally this year? One train of thought is that legislators will be embarassed into taking it up. The other is that they won’t let it see the light of day until Padron resigns.
Rumors that certain legislators pressured members of the all Republican MDC Board of Trustees to ask for Padron’s resignation — “if you ever want to see your bill alive again,” is the implication — fizzled Monday as either untrue or proof that the pressure was irrelevant, since the board issued a strong statement basically backing Padron’s fight for the funding.
Ladra spoke with some board members who said they had not been approached by anyone with any threat or request for a resignation. And, one of them said, it would not be something they would likely consider, given Padron’s unblemished 44 years of service to a school he practically built single handedly.
But if there were no threat, no request for the resignation, why add support for Padron in the statement they issued Monday?
In it, the board “reaffirms its unwavering support for the passage of House Bill 113 and Senate Bill 66, empowering the citizens of Miami-Dade County to exercise their right to vote on the question of local support for Miami Dade College. The Board fully supports the College’s efforts to ensure that MDC secures the necessary resources to effectively serve the students and the larger community.”
“In addition, the Board reaffirmed unequivocal support for MDC President Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón and his leadership of the institution.”
Ladra doesn’t know what the big deal is. I’m a college drop-out, too. So what? So was Steve Jobs, who created a little company called Apple after he left higher education. And maybe we don’t value higher education as much as these academic types don’t value a hard-earned position or career obtained without a degree. Who cares? But apparently the Speaker of the House designee is a little thin skinned — if surrounded by much blubber.
In a letter proving they were the very petulant bullies Padron accused them of being, State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez and 10 of his fellow reps demanded an apology. Only one Democrat House member signed the letter. No senators did.
And Ladra is highly doubtful that Oliva, Gonzalez and their bunch are satisfied with the lukewarm “apology” — and I use that term loosely — that they got, even though Ladra heard from people in a position to know that it was, characteristically, in the works before the outraged demand. In fact, the word apology or “sorry” is never used. Padron simply said he regretted the use of certain words and that they had caused anyone to be offended.
He sorta didn’t apologize for what he said, maybe just how he said it. And, although se le salio el cubano — and maybe there was a better way to get that message across, like through a PAC or something — Padron might get what he wanted in the end.
The academic darling has unleashed a storm surge of support now in the final weeks of session. Alumni are flooding lawmakers with calls and letters urging that they pass the bill and put the decision in our hands. Columnists are wondering out loud how on Earth local lawmakers could be against a public vote on one of our most beloved and important institutions — and telling voters to take note. Letters are being written to the editor. Calls are being made on Cuban radio. And, I hear, the MDC faculty union plans to paper the legislators’ neighborhoods with flyers that tell voters their right is being denied. (Why didn’t they just do this before Padron opened his big, cuban mouth?).
If they aren’t scared of looking like they backed off — and, indeed, can spin it into “we negotiated a compromise” — legislators should just do the easy thing and pass the buck to voters this time.
Because, unlike the Dolphins stadium bill that Gonzalez sponsored and Trujillo and Bileca helped kill, this ballot measure does not come with automatic tax rebates or anything like that. So our elected representatives should absolutely let the people decide.
Miami Dade College tax battle still brews after big fight added by Ladra on
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