Carlos Gimenez rewards family (again) in $1.6 billion deal

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In the memo to county commissioners, Gimenez asks them to not only pay AECOM $91 million for three five-year contracts, but hire them to oversee the doling out of the rest of the $1.6 billion that the county is about to spend on federally mandated sewer repairs over the next 15 years. That’s a lot of power.

Maybe the mayor’s entire friends and family plan will get a piece of the pie, eventually. After all, doesn’t Ralph Garcia Toledo dabble in construction?

See? Even though the mayor was damned if he did, damned if he didn’t — having buddies on both side of the bidding battle — the public has little faith in the way this whole contract was managed.

The bid process began last year and while AECOM was ranked first above CH2M Hill, the process raised eyebrows and some concerns that the cone of silence was broken when county bureaucrats recommended that the mayor pick the latter. In other words, there were fears that some lucky political insider — and there are a bunch of them to pick from — got a leg up.

But last month, the Miami-Dade Inspector General cleared the way for AECOM’s consideration again, which cleared the way for the mayor’s recommendation Tuesday.

And also cleared the path for brand new Water and Sewer Director Bill Johnson, who seems to be on a mission. “I think it’s actually disgraceful that we’ve had a bid dispute going for eight months,” he told the commission’s infrastructure committee Tuesday. Well, Bill, eight months ago you were the soon-to-retire Port of Miami Director. But I guess that departments are interchangeable at the county. Maybe you should try elections, next. Ladra hears it’s a mess over there.

Johnson’s Monday morning quarterbacking is spot on, of course. And, frankly, Gimenez couldn’t have made a recommendation that wouldn’t come under fire.

But think about it: All his pals are involved. Even lobbyist Brian May and Francois Illas, who used to work for Gimenez’s tainted campaign manager Al Lorenzo (and who many perceive is a Lorenzo stand-in). And this has been coming for a while. The consent decree from the Justice Department was issued last year in response to a lawsuit because the county — which has neglected the crumbling sewer system for decades and has spewed waste into the Atlantic Ocean on multiple occasions — may have violated environmental laws.

Ladra, cynical dog that she is, just hopes it wasn’t intentional so the people in the mayor’s friends and family plan could line up their ducks.

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  Carlos Gimenez, lobbyists, Marcelo Llorente