Outgoing COS Lisa Martinez gets her very own Day

Joining giants like Lebron James and Emilio Estefan and local heroes, the outgoing chief of staff to the county mayor got a the ultimate kiss up Thursday at the Miami-Dade Commission meeting, where her boss, Mayor Carlos “Mr. Giveaway” Gimenez proclaimed it Lisa M. Martinez Day.

After just three years? What does she know?

Gimenez read some words by English author Douglas Adams and then went on and on and on about how Martinez has proven to be a dedicated professional who ensured the mayor’s office ran effectively day-to-day. Really? She got $180,000 salary to be a planner/office manager? And effective might me arguable. The mayor also praised everything she did before she joined the county, well, because she hasn’t done that much since Gimenez stole her from the Miami-Dade School Board, where his wife works. He talked about her work at the city of Miami for then Mayor Manny Diaz and her involvement in several civic and children’s organizations.

He said that Martinez — who surprised everyone last week when she announced she would leave the county — had demonstrated “remarkable and loyal service and has made our overall county a better place to live, work and visit.”

Really? Really?

I don’t mean to be mean but Martinez made his office a better place to live, work and, maybe, visit. Ladra is certain she made the mayor’s life easier. The rest of the community, who the mayor said he spoke on behalf of, didn’t really get to weigh in on this.

“Lisa wants to go back to her first love, which is children. I keep telling her that we really are children, but she doesn’t believe me,” the mayor said in a sweet little speech in which he had to swallow twice to seemingly fight back tears. “She’s going back to her true love and that’s a sign of a true pubic servant. You have to do what’s in your heart and Lisa is doing what’s in her heart.

“Thank you for your three great years,” Gimenez said, now facing a tearful chief of staff. “You’ve really changed the county for the better and I know youre going to continue to do that in whatever you do.

“Hmmmmmmmm, Ladra thinks.

Martinez, who later came under fire for the slow movement on the FIU expansion efforts (more on that later), said it had been a difficult decision.

“There are moments in time when you have to kind of dig deep and tweak the path,” she started, wiping her cheeks often. “The mayor gave me a tremendous opportunity that made me not just grow professionally but personally and exposed me to an entire county family that has taught me how to be a better person and has given me the opportunity to be able to do really important work.”And I can only hope that wherever I land, I can be able to find a place where I can continue collaborating with everybody here,” Martinez said.

Hmmmmmm, Ladra thinks.

Gimenez wasn’t the only laying it on a little thick. Commission Chair Rebeca Sosa told Martinez she would be missed and that the county’s loss was someone else’s gain — even though Martinez is playing coy and has said she doesn’t have anything solid for which she is leaving her $180,000 job.

Hmmmmmmm, Ladra thinks.

Sosa, who also wiped tears from her face, lauded Martinez for increasing the participation in the Head Start program at no cost to the county. “Today we say that we are serving more children because of the decisions of this commission and your hard work,” Sosa said.

“Your accessibility, the way you explain issues, your human social factor was instrumental in helping everyone and making Miami-Dade county a better place,” Sosa said, though Ladra can find a few county employees who might differ.

“I know you’re going to be very successful wherever you go,” Sosa added.

Hmmmmmmm, Ladra thinks.

Carlos Gimenez, Lisa Martinez, Rebeca Sosa

Outgoing COS Lisa Martinez gets her very own Day added by Ladra on July 18, 2014
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