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Higgins, who resigned three weeks ago, is being investigated for using county equipment to do private, freelance gigs on the taxpayer’s dime. Her LinkedIn page shows that she has been doing freelance voice overs since 2009. On a different website, she lists clients, and Miami-Dade Water and Sewer and the Baynanza Festival are among them. I kid you not.
But sources tell Ladra that this is rampant at the old CIAO department and Higgins may not be the only one being investigated.
Las malas lenguas say Ana Chammas, the director of the TV department within the communications department, has sent employees
to run personal errands for her — bringing her breakfast, picking up items she needed for her kids, shopping for her — during their work day. An inner circle of her favorites would have hazings for new employees and then sit around her office, making jokes and eating — sometimes even drinking during the day on the 25th floor. Someone in a position to know says it’s a party there every day.
You can almost hear the Harlem Shake soundtrack. They say the climate has not changed in the two years since that video was produced.
MDTV has about 12 staffers, which is more than some small newsrooms. Is there really a need for that many? In today’s day and age, with the technology of podcasts and Periscope and Snapchat and google chats and social media, do we really need so many people developing biased, self-promotional videos to sell county taxpayers on just how well the county is spending our tax dollars? Seems counterpr
oductive, don’t it?
And those shows with the commissioners speaking — Javier Souto and Daniella Levine Cava seem to be available all the time –are so blatantly self-promotional it should be embarrassing. I know commissioners love to see themselves on TV, but maybe they can take better, live, more relevant videos with their district staff and of actual events or district specific services? You think?
Read related story: Two new county directors include mayor’s longtime aide
Perhaps the department should not be dismantled completely because you do need someone, okay maybe two people, updating content and maintaining the website. And the 311 center can be a good resource for citizens, especially as hurricanes approach and during other emergencies. But there seems to be a lot of time and money spent on the propaganda arm. And that’s what drives the director position, which should be someone with experience who can really do something r
eally fresh and effective with far less money and, at the same time even, better inform residents about real issues as well as activities and services. It should not a political appointment who is only going to produce propaganda to be used by the mayor and commissioners, increasingly when it’s campaign season.
Kim did not return calls to her office. But she confirmed to Channel 7 that the allegations were being investigated.
That’s it? Nothing about the rest of the department and what a slush fund it has become for some lazy and/or self-entitled county employees? Nothing about the changes that she’s implemented or is going to implement since being put in this job? How long will it take?
Does anybody else think Kim is way out of her wheelhouse here? Maybe the website management and TV operations should be under the IT department and the 311 call center under something else. Why do we need a communications department director at all if each department has their own communications office?
Ahhh… because it is a sacred, coveted, high-salaried director’s position, that’s why. It is a carrot used to reward cronies and/or keep people in line. It is a shiny coin to dazzle in front of malleable wannabes to get them to do the dirty work. If it weren’t a political gift position, Kim would not be getting paid $155K a year to do something she is completely inexperienced for.
Of course, that’s not the official line. The official line is that change is slow in the vast bureaucracy that is bigger than some states.
“It’s a department that is still in transition,” said Michael Hernandez, the mayor’s very capable and diligent communications director, who really should be in charge of the department. “The department needed a new direction and to refocus its mission. A new director was hired for those purposes. More changes within the department may be necessary to better serve the residents of Miami-Dade County.”
Oye, Mike, tell your boss that I can run that department better and will do it for half the price!
I’ve won an Emmy, too!
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