New Miami Manager Art Noriega is approved — $310K in family therapy

Moments after his appointment was announced by Mayor Francis Suarez, new Miami City Manager Art Noriega immediately did what he was hired to do —  he brought a broken city commission together with a unanimous confirmation vote.

That is, after all, why Noriega was picked in the first place: Because of his relationship with commissioners — particularly the new boss, Alex Diaz de la Portilla — and his ability to mend the fences with Suarez. The mayor is also going to spend some quality time with ADLP in Paris — Alex loves Europe — and bond with him there. Ladra is sure paranoid Commissioner Joe Carollo is freaking out.

In fact, he looked like he took a Xanax Monday as he pretended to grill Noriega  r e a l  s l o w  all the while being obvious — wink, wink — that he was going to approve Alex’s boy. Diaz de la Portilla had moved it and may have been the architect behind the decision. He and Noriega go way back and Art has been helpful in his campaigns and his brothers’ campaigns.

The biggest winner Tuesday wasn’t Noriega or Suarez — who, on the outside, looks like he got one in with a hostile commission. The biggest winner is ADLP, who wouldn’t accept anyone else and got what he wanted.

There was very little discussion or argument — especially, for a city of Miami meeting.

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Noriega will start at $310,00 a year, which is $35K more than former Manager Emilio Gonzalez got before he resigned under pressure last month. He has proposed eliminating the deputy manager position, working with the three assistants instead, indicating that he is going to be far more hands-on than Gonzalez was.

Suarez said the salary was “inferior” to his MPA salary and Noriega told Ladra he took a pay cut because his whole MPA package included pension contributions and reimbursement for insurance equal to about $360K.

But Ladra is certain that he’ll have the same kind of insurance and pension contributions, or better, as city manager. He also gets a car and a $200 a month cellphone allowance and four weeks paid vacation. And when you add the 5% automatic raise every year, he’ll be banking in no time. By 2025, he could be making almost $400,000 in salary alone.

That’s if he lasts that long.

“I got a lot of that,” he confided to Ladra. “People looked at me cross eyed and said ‘Why are you doing this?’ I do have a lot of sweat equity in the city. I bring a skill set to both the mayor and commissioners. I understand relationships, I know how to manage. All of these things are needed right now.

“It’s an opportunity for me to do what leaders do,” Noriega told Ladra on his drive home from the city after 6 p.m. “These jobs have a short lifespan and I understand that. But I think I can make a difference and we can move the agenda along.”

Noriega also told commissioners earlier Monday that he would not be working outside the city — he wouldn’t need to with that salary — but he does serve on a number of boards on a pro bono basis and that he was about to be appointed to another board but would recuse himself if anything game up. He told Ladra that other board is the Orange Bowl Committee and that he doesn’t really expect there to be any issues, but he’ll recuse himself and leave the matter to an assistant city manager if anything comes up.

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Yeah, because that works so well at the county! Where the deputy mayors don’t follow the mayor’s agenda or wishes at all.

The new manager also told Carollo that he would be putting in 60 hours a week at first — but that’s because he’s wearing two hats until he can name his number the two the next MPA director. “I have a succession plan. I have always had a succession plan.” They have a board meeting next week, he said.

“Noriega understands how the city of Miami is run and he understands that he has six bosses,” Carollo told a Spanish-language news reporter afterwards.

Said Suarez: “Without a doubt he has friendships with some of the commissioners and that is going to be of value.”

This year, it’s worth at least $310,000.