The city commission meeting Thursday turned into a shouting match between commissioners Miguel “Mike” Gabela and Manolo Reyes basically because of the contentious fight on the self-serving lifetime pensions for electeds that Gabela has championed twice before changing his mind, also twice.
Gabela said he stood by the principle of his idea, which was to make it fair across the board. When the pension was suspended in 2009 at the height of the city’s financial woes, it cut off future commissioners but current commissioners at the time were grandfathered in. “It should be either all or none,” Gabela said, even though those electeds were vested in an existing pension program and had defined benefits that could not be removed without risking legal action.
“Sometimes here, we get off subject,” Gabela said, trying to explain for the umpteenth time how a lifetime pension with no contribution from them would be the same as a 401K to which they contribute.
Read related: Miami commissioners slap residents in the face with lifetime pensions vote
“Some blew it out of proportion,” he said. Still, he changed his mind after his constituency balked in public — and in private conversations with him. “And at the end of the day, I consider the voter my boss. When I have to retract, when I have to reverse, I will put it in reverse and do the right thing.”
Then he gets off subject.
“But I learned something here that is very interesting,” he said, sounding more and more like Joe Carollo as he went on and on.
“I’ve been bashed by a certain radio program all the time. Whether it’s the pension, whether it’s the Freedom Park, I’ve been called that I don’t care for my area,” Gabela said, because he has to pound his chest at every meeting. “I have done so many things for my area up to now. We have a weed eater team to clean up, that nobody has done this before… we’re out there all time, and I’m not complaining.”
No, it just sounded like he was complaining.
“But all day, this radio station, they note the negativity,” Gabela went on, off subject. “What you gotta do is you gotta hire a media communications [person] that has links with that radio station and then that radio station will carry what you want them to carry as a commissioner. And I’m talking to you Mr. Reyes.”
He referred to Commissioner Reyes as Mister Reyes, twice. And he was referring in his rant to a woman on Reyes’ district staff that has previously worked in radio. But many, many communications people are former journalists. Maybe Gabela doesn’t know that.
“When you go, they never ask you the hard questions. When I go, they throw hard balls at me. Like for example when I went last time, they wanted to know why I had not said anything about what you had said chairwoman, like it was my responsibility, which it is not,” Gabela said, referring to Chairwoman Christine King‘s unfortunate comment calling Miami voters “mean and miserable.”
Read related: Fight over Omni CRA causes new rifts, alliances on Miami City Commission
“We are all slaves of our words. We are all accountable for our words,” Gabela said.
Well, maybe not all of us, right Mike?
He seemed upset that the same journalists — Roberto Rodriguez Tejerar and Juan Camilo Gomez from Actualidad Radio 1040 AM — did not ask Reyes the same question. Not that we would have to explain journalism to you, Mr. Gabela, but the reason is that the comments were about putting the pension for electeds on a referendum for a public vote, which you said you would do. It was your item, not Reyes’ who has voted against it consistently. You sponsored it — many say as a horse trade to get King’s vote on his CRA dreams — and you also said you would support taking it to referendum. Twice. Actualidad had that recorded from a previous show and played it and that’s why you’re pissed.
Reyes voted against the pensions, which King and you voted in favor of. So it was more relevant that you confront King on her double standard. After all, the chairwoman said voters gave the city a mandate on the outdoor gym equipment at Maurice Ferre Park. They weren’t mean and miserable then?
But Gabela wasn’t done with Reyes yet. He started talking about the millions of dollars that the city will likely spend to defend against the lawsuit filed by former Chief Art Acevedo against the city and the then Three Amigos, which were Carollo, Reyes and the ringleader, former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who was arrested last year on public corruption charges (more on that later).
“And Mr. Reyes you are a defendant,” he said, “That’s money that we could have saved. That’s money being misspent that nobody wants to talk about.
“You’re going to cost the city of Miami $2 or $3 million, and that’s a fact,” he said.
Reyes was not shy when he shot back.
“I have never heard such an incongruent and asinanine statement like I heard today. Its ridiculous,” he said, before Gabela interrupted with, “You guys are all besties. You want, I’ll show you the photos.”
Said Reyes: “I’m not going to go to your level. Don’t take that victim attitude that everybody is against you. When I go to the radio station, I go prepared. I have the answers. I have my word. And I never change my word.” He’s obviously referring to Gabela’s back and forth on the position.
Read related: Lifetime pensions for Miami electeds should go to a public referendum vote
“When they ask the hard questions, I have the hard answers,” Reyes said, then he turned to the chambers. “I sincerely apologize to all the residents of the city of Miami. This is uncalled for. This is unprofessional. And this is ridiculous.”
Gabela, who kept talking over Reyes (and vice versa), repeated that he had photos to “prove there is a link” between the Reyes staffer and the radio station, which is Actualidad Radio AM and, in particular, Roberto Rodriguez Tejera, a 40 or more year veteran of journalism.
“They made me look like I was the commissioner who didn’t care,” Gabela said. “I’m learning as I go along. I gotta get myself a media coordinator on some radio station so that I can do the same thing.”
No, what you have to do is give straight answers, even when you don’t like the questions. And especially if they have you on the record saying something else.
Miami commission meeting becomes Miguel Gabela vs. Manolo Reyes bout added by Ladra on
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