How do you say “Welcome, Big Brother” in budgetese?
Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez put out a press release Wednesday doing his best impression of a grateful hotel concierge, all but fluffing pillows for the DeSantis-appointed DOGE squad as they announce plans to parachute into County Hall with flashlights and subpoenas.
In a glowing statement titled something like “Yay, Oversight!”, Rodriguez offered “full support” to State CFO Blaise Ingoglia and his team as they poke around County books and programs — including, of course, the usual Republican punching bags: green initiatives and DEI efforts.
“We share the same goals — ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, improving operational transparency, and streamlining government functions,” said Rodriguez, sounding like a guy who’s already picked out a desk for the state auditors.
He’s calling it ‘collaboration. But Ladra — and just about every county staffer who rolled their eyes reading this — knows what this really is: a not-so-subtle political stunt dressed up as budgetary due diligence.
Read related: Gov. Ron DeSantis sends Florida DOGE squad to sniff out Miami-Dade budget
Rodriguez used the press release to pat himself on the back for a bunch of made-up committees like the STRIP Task Force (yes, seriously) and the Government Efficiency and Transparency Ad Hoc Committee. GETAC? Really? And what’s the difference between the two? He also took credit for scheduling a special “Committee of the Whole” meeting for Aug. 20 to go digging for “immediate budget cuts,” just in time to show Tallahassee how serious he is about jumping on the DOGE train.
He did not tell them to look into the allocation of millions of taxpayer dollars to a shady non-profit headed by a politically-connected Republican who is working as the chief of staff to the Miami city manager. But that’s probably something they should also look into.
In a brown-nosing letter to the CFO Tuesday, which the commissioner posted on social media, Rodriguez invited him and his team to “this meeting, as I believe the discussions will provide valuable insight relevant to your work.”
How much you wanna bet they get more than two minutes?
Also, by the way, this additional extra meeting was Commissioner Raquel Regalado‘s idea.
Is that why the chairman basically handed the assignment over, urging Ingoglia to meet with Regalado, Commissioner J.C. Bermudez and pretty much anyone wearing a red tie in the 111 building.
Because what better way to show fiscal responsibility than inviting the Governor’s guys to sit in on your county budget process? Maybe they’ll bring snacks. Maybe they’ll bring subpoenas.
Read related: Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava defends new budget, service cuts
Look, nobody’s arguing that Miami-Dade doesn’t have some bloated contracts, inefficient processes, and legacy issues worth fixing. That $402 million budget gap is real — even if Rodriguez and his Republican pals have been quietly enjoying the federal trough for years and are only complaining about it now.
But this sudden love letter to Tallahassee oversight — when the county has spent years yelling about local control and Home Rule — smells a lot more like partisan posturing than responsible governance. It’s like lighting your own kitchen on fire and then thanking the arson investigator for showing up.
So yeah, let’s tell it like it is: Chairman Rodriguez isn’t just welcoming DOGE. He’s rolling out the red carpet, handing them a list of talking points, and asking for extra copies to use in next year’s campaign mailers.
And he’s calling it transparency.
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Rodriguez is filth. Plan and simple
Pay and benefit packages! The County drains money from taxpayers to give 28,000+ County
employees excessive pay and benefit packages. Deficit? Duh! Obvious. Cava is to blame… and all her overpaid executives.
It was once estimated it only $.10 of each tax dollars go to actually filling in the metaphorical pothole. The rest is sucked up in administrative overhead, benefit packages a stable of attorneys with a little to really do. Not to mention the hundreds, if not, thousands of studies and consultants to study and debate how the metaphorical pothole should be filled
Of the 28,000+ County full time employees probably 50% or more are stealing. Stealing from taxpayers. Cava is to blame and every commissioner is to blame.
DOGE should look at Anthony’s West Dade Government Center.
Floridah’s doge should look into commissioner Bermudez’s interest to get the county to pay for roads and accesses of the Canadian mall northwest of Hialeah. What’s in the bag?
DOGE should look at Miami’s police because some patrol do their jobs some do not do a thing but hang out their entire shifts and look at videos , text and even go home watch tv , etc .
Getting rid of all the dead weight would save us lots of money .