It’s that time of year again when the top county official will tell his constituency and the leaders of his realm how the municipality that is Miami-Dade is standing, what great things he’s done this past year and where he’s going if they’ll let him.
Expect a lot of the same words and tired phrases at Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s State Of The County address this morning as we’ve heard since the 2011 campaign.
Because this is kinda of like campaigning, isn’t it?
He isn’t “a magician,” you know? He likes to “underpromise and overdeliver,” he was quoted as saying in the Miami Herald. Geez. I’ve heard that line like 20-something times since the 11-candidate race to replace recalled former Mayor Carlos Alvarez in 2011.
Gimenez desperately needs new material. And in the interest of the transparency he has overpromised and underdelivered, might Ladra — with the help of a few political insiders, county employees, residents and even, perhaps, a couple of commissioners — suggest that he actually say something?
Like that he’ll put politics aside and get Airport City done within this decade?
Ditto with the Water and Sewer project. Maybe he can tell us he’ll get it done before the federal government takes it over?
Maybe he can say he’s going to do something to reform the hit-or-miss procurement process that really lacks any semblance of confidence from the citizenry.
He could also tell us what he’s going to do to reverse the trend of downgrading bonds, which reflects that Wall Street has little confidence in our government also, a dim view as to Miami-Dade’s capacity to finance its operations.
Or maybe he’ll underpromise to negotiate in good faith with the public employees who are also taxpayers, not hold a grudge with them and find a way to really compromise on concessions that are set to expire this year, which we know he will say the county can’t afford.
The mayor could tell us he’s going to really restructure his own office and not just cut the number of departments but reduce the number of “vice departments” he has within them — he didn’t really cut much, just merge
d a lot — that seems to have bogged down government service and processes somewhat.
Maybe he could say he’s going to concentrate on things that really matter — like infrastructure, transportation and, perhaps, a real convention center — instead of throwing money and public land at billionaire sports team owners for their stadiums and flying to Europe to visit the Pope. This is a world class city without a world class convention center, without a world class transportation system.
The mayor could also promise to work better with commissioners, providing more information in the budgeting process and letting them have input from the beginning, rather than just throwing them under the bus with a zero tax rate increase that slashes services. That’s just so he can say “I didn’t raise taxes. They did.”
Maybe he could say he’ll work harder to find the real waste in the budget and have fewer fundraisers for his friends.
Maybe Gimenez could admit that he’s had a rough start and say he’s going to start over. Not “make lemonade out of lemons,” as he said in the Miami Herald that he usually tries to do, but rather trade some lemons for apples and avocados.
Because after the applause dies down today and the lights are off and the cameras go back to the studio, Gimenez has to go back to work.
And maybe he can surprise us.
Suggestions for Carlos Gimenez to address at address added by Ladra on
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