Top 10 reasons to vote Gimenez

People wanted to know why it is that I have come to support former commissioner Carlos Gimenez and voted for him to become our next county mayor last week during early voting. I can sum up the most motivating factors in a Top Ten list, ala David Letterman.

Reason Number 10 to vote for Carlos Gimenez: He isn’t under investigation by federal, state or local authorities for anything.

Reason Number 9: His fiscal management experience includes bringing the city of Miami back from financial ruin as city manager there while his opponent has made costly mistakes that have left the city of Hialeah in a questionable financial state which voters will not really know the extent of until after the election.

Reason Number 8: He is transparent and open to challenge. What you see is what you get. The other guy is a little less so. What you see depends on who and where you are.

Reason Number 7: He was once a fireman.

Reason Number 6: He answers questions directly, even the ones he doesn’t like, and doesn’t hide from pesky reporters at public events, or private events for that matter, and answers his own phone or returns calls (or did before the campaign went into overdrive and will again once elected). I don’t know about you, but I do not want a mayor who won’t be accessible to the journalists he doesn’t agree with and won’t answer the questions he doesn’t like.

Reason Number 5: He isn’t hated and reviled by the public municipal employees that worked under him and will not use his position as a platform for personal perks or favors to friends.

Reason Number 4: He hasn’t increased his net worth from under $800,000 to more than $8 million since he has been in office and he doesn’t make high-risk, high-interest personal loans and he isn’t a principal in dozens of corporations, some with strikingly similar names, and limited partnerships with business associaties that include two men indicted on racketerring charges in 2004 (even if the charges are not later pursued).

Reason Number 3: He does not flip-flop on his position on important community and campaign issues, whether it is the Marlins stadium, term limits or his stance on equal rights.

Reason Number 2: Did I mention he was once a fireman?

And, the Number 1 reason to vote for Carlos Gimenez: He is not Julio Robaina.