Coral Gables’ Police Salaries and Benefits: Did You Pick the Wrong Profession?

September 3, 2010 by SMc Leave a Comment

One can calculate average salaries and benefits in the 2010-2011 Estimated Budget for Coral Gables for the police department and you get the following amazing salaries and benefits.  This clearly evidences that it is time to cut salaries and benefits substantially.

  • (1) police chief $152,917 plus about $99,396 = $252,313 (note:  I have estimated benefit costs as 65% of salaries, but they could be a little more or less for any given position.)
  • (1) assistant police chief $84,220 plus $54,743 benefits = $138,963
  • (3) police sergeants $90,772 average plus $59,002 benefits =$149,774
  • (2) police lieutenants  $110,473 average plus $71,808 benefits = $182,280
  • (97) police patrol $78,449 average plus $51,858 benefits =$130,307

These are just averages.  They do not show very high salaries and benefits for certain individuals.  We trust that Mr. Salerno has set the negotiating conditions for lower salaries and benefits.

Filed under Budget, Employees and Unions, Finance, Government, Pensions

Improving the City of Coral Gables: Information for the Citizen

September 3, 2010 by SMc Leave a Comment

The National League of Cities has a great set of documents that provide good practices and guidelines to help improve the operations of cities, small and large.  The National League of Cities publishes “City Practice Briefs” and “Municipal Action Guidelines” that distill good practices, experiences and effective ways of strengthening local government.  Some of these briefs and guides are very relevant to Coral Gables and useful for the interested citizen.

City Practice Briefs provide a selection of city practices and programs on specific topics to assist municipal officials faced with decisions. Each City Practice Brief provides a summary of five to ten city programs along with contact information and is designed to facilitate networking.

Municipal Action Guides provide helpful background information on various topics in a concise format intended to offer guidance to municipal officials faced with decisions.  Each Municipal Action Guide is designed to identify a current challenge, outline strategies for addressing the challenge, list action steps that can be taken, include examples of effective city practices and programs, and identify other resources that are available.

via City Practice Resources | About Cities | National League of Cities.

Check out some of the recommendations that might be good for Coral Gables and see the previous post on “Try Communicating with the Citizens“

Filed under Government, Organization

City of Coral Gables: Try Communicating with the Citizens

September 3, 2010 by SMc Leave a Comment

See below recommendations of good communication practices by the National League of Cities (NLC) to improve commuication and understanding between the city government and the citizenry.
One may conclude that very few (or none) of these suggestions have been considered or practiced by the city government of Coral Gables, except in those few instance required by law such as boards, budget hearings and selected items on the Commission’s agendas.
For example, the recent Impasse Hearing between the city and the general employees was not transmitted on TV locally.
A NLC document recommends the following steps to communicate effectively with the community.
  • Seek input from your citizens on (a) their needs/wants; (b) their evaluation of services; (c) their views on how services can be improved; and (d) priorities for goals and objectives.
  • Use focus groups to obtain input from citizens on what results should be tracked by the government.
  • Provide outcome information to citizens in forums, meetings, newsletters, media interviews, and web-sites.
  • Offer periodic briefings on local government accomplishments to neighborhood and other citizen groups.
  • Provide to citizens outcome information likely to be of greatest interest to them, such as breakouts of outcomes by neighborhoods.
  • Provide annual reports to citizens, neighborhood associations, and other community groups that highlight the results achieved.
  • When the government reports to its citizens or media, require that the information provided includes the bad with the good – but also includes explanations and plans to correct the problems.
  • Work with the media to encourage their use and proper understanding of results-based information.

Filed under Government, Organization

Meeting Historic Preservation Board, Notice of Meeting, City of Coral Gables

September 3, 2010 by SMc Leave a Comment

Commission Chambers, City Hall, 405 Biltmore Way, 4:00pm, Thursday, September 16

CASE FILE LHD 2010-04  Designation of Architecture Building #48 and Architecture Building #49 called Architecture South and North, for consideration of the local historic designation of the buildings.

Contact Kara N. Kautz tel. 305-460-5090 for information.

Filed under Coral Gables, Government

Hearing on University of Miami Campus Area Development (UMCAD)

September 1, 2010 by SMc Leave a Comment

The City of Coral Gables Planning and Zoning Board will have a public hearing on the UMCAD.

Topic–”University Campus District (UCD)”

September 15, 2010 at 6:00pm at the Commission Chambers.

Filed under Community, Coral Gables, Government

Bad Prognostications for Coral Gables’ Future

September 1, 2010 by SMc Leave a Comment

Being cautious in trying to resolve the budget crisis in Coral Gables is equally dangerous.

…the administration has lost credibility with the public and the chances of a renewed fiscal expansion have disappeared. With the Federal Reserve cautious, too, the likelihood of a lengthy period of weak growth and heavy joblessness is high. So, too, are the chances of domestic and global political friction.

via FT.com / Columnists / Martin Wolf – Obama was too cautious in fearful times.

Filed under Economy, Government

Legacy of the “Slesnick Commission”

August 26, 2010 by SMc Leave a Comment

The city is nearing the close of an era and we may be getting a different commission next year.  The end of what we might call the “Slesnick Commission” has left a background of living through a bubble economy, a break down in management oversight and an abortive adaptation to changing economic conditions.

The next commission and mayor will find:

  • Still a bloated government;
  • A pattern of relentless property tax increases in goods times and in bad;
  • Mismanagement of the Country Club lease;
  • Mismanagement of the Biltmore Hotel lease;
  • A $200 million (to date)  pension liability;
  • An accumulation of unsustainable salaries and benefits;
  • A contracting tax base;
  • A resistance to building the edifice of a modern, open, well organized government with the participation of residents in significant decisions;
  • Weak and compliant city boards;
  • Unwelcome and costly projects, such as the new museum;
  • A government without an apparent strategy to promote new industries and businesses in new growth clusters; and
  • The end of large-scale commercial and residential real estate development for long period.

Certainly, there have been achievements of the commission, but they are swamped by the problems.  Some of these problems are not the blame of the commission, including the inevitable economic collapse.  But the reaction of the City of Coral Gables to the crisis has been insipid.

Filed under Coral Gables, Economy, Government, Management

Higher Property Taxes in a Housing Recession

August 24, 2010 by SMc Leave a Comment

This is not a good formula for Coral Gables’ taxpayers.  We need help from the City of Coral Gables.

Higher property taxes will drive housing prices even lower because buyers will be scared off by this city’s taxes and fees.

“Home sales were eye-wateringly weak in July,” said economist Paul Dales of Capital Economics. “It is becoming abundantly clear that the housing market is undermining the already faltering wider economic recovery. With an increasingly inevitable double-dip in housing prices yet to come, things could get a lot worse.”

via Double-dip in housing prices may be around the corner – Aug. 24, 2010.

Filed under Government, Housing, Property Values

← Older posts