Privatization is not such a great solution for the city of Coral Gables

March 15, 2011 Leave a comment

There is a lot of bad experience with the privatization of municipal services in the US.

And there are many hidden costs to the city government of privatization or outsourcing.

There have been serious issues of maintaining the quality of services by the private operators.  The region of South Florida has a particularly bad history of incompetent outside contractors, weak state laws to be able to sue contractors for incomplete work, and there are high city costs of selecting and supervising the contractors.  Evidence is that the community can be very unhappy with the quality of privatized services.

In short, privatized costs do not save costs nor is quality of services sustained.  Greater effort should go into improving the efficiency of Coral Gables government operations.  That is the job of the city manager and the city commission.

He appeared more eager that the other aspirant to take on challenges that the city will face in the coming years, among them increasing privatization of services.

via Commission hires assistant county attorney.

Filed under Coral Gables, Florida, Government, Organization

Rosenblatt Opposes Tax Increases

March 15, 2011 Leave a comment

I was glad to hear from candidate Brad Rosenblatt that he opposes tax increases.  This is a good first step in placing some limits on pensions, unnecessary capital projects, salaries, staffing, and city organization.

Filed under Coral Gables

Coral Gables Mayor Running on the Future, Only Candidate for More Taxes

March 14, 2011 1 Comment

Based on multiple and well financed ads, the Mayor has decided to overlook the past, except for a few awards that recognize the city of Coral Gables (also, ignoring the ones about the best city manager and the best city attorney), he pictures the beauty of Coral Gables (hardly one person’s achievement), and runs his campaign on virtually the same theme as Obama,”Win the Future.”

His feel-good-everything-is-great-campaign openly favors more taxes (he talks in terms of a “reasonable cost to taxpayers”) but he has nothing to say about how to ameliorate high salaries and unfunded pension liabilities, the failed Biltmore lease, the (still top secret) Biltmore audit, the continuing Country Club uncertainty, capital projects and city indebtedness, the disappearance of financial reserves, among others.

The Mayor’s view is perfectly fine if you don’t mind paying more taxes, and there are some apparently in the quiet Coral Gables PAC, the BID, commercial and residencial property owners and long-term residents who don’t mind paying more taxes.

This may be a winning formula for the Mayor if candidates Cason and Korge split the votes.

Filed under Coral Gables

Hard to find worse housing news for South Florida and Coral Gables

March 11, 2011 Leave a comment

I wonder what will happen to Coral Gables’ property values this year.  Won’t there be enormous pressures on the city of Coral Gables to raise tax rates yet again.

Dear candidates for commissioner and mayor: This is your real life challenge,  not Miracle Mile, parks, trolleys or public security.

Zillow found that 46.3 percent of all South Florida homes sold in January sold for a loss, down from 49.2 percent during the previous January.

South Florida home values have fallen 54.8 percent since their peak in June 2006. Nationwide, home values have fallen 28.2 percent since the peak.

Nearly 43 percent of all single-family homes in South Florida with a mortgage were underwater in the fourth quarter. Nationwide, 27 percent of homeowners owed more than what their home is worth.

via Zillow: S. Fla. home values down in January | South Florida Business Journal.

Filed under Coral Gables, Housing

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