Government Jobs have to Go in Miami

November 29, 2010 Leave a comment

No doubt we are just at the start of the reduction of city employment throughout the country and in region.  Unions have resisted salary and benefit reductions, but appear to accept employee layoffs, especially of lower category workers.

The next stage will be to really reduce salaries and benefits on a grand scale and cut back jobs of the better paid management, police and firefighters.

One field that remained strong in the face of the downturn was government work, where 151,000 jobs in September were almost 14% of the county’s total. While construction jobs were declining 41% over three years, government jobs fell 6,500, just 4%, despite governments claiming austerity budgets as they raised taxes — about 15% at Miami-Dade County Hall alone.

via Bite your tongue and thank your blessed governments too.

Filed under Coral Gables, Employees and Unions, Miami-Dade County

Coral Gables: What Should We Ask the Candidates for Commissioner and Mayor? (1)

November 5, 2010 1 Comment

It is election time again.

There are a number of well financed candidates for the jobs of commissioner and mayor.  It is hoped that the candidates volunteer their views on property taxes, pensions, salaries, city management and organization, the Biltmore problem, the country club, spending on low priority items, among others.

We look forward in hearing about some of their specific proposals and suggestions for solving the cities problems.

Here are some critical questions that should be asked of the candidates.

These are just examples of questions that might be raised.  Send me your suggestions and I will add them to the list.

TAXES–

  • What are your proposals for future tax increases?
  • Should taxes be frozen for several years in light of the economic crisis the taxpayers are going through in Coral Gables, or should they continue to increase?  Do you favor a real tax freeze (not numbers games with the millage rate)?
  • Do you think that taxpayers are able to continue to pay more and more taxes, as they have in the past.
  • Do you favor increasing fees to make up for tax shortfalls?

BUDGET–

  • Do you favor having an open discussion of the budget by citizens, rather than the two-minute-moments they are getting now.
  • Will the city manager and staff be willing to accept multiple questions on the budget?

OPEN AND TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT–

  • What will you do about making our government more open and more participatory?
  • Do you favor any of the following:  town hall meetings, open website with a page for comments and question, regular reports from the city manager,  quarterly progress reports on the budget, among others.

SALARIES, PENSIONS, UNIONS–

  • What should be the goals of the city negotiations with the police and firefighters?
  • Should the negotiations continues to be secret for the citizens?
  • Should police and firefighter salaries and benefits be cut.
  • Should  the number of police and firefighters be cut to help cut expenses and taxes?
  • Are you willing to take a strong stance against salaries and benefits in future Impasse Hearing?

PRIORITY SERVICES–

  • What services do you propose to cut in order to keep our taxes down?
  • Will you restrict unnecessary spending related to the Museum or other community centers in Coral Gables?

CAPITAL SPENDING–

  • What are your ideas for capital spending in the coming years?
  • Should we keep borrowing money for capital projects?

Filed under Coral Gables, Election, Employees and Unions, Politics, Taxes and Fees

Alvarez needs Benevolent Association: Recall Moving Ahead

October 25, 2010 Leave a comment

The support of the Dade County Police Benevolent Society (its name itself a flat contradiction in terms) for Mayor Alvarez demonstrates once again the negative influence of public sector labor unions, their disproportionate influence over government and elected officials, their glaring indifference to the well being of the greater number of taxpayers and their arrogance of infallibility.

Alvarez is countering the recall momentum with a long-standing base of support: The Dade County Police Benevolent Association has donated $50,000 to a PAC the mayor formed to mount a defense.

Alvarez formed the PAC, called Citizens For Truth, allowing him to raise unlimited sums of money. According to the latest filings, he has raised $54,650. Nearly all came from the PBA, which held a rally on the mayor’s behalf this weekend.

Alvarez was former director of Miami-Dade Police and earlier this year backed a 13 percent pay hike for county police, which will take effect in installments from September 2010 to September 2011.

via Braman: Signatures collected to put recall to voters – Miami-Dade Breaking News – MiamiHerald.com.

Filed under Employees and Unions, Miami-Dade County

Let Local Government Face Reality–Coral Gables, Too

October 8, 2010 Leave a comment

If state and local government employment is falling, this is just to recognize that many of these governments over expanded employment, salaries and pensions during the real estate bubble. Coral Gables did this.

There are many years of adjustment that must be made in the local and state governments.  Let’s hope that our local municipal and county leaders will face reality before they keep hitting up taxpayers, instead they need to do real deep adjustments in budgets, salaries and benefits, organization and prioritizing services.  They keep postponing their own pain with the expectation that the economy will bail them out.

Regarding today’s employment report

“The private-sector growth is somewhat heartening but in total you have to expect that state and local and government jobs are going to be a drag for a number of months and perhaps a number of quarters,” Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer at Pacific Investment Management Co. in Newport Beach, California, said in a radio interview on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene. He called the report a “strong signal” for further Fed action.

via Employers in U.S. Cut More Jobs Than Forecast (Update3) – Bloomberg.com.

Filed under Economy, Employees and Unions, Property Values

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