Coral Gable Pension Liabilities–Unfunded and Unmanageable

March 23, 2021 Leave a comment

During at least the last 15 years we have heard about the unfunded pension liabilities and the multiple promises of commission candidates to fix the budget problem. None have been able to do so–more empty promises.

Solutions to the problem are fairly obvious but the city manager and the commission have been reluctant to make the changes. Better to put off to future when neither the manager nor the commissioners will be around.

The solutions are simple but require political acumen: raise taxes, reduce overall salary costs, change pension plans to lower cost ones, and cut back on public security overhead costs. Revenue costs would help but the city runs on the knife edge of deficits and any increases go into capital outlays and staffing.

Filed under Coral Gables, Finance

Florida New Pandemic Wave?

March 21, 2021 Leave a comment

Anecdotal observations in Coral Gables, Miami and Miami Beach show that the resident populations and Spring Bread tourists are playing the new COVID-19 variants that are very much faster at spreading, more contagious and more dangerous for your health.

Florida is leading the country in 1/ exporting virus to other state by spring breakers and 2/ many, many residents are putting down their guard and 3/ Governor DeSantis is promoting non-vaccine natural herd immunity.

Filed under Coral Gables

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ COVID-19 record is no success – Los Angeles Times (2)

March 21, 2021 Leave a comment

The death rates in most of Florida’s major population centers resemble that of Los Angeles: Miami-Dade, the largest, has a rate of 210 deaths per 100,000, Palm Beach 173, Pinellas County (St. Petersburg) 156.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ COVID-19 record is no success – Los Angeles Times

Filed under COVID-19

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ COVID-19 record is no success – Los Angeles Times

March 21, 2021 Leave a comment

Let’s take it from the top. It’s arguably true that Florida’s record on the pandemic hasn’t been as bad as was forecast. That’s not the same as saying it’s good. Florida’s COVID death rate is about 155 per 100,000 population, according to data from Johns Hopkins University reported by the Washington Post. California’s is about 141.

The difference isn’t trivial. As my colleagues Soumya Karlamangla and Rong-Gong Lin II observed earlier this month, “If California had Florida’s death rate, roughly 6,000 more Californians would be dead from COVID-19 …. And if Florida had California’s death rate, roughly 3,000 fewer Floridians would be dead from COVID-19.”

As of Friday, Johns Hopkins counts 33,219 COVID deaths in Florida, which has a population of about 21.5 million, compared with 55,795 in California, which has a population of about 40 million. Those figures are a reproach to anyone who tries to assert that the war on COVID-19 has been “won,” in either state.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ COVID-19 record is no success – Los Angeles Times

Filed under COVID-19

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