Thread: Angry voters oust Miami-Dade mayor in special vote RECALL

Angry voters oust Miami-Dade mayor in special vote

By Kevin Gray
MIAMI | Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:59pm EDT

MIAMI (Reuters) - Voters in Miami-Dade, one of the most populous U.S. counties, removed Mayor Carlos Alvarez from office in a special vote on Tuesday triggered by popular anger over a hike in property taxes.

With 707 of 829 precincts reporting, official results showed 88 percent of voters backed the effort to oust the once-popular mayor, who is his second four-year term.

It was the biggest such ouster, or recall, of an elected official before the end of his official term since California voters tossed out Democratic Governor Gray Davis in 2003.

A Republican, Alvarez was first elected mayor in 2004 and re-elected in 2008. County commissioners can now either appoint an executive to serve out his term through late 2012 or call a special election.

The Miami-Dade recall bid, spearheaded by a billionaire anti-tax crusader, is the latest in a growing number of similar such attempts across the country to remove officials from office by voters angered by everything from taxes to the salaries of elected officials and union rights.

Miami-Dade County, which includes Miami, is home to about 2.5 million people.

The Cuban-born Alvarez came under criticism last year when Miami-Dade, saddled with record high 12 percent unemployment and the same budget deficits faced by many local and state governments, introduced a property tax increase to help fund vital services including police and public schools.

The 14 percent tax hike was imposed despite double-digit declines in real estate values as south Florida was hammered by the U.S. housing and mortgage foreclosure crisis.

Norman Braman, an auto dealer mogul listed by Forbes magazine among the 400 wealthiest Americans, bankrolled the petition drive that led to Tuesday's vote. Local media reports say he has spent about $1 million on the effort, which he orchestrated through two political action committees.

Braman, known in Miami for leading a campaign to halt a 1-cent sales tax increase for mass transit improvements in the late 1990s, strongly opposed a baseball stadium deal and the property tax rise forced through by Alvarez.

"We've been hit hard," he told Reuters in an interview in January.

"The federal government is cutting taxes, state governments have cut taxes to stimulate the economy. But here we're doing the opposite -- we're raising them," he said.

Alvarez, 58, was also criticized for raising salaries for some county employees as well as backing a deal to use nearly $350 million in public funds to build a new stadium to house the Florida Marlins baseball team in Miami's Little Havana district.

"Why would you raise property taxes when many people are fighting just to hold on to their homes? And then he raises salaries for some county workers," said Olga Navon, a 45-year-old housewife, who voted in favor of ousting Alvarez.

"He should have looked for another solution and been more sensitive at a time when people are worried about the economy and their jobs," she said.

(Writing by Kevin Gray and Tom Brown; Editing by Peter Cooney)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/ ... EC20110316

one by one ... into the unemployment line you go

who's next ...

Originally Posted by AirborneSapper7

one by one ... into the unemployment line you go

who's next ...

Herbert in Utah?

In a stunning recall election Tuesday, Miami-Dade voters recalled mayor Carlos Alvarez by a 9 to 1 margin. The mayor had pushed for a property tax hike and labor contracts with pay hikes for most county employees

March 16, 2011

Miami-Dade voters recall big-spending mayor by 9 to 1 margin

Thomas Lifson
32 Comments

In a stunning recall election Tuesday, Miami-Dade voters recalled mayor Carlos Alvarez by a 9 to 1 margin. The mayor had pushed for a property tax hike and labor contracts with pay hikes for most county employees. Matthew Braggman and Martha Brannigan of the Miami Herald write: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/15/2 ... varez.html

The campaign to recall Alvarez was launched in October by billionaire businessman Norman Braman after Alvarez successfully pushed for a property tax-rate increase to help plug a gaping budget hole. At the same time, Alvarez pushed for labor contracts with employee unions that included pay hikes for most county workers this year. [...]

The vote, which shocked many observers by the sheer size of the margin, means an abrupt end for Alvarez, who spent more than $1 million in a futile campaign to avoid recall. The county mayor must vacate his post once the election is certified by the county's three-member canvassing board on Friday

At that point, the county commission must choose whether to appoint a mayor or schedule a special election. The board has 30 days to decide. [...]

In 2007 Alvarez launched a successful petition drive in which voters granted him strong-mayor powers, giving him direct control of the county bureaucracy. He was given the increased authority in large part after arguing that only an empowered executive could tame a massive government plagued by scandal and mismanagement.

Alvarez was a classic big-spender when it came to his own:

in August 2009 The Miami Herald disclosed that as Alvarez was calling for shared sacrifice amid the searing economic downturn he handed large raises to close aides, including Chief of Staff Dennis Morales, whose 11 percent pay hike put his yearly salary at $206,783 [...]

In May, Alvarez came under fire for shopping for a new BMW 550i Grand Turismo sedan subsidized by an $800-a-month car allowance. He got the new car even as he already had two Chevy Suburbans to ferry him around on official business. Alvarez - earning a $233,123 salary and $92,187 in benefits - refused to get rid of the car allowance, saying he wasn't "going to do something that is symbolic."

The Democrats and their media lackeys are claiming that Wisconsin is a big success for them, because it has mobilized labor and liberals in opposition to cost-cutting Governor Walker. They are whistling past the graveyard. The voters of Miami-Dade have revealed that taxpayers are sick and tired of digging deeper so politicians and their union cronies can continue enriching themselves as if the taxpayers' money pot were bottomless.

Update: The mayor was a Republican, according to the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/us/16 ... tml?ref=us

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/201 ... igspe.html