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Prelude to an
Intervention
By Rebecca Wakefield “The problem is all inside your head,” she said to me. The answer is easy if you take it logically. I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free. There must be 50 ways to leave your lover. — Paul Simon Manny Diaz, it’s time we talked. I didn’t want to say anything before, but now I have no choice. Manny, you are in an unhealthy relationship and it’s time to get out. I know what you’re thinking. Joe Arriola (right) is the best thing that ever happened to you. He’s your just-do-it guy in a city that historically didn’t do much. Yes, he’s rough around the edges. Yes, he’s loud, impolitic and deeply insecure. But you’ve always liked him and you trust him. He’s buried the bodies that needed burying and never asked why. He’s taken the public relations hits and let you be the golden boy. He’s your Sammy the Bull, without the bloodlust. But now, the time bomb we always knew Joe represented has gone off. It’s not his fault. Joe es Joe. You, of all people, should know by now that you can’t change him. We all know that Joe will have to go sometime. It’s only a question of when, how and how much damage he does on the way out. You guys on the second floor of City Hall have a bunker mentality. You think that the media is out to get you. Honestly, we’ve given you and Joe way more rope than we usually do with Miami politicians because you seemed to be trying to do the right thing. Maybe we don’t always agree on how you get there, but at least you seemed to have a vision. The media focuses on Joe Arriola because he’s great street theater. We couldn’t ignore the fire fee scandal, the sudden raise he orchestrated for you with that sneaky pocket item or the completely insane real estate deal you entered into with Joe and Commissioner Johnny Winton. You also seem to think that this will blow over soon enough. The majority of Miami citizens are not beating at the gates, or calling for anyone’s head. Most of the noise comes from a small but determined cadre of residents with axes to grind and large e-mail distribution lists. But people are paying attention and while they may often be an apathetic bunch, stupid they are not. Nobody is buying the bullshit about Hank Adorno single-handedly snowing you, Joe, the commission and several of the city’s attorneys about the implications of a $7 million payout to a handful of people. Even if it were true, which it clearly isn’t, that would mean we would have to take comfort that y’all are dumb rather than devious. In a way, you are to be commended for your inexplicable loyalty to Joe. Most mayors with higher political aspirations would have forced him out by now, or at least outfitted him with a choke chain. No matter what you do now, you will take a hit. If you fire Joe, it looks like he did something wrong. There’s the same problem if he suddenly quits. You know he’s not going to want to go quietly, adorable egomaniac that he is. Remember his fiery exits from the school district and the Public Health Trust? Maybe you and Joe are thinking he can stick around for another couple of months, ride it out and leave in style. You owe him for a thousand little things and so does most of the commission. But your credibility and theirs is increasingly on the line. This may not matter for, say, Angel Gonzalez, who is way more interested in what projects he can get for his district and how many city staffers he can intimidate or cause to be fired by loyal Joe. (Just FYI, since your city attorneys seem to be a little slow on the uptake, you might not have heard that former NET director Ricardo Gonzalez, who was fired after a public argument with Commissioner Gonzalez, has filed a lawsuit based on the violation of his First Amendment rights. It may or may not go anywhere, but the depositions are bound to be interesting reading.) But credibility will eventually matter for Commissioner Joe Sanchez, who may want to run for mayor someday and thus have to appeal to a wider demographic, one that has begun to get a taste for good government. Similarly, Michelle Spence-Jones, your former employee whom you and Joe helped get elected, could have a harder time keeping her commission seat if her district perceives her as a mere proxy. Winton’s district is also one to watch, as it contains some of the more active and irate citizens. So, why, really, won’t you do what needs to be done? I hate to quote Tomas Regalado on the subject, since you and he are near mortal enemies. In fact, he plans to call for Joe’s head at today’s commission meeting. But your inaction has given his words strength they would not otherwise carry. He believes that it’s about fear. “I think the City Commission and the mayor have Stockholm syndrome,” Regalado offered as his own theory. “These people are being hurt politically by this King Kong. They are hostages of Arriola and [yet] they love him. It’s like Patty Hearst.” What will Joe do if he feels like he’s been sold out? He’s got lots of money to run candidates, and no problem with indulging a Spanish-language media feeding frenzy. He knows a lot and some of what he knows might hurt his current bosses. That’s the theory anyway. Only you know for sure, Manny. You’re in a tough spot, but there are ways out. There must be 50 ways to leave your manager.
You just slip out the back, Jack Comments? E-mail wakefield@miamisunpost.com. |