Strong-Mayor System:
Tempting, But Wrong

That’s right: Commissioner Natacha Seijas will either send Alvarez an olive branch or seek another elected office.

The Miami-Dade County Commission, as an entity, has been acting badly for years. In recent days the County Commission’s collective attitude has been similar to a child throwing a tantrum as it passed ordinances restricting the rights of citizens.

When they created new restrictions on citizen’s ability to circulate petitions for referendums, commissioners were reacting at least in part to Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez’s drive for a strong-mayor form of government — one that would grant the mayor the power to nominate and fire department heads as well as the county manager, to run the day-to-day operations of the county, to execute approved contracts and to appoint various individuals to committees. Starting on Jan.8 and all the way through the general election of Jan. 23, voters will have a chance to say yes or no to a strong-mayor form of government, thanks to Alvarez’s allies collecting enough signatures to get the issue on the ballot. Otherwise, this issue would never have seen the light of day — as all 13 commissioners despise the measure.

Now, newly enacted county laws will allow petition signers to retract their signatures, requires only one signature be allowed per page, mandates that the text to be of a certain font size and makes it possible for anyone deemed a liar who is circulating petitions to be thrown in jail. It is obvious that the laws’ intent is to prevent further citizen challenges to the will of local governments as well as the power-base of the County Commission. It was a stupid, arrogant and anti-democratic move. And it’s tempting to send county commissioners a message by voting “yes.” For a strong-mayor form of government.

Tempting, but wrong.

Alvarez and his allies say that a strong-mayor form of government will make government transparent and more accountable to the people. What will really happen is that it will be easier for special interests and political operatives to control virtually all-aspects of county government, provided their lobbyists and operatives can reach just one man — the mayor. Within days of the measure passing, Alvarez — assuming he doesn’t have to run for office again — will be the most sought-after figure in county government. Developers, business advocacy groups, contract seekers -- even county commissioners interested in staying in office and furthering their agendas (whatever they happen to be) -- will start warming up to him. (That’s right: Commissioner Natacha Seijas will either send Alvarez an olive branch or seek another elected office.)

Now, if Alvarez is able to use and maintain this new wave of popularity to make government effective for and accountable to the people, then fantastic (at least until his term in office ends). But what if Alvarez simply appoints his buddies as department heads who then hire supervisors who happen to be their friends, who then hire underlings who happen to be their friends, and so on? What if Alvarez decides he doesn’t want to respect the will of the commission and delays the execution of a contract? Worse yet, what if Alvarez can’t leverage his power and commissioners continue to reject his appointments? The answer is that we’re screwed until at least 2008, that’s what. Remember. It’s harder to recall a public official now thanks to the county’s new petition rules.

And even if we assume Alvarez is a “straight arrow,” what about the next guy? Imagine the newly augmented mayor’s post in the hands of a corrupt megalomaniac. He or she will have direct control over all services — including the heavily armed Miami-Dade Police Department, the lucrative Miami International Airport, the life-saving Fire Rescue, etc.

The next guy may come sooner than we think as a legal challenge could force a new mayoral election if the strong-mayor referendum passes.

County government has to be reformed and we, as county residents, can still use our petitioning powers, restricted though they may be, to make it happen. County residents should seek term-limits for commissioners. They should also push to ban campaign contributors and fundraisers from receiving county contracts or county funding. And the list goes on.

Or maybe we can make the commission do the right thing by leveraging something they want — namely a pay raise. We can tell them that in exchange for meaningful reform, we will vote for a raise in their base salary from $6,000 a year to $60,000 a year — or maybe even $85,000.

We can also get off our asses and start recalling questionable public officials, or at least finding candidates who can effectively challenge them when it comes time for re-election.

A strong-mayor form of government won’t reform how government operates. It will just open the door to absolute corruption centered on one figure.

It is for that reason that the SunPost recommends a “no” vote for the County Commission strong-mayor question.