Comm. Joe Sanchez says "Eliminate Pensions"
Commission Chairman Joe Sanchez announced today a landmark financial reform legislative package that he will bring before the City Commission meeting on September 24.It will include the elimination of pensions for all future elected officials, require that all collective bargaining agreements be reviewed by the City's Finance Committee prior to submission to the Commission for approval; prohibit executive employees from joining the costly general employees' pension system and he wants to take away the ability of non-union employees to cash out unused leave for huge payouts.
101 police officers are being let go and at the same Commission meeting on the 24th, they will be picketing and asking for Mayor Manny Diaz to give up his own $100,000 per year pension for only eight years of service, where it takes a police officer a minimum of 20 years of putting his life on the line to get the same.
The September 24 Commission meeting should be interesting.
posted by Tom Falco at 4:00 PM
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66 Comments:
Nice job, Grape. You beat the Herald to this good news!
Nice rhetoric, do it! Put it in writing and present it to proper authority. Do it, just don't speak some useless words to grab some headlines. I do that and it leads no where. But, then, I'm not a public official.
I think pensions should be eliminated to ALL elected officials both past, present, and future.
Lets not pull a "Manny" Joe.
Not fair that you and Regalado leave with that and the rest get screwed.
Regalado will retire and have no assets but his pension, which he relied upon in his careful financial planning. Have you no heart, Anon 4:31?
I can just picture what history wouldve been like with this line of thinking. Imagine Abe Lincoln saying, "Well, we're abolishing slavery but only from here on out. If you already own some slaves, youre allowed to keep them but no new slaves will be allowed."
I respect the Police and Fire departments for what they do and believe they deserve their pensions. I will say that there are some cases where these pensions get out of control though, so maybe some sort of halfway point can be reached?
Why do politicians deserve pensions? They dont put their lives on the line, dont walk a beat, and most of the time land a cushy job after their term is over. I mean, "Assisted in Running a Major City" kinda looks decent on a job application...
It makes you wonder, are they in politics to help people or bide their time of 8 years for a full pension.
I don't do labor law, so take this with a grain of salt, but there are laws that protect employees with respect to their wages, benefits and pensions. Without any research on the matter, I would venture to say that the City would be in deep legal doo doo if it were to just eliminate the pensions of people who are already part of a pension plan, especially people who are vested. There would be no problem, however, with having a new benefit package for everyone who starts new that no longer has a pension. Joe's plan would stop the bleeding in the future without subjecting the City to massive potential lawsuits.
blind mind - your posts are usually spot on, but slavery vs. pensions? come on! how do you tell some poor schmo that after 19 years of service he ain't getting a pension, which is probably the only reason he/she stuck out 19 longs years at the city of miami to begin with? i think they need to go as much as the next guy, but you gotta honor what you committed to do.
There you go again defending Sanchez.
The person who will get away with murder is Manny Diaz.
His extra 50K salary adds onto his pension giving him over a 100,000 dollar pension a year.
Silk,
I think the comparison is spot on.
Sanchez still gets pension and the poor souls after him dont?
Something wrong there. Lets make change not headlines.
umm, yeah. gotta draw the line in the sand somewhere.
Uhh, I'm no expert, which is why I'm confused. Aren't budgetary packages supposed to be presented by the Mayors office? And...if Joe presents his legislative package before the City Comission, does it conflict with any Sunshine Laws?
Michelle, we all know you are on Sanchez's fence but stop slinging mud every chance you get. I for 1 am an undecided voter and both sides are not doing much for me to want to vote for them or in your case your candidate. Focus on the positives it would do us and you more good.
SSR
Silk then you have the current Commissioners AND Mayor give it up now.
And a line in the sand is something you can just blow on and it disappears
(the correct expression is "a bright line in the sand. Something you and Sanchez dont know)
Confused.
Negative a Commissioner can propose a legislation.
Probably bring it up as a pocket item
As we've corroborated in the past, uh, 100 years, one thing is what politicians say, another one is what the actually DO. Reagan, Clinton, Carter, Bush or Obama, did they fix the Health care system? nah..
These 2 CLOWNS are very similar: politics are usual. The System will prevail, as it ALWAYS does. Therefore, I prefer to waste my time on the micro-issues of some laboratory grovite community. These politicians' crap almost makes me sick to the stomach, can't read through half of it.
Why does Joe Sanchez care, when he loses the election, he has his pension. Why should he care what comes after him. I bet he is not willing to give up a percentage of his pension.
My wife, from Brazil told me about public officials who came into government and retired after really very little service. I initially told her who would put up with such "CRAP"! "HELLO"!
Interesting point Anon @ 6:19.
Only one politician has requested to cut their own pension by a quarter.
Michele is entirely correct on the legal point, that you cannot revoke a vested interest in a pension. If the city were to attempt to retroactively discontinue those pension payments, it would end up costing a lot more money to fight and lose thousands of lawsuits. The only way this can legally be done is to pass it this way now.
I am in no way affiliated with Joe Sanchez or Michele. Just trying to clarify things that apparently many of you do not understand.
I really like this plan and support it, regardless of who's presenting it or who's going to be mayor.
SSR, check out joesanchez.com. There is a tab which I believe is titled accomplishments, or successes. Lots of positive stuff Joe has already done for the constituents of his own district. I like his vision, too, but the proven track record, along with his honesty in dealing with me on Village Council related issues, are my personal reasons for supporting Joe.
That guy,
I believe you are partially right.
Legislation would only work to those that have not started receiving it
Therefore Joe, Regalado, Angel, Sarnoff, Manny Diaz, and Spence will not be able to receive it.
Checked out Joe's "successes"
One of them being
"Improved Miami's bond rating to a level equal with some of the most respected cities in America-- when previously had fallen to junk bond status"
Interesting I always thought Manny (or the Commission) did this.
Someone please explain how Joe accomplished this.
Either way we are back at a financial fiasco.
MICHELLE, it is not my fault that Regalado doesn't know how to administer his money and is counting on his pension. The IRS has even garnished his wages twice because he has refused to pay his taxes. AND HE HAS THE GUTS TO RUN FOR MAYOR!!!!
Joe Sanchez is on the right track.
When did Regalado get audited twice. I heard once. And when did he ever say he was against getting rid of the pension quite the contrary.
Let alone refusing to pay taxes.
You guys sound nuts, head over to MiamiforChange and talk about how Regalado is a robot being controlled by the Cuban Government.
Lets keep it to the facts. And get over yourself.
This needs to apply to all current elected officials!
Man, you guys show no mercy. Sanchez proposes something and before he even finishes speaking, you guys are already criticizing it. And even when you agree that it is a good idea, you question his motives. You guys give no credit, even when it is to our benefit. Not every proposal is a bad proposal and we have to start somewhere. If we continue to simply doubt and criticize then nothing would ever actualize.
Gina
It's selfish to do this at this time. Joe knows that the polls don't show him to be very strong. Why doesn't he propose to eliminate the pension for elected officials starting 2012? Why after he was termed out? He knew that the City was headed this way a long time ago!
I am sorry but I do have a bit of an issue to hand over the city to a man that the IRS had to garnish his wages and was subject to investigation by the Office of State Attorney. I just wished we don't have that as the Mayor to our city.
Like I said earlier Maria Freed for Mayor, Harry and Michelle can be co- Assistants? Now this sounnds like a team people would vote for.
I do not support any of the two candidates. However, the City should brace itself for contentious and prolonged litigations if it adopts discriminatory compensation rules particularly for union and non-union employees that perform identical duties. One of the major problems that caused the current budget melt down (other than the stock market and real estate melt down) is the bloated salaries negotiated and recommended for approval to the City Commission by the current City Manager, the CFO, the Budget Director and Human Resources Director. The true effects will not be felt until the recipients of the bloated salaries retire and start drawing their pension. In the private sector they would have been instantly relieved of their duties. I couldn’t believe that one of the candidates running Mayor committed to retaining the City Manager if elected. It is unbelievable.
Taxpayer
Oh, that we were all born with the charisma to persuade people to vote for us so that we could reap the bountiful benefits of "public service"............
YES! Maria Freed for Mayor. Problem is, she's over qualified.
Oh, sorry, Anonymous, hiding your identity. Tomas Regalado's wages were only garnished ONCE. Well, excuse me. Once is good enough for me. And why do you think his wages were garnished, because he didn't pay his taxes!! HELLOOOO
Example is not the mainthing in influencing others, it is the only thing. - Albert Schweitzer
Comm. Joe Sanchez says "Eliminate Pensions" for all future elected officials. But that will need not apply to him Manny Diaz or all of the present and past Commissioners.
Joe should explain how he got away with not paying higher taxes on his home after the addition of an entire second floor plus all the major upgrades for two years while living in the house. He kept the CO opened until someone raised a red flag. The $200,000 plus addition shows a 5 bedroom/1 bathroom LOL! Talk about cheating the taxpayers!
As Regalado said it is past performance which dictates future peformance and Sanchez has not voted with the Grove. That is all we have to remember. Amen!
Dear Anonymous: Regalado may not be controlled by the Cuban government, but he makes a living thanks to him, with his radio and TV shows where he only discusses Cuba, to keep his voters in Miami happy. His son also has a high paying job in the useless TV Marti, which is barely seen in Cuba, yet we pay the salaries of all its employees with our taxes.
We need a mayor who cares about our city and our environment, who cares about animals. And that man is Joe Sanchez. I don't hide my identity to write this. I know both candidates personally and I am very clear on who is the right man for the job
Angelica what the hell does his son have to do with anything?
TV Marti, isnt that a federal job? So it has nothing to do with the City.
Move on.
Michelle (honest question)
Would it be illegal if Regalado continued the proposal on the reduction of current pensions? The ones not out the door just yet?
I believe that if it approved by the Commission a reduction can be given to current (like the raise of the Mayor)
Anon 11:24, I prefaced my comment about the legal issues by saying I am not a labor lawyer. The question of whose pension could or could not be cut back or eliminated is an intricate legal issue that I don't know the answer to. There are union contracts and legal protections for the people who currently have pensions. Starting by eliminating pensions for new hires would be a way to avoid violating the legal rights of current pension holders. Even then, the union contracts may prevent that from applying to new union position hires.
My personal opinion is that the City should do a thorough analysis of the marketplace for the kind of workers who are employed by the City, find out what the competitive salaries and benefit packages for people in similar jobs with similar qualifications are, and conform to the market, at least with respect to new hires. I always had the perception that government workers got nice benefits and a pension plan in part to make up for significantly lower pay than in the private sector, but seeing the salary list, it seems that is not the case anymore. A lot of City employees have City take-home cars, cell phones, health insurance and other competitive benefits, AND pensions. In the private sector most people today are lucky to get health insurance and a 401(k) plan, often with lower salaries. There's something wrong with that picture.
Anon 11:24, I wrote you a longer answer, but apparently Grape enforced his long-winded post rule on me. Short answer, I have no idea. As I said before, I'm not a labor lawyer but know enough to realize it is a very complicated issue. There are union contracts and laws protecting employees and pensions to consider. Starting with new hires totally makes sense. My guess is cutting vested pensions or ones for which contributions were made by a percentage would be as illegal as eliminating them, but that's just a guess and is not based on any research.
SILK - thanks for the compliment. I debated that analogy but went w/ it because it made sense to me. These pensions are part of a problem in this city. I'm no legal expert so maybe you can't just drop em. Maybe there is a way to give em what they "earned" or "held out for" up until now but do not allow for future additions. The "starting after it doesn't affect me" line is a classic example of politicians being obvious that they are looking out for #1 and that #1 is not the people but rather "me, myself, and I". I like Sanchez better than Regalado, personally. Being thy obvious kinda pisses me off though. I wish there were another candidate, really.
On a seperate note, y'all need to ease up on poor Michelle. Yes, she supports Sanchez. She's stated it many times and shows it with her comments. So what? The amount of sh*t that commenters here shovel on her is absurd and unnecessary. She ain't puttin a gun to anyones head to vote Sanchez. Give the girl a break already. And for the record, I don't know Michelle and don't like or dislike her. I just feel bad thy she takes so much crap hereerely for stating her opinion or sharing info that she has received.
This campaign is going to get ugly. I feel bad for both families. I would suggest to everyone to keep it with relevant topics.
Voting History
What they have done.
Aside from that there is nothing else (in my opinion)
Re: Educate Yourself
by Nestor on 09/19/09 11:05:46
We are budgeted for over 1,182 Sworn Officers. We are very short of that number. The Federal money is to hire OR retained Certified Officers...Police Department's around South Florida are going crazy waiting for that job fair the FOP is going to have next week for the possible 101+ lay off.
Our loss is their gain! That's BIG SAVINGS for those smaller Departments! Thanks MR. MAYOR for funding and providing other Citys with Certified Police Officers.
Lets all attend next Thur City Hall 430pmNestor
I agree with Nestor. Our tax dollars have paid for the training and certification of the Police Officers being laid off. Other Cities Police Department's are dancing that they will get to save the training and certification dollars and they are grabbing as many of OUR trained officers as they are able to. Even Miami Dade County did not lay off any Police or Fire. Stand Up make noise we need to be safe. What do Joe an Tomas have to say about this?
Let’s recall which Miami City Commissioner sided with which issue. We as citizens should support the candidate that fights for the issues, quality of life and future of our community that we believe in.
Home Depot Entering Coconut Grove
Joe Sanchez said YES
Tomas Regalado said NO
Fire Fee Settlement
Joe Sanchez said YES
Tomas Regalado said NO
Court said NO
Miami River Is Dead To Marine Industry
Joe Sanchez said YES
Tomas Regalado said NO
Court said NO
Mercy Hospital Changing Zoning For Related Group 3-Luxury Condos
Joe Sanchez said YES
Tomas Regalado said NO
Court said NO
Lets not forget all of the many times City of Miami Commissioners from other districts supported the views and agreed to vote along with the Commissioner from the district that requests a referendum. Unfortunately Sanchez, Gonzalez and Spence-Jones did not honor that policy and voted against District 2 Commissioner Sarnoff and in favor of illegal rezoning of Mercy Hospital and against wishes of most Grovites.
Marlins Stadium Deal ¾ Paid By Taxes ¼ Paid By Marlines
Joe Sanchez said YES
Tomas Regalado said NO
Marlins Stadium No Bid Contract For Buildings Contractor
Joe Sanchez said YES
Tomas Regalado said NO
Whenever any of these cases went to court, the court sided with Regalado against our very own city.
Proving again that Regalado's No votes are Yes votes for the City of Miami and its people.
Harry, do you ever tire of posting this misleading hooey? For the record:
Home Depot Entering Coconut Grove - THERE NEVER WAS SUCH A VOTE. Joe voted YES to legislation limiting the size of stores in the Grove so Home Depot couldn't build a big box here.
Fire Fee Settlement - Based on bad advice from City attorney, Joe voted Yes, Tomas was ABSENT. Being absent is rejecting your duty to represent the voters. It is not a “no” vote. It is a non vote. Regalado has a habit of wandering off the dais when controversial items come up. If Regalado knew something that the rest of the Commissioners were not aware of, he was duty bound to share it. When the Commission learned about the plaintiffs' deception, both voted to ask the Court to overturn the settlement.
Miami River Is Dead To Marine Industry - ANGEL GONZALEZ said this and there was no vote on this issue, but on the entire comprehensive plan. The true fact is that during the comprehensive plan meeting, Joe Sanchez reached out to the river industry. He also directed the Manager to build incentives for the river industry, and work to save and create jobs. Joe Sanchez was the only Commissioner to introduce a resolution by the City Commission supporting a state constitutional amendment that gave tax breaks to marine businesses working on waterfronts. This amendment went on to pass statewide.
Mercy Hospital Changing Zoning For Related Group 3-Luxury Condos
Joe Sanchez said YES. Before Joe cast his vote, he demanded an across the board 25% reduction to the project; an unprecedented cut to a major project. He also stipulated that the project would have to mitigate its impact on Vizcaya. At least Joe imposed broad limitations. Regalado said NO - We can let time and traffic tell if that was a good thing.
"Lets not forget all of the many times City of Miami Commissioners from other districts supported the views and agreed to vote along with the Commissioner from the district that requests a referendum. Unfortunately Sanchez, Gonzalez and Spence-Jones did not honor that policy and voted against District 2 Commissioner Sarnoff and in favor of illegal rezoning of Mercy Hospital and against wishes of most Grovites."
Harry, if each District's Commissioner should always get what he or she wants, why not just have five separate cities with one dictator each? The Commissioners are elected to represent the best interest of their constituents and the City. Do you really believe that the availability of quality care at the closest hospital does not affect residents of the Roads, or Little Havana? Furthermore, our Commissioner voted against the resolution of the nine residents elected to represent residents of the Grove (the Village Council) as well as the neighboring homeowner associations, which supported the project to avoid much worse alternatives.
"Marlins Stadium Deal ¾ Paid By Taxes ¼ Paid By Marlines."
Joe Sanchez said YES to capture investment that otherwise would have gone to Miami Beach or Homestead Raceway, from taxes that had to be spent on sporting or convention facilities, to bring jobs and vitality to Miami.
Tomas Regalado said NO to Miami.
Marlins Stadium No Bid Contract For Buildings Contractor
Joe Sanchez protected the city of Miami residents from potentially millions of dollars, by voting for a bid waiver for the Marlins Stadium. This is because the only way to guard against incurring exorbitant cost and cost overruns was to have one construction team on site to build the stadium and infrastructure improvements. Even Marc Sarnoff, a Regalado supporter, saw the fiscal wisdom in voting yes to the bid waiver. Regalado did not.
Michelle, you are just as guilty misleading as Harry.
Regalado was absent. Usually they have recess from 12-1 pm to accomadate Regalado who has a tv show at that time. Its not a big deal because that is the lunch recess. They have one every time. However this particular item the Fire Fee was scheduled at 12:30 and passed in under a minute.
Furthermore Regalado was the FIRST person to bring this to the State Attorneys office that SAME DAY
Thats funny Michelle because when all of the controversial stuff like Miami 21, Marlins Stadium, Mercy, Home Depot and the Cubix in the upper east side.
He was there. Which is more then what Angel, Michelle et al can say.
Not only was here there but he was not a rubber stamp for the administration.
I would like to see actual Legislation proposed by Joe Sanchez to eliminate pensions for elected officials. I would like to see the proposed legislation put on a Commission Agenda. Joe Sanchez should include reference to the entire pay package. Show us the legislation. (Otherwise it is just campaign talk.)
If an elected official gets paid by the taxpayers and holds a second job or has outside business interest he/she should not be entitled to a pension.
The Commissioner position is part time. The Mayor full time.
Which is why Joe works for the Indian Casinos and Regalado works for Radio.
HI Michelle:
Joe Sanchez was anything but neutral and one of the biggest supports of Home Depot in the Grove and it took a lot of work to fight, him, Johnny Winton, and Manny on this subject. There wer many battles before "official" votes and Joe wasn't on the "groves side".
Len Scinto
Spence-Jones rarely works and she misses most meetings. Should she get a pension for life? Should she get driven to and from her home to City Hall by a taxpayer paid SUV and by a taxpayer paid policeman who makes $150,000 per year? Is it fair she gets a pension with all payments made by taxpayers?
Anon 1:16, do you really believe the Commission schedules its meetings around Regalado's radio show? They usually take a lunch break, but I have been there plenty of times when they went long to deal with the item at hand. The fact is that most months there are only two days the Commissioners have to be at a meeting all day. It's their job to be there to vote on the issues that come before them. That time, and many others, Regalado wasn't there to vote on behalf of the people who voted him into office.
I don't remember not seeing Regalado at Commission meetings, but I am sure it could have happened, but if I do remember right Michelle, you were not at last week's Village Council meeting. Wasn't it your job to be there? A case of the pot calling the kettle black . . .
How about we just talk positive now about the candidates, and no more bashing? It is just turning everyone off and when that happens people don't vote at all.
Ok, one more time for those that don't read so well.
You cannot cut vested pensions. You. can. not. do. it.
Thank you and good night.
Michelle, the point I was making was that the vote passed unanimously. In under a minute. With laughing and smiles.
And that same DAY Regalado took it to the State Attorneys office.
Your boy was wrong.
It is almost unprecedented to vote against another Commissioner when the issue pertains to that other Commissioners district. How would District 3 neighbors feel if our District 2 Commissioner had voted in opposition to improving Calle Ocho and if those improvements had not been made as a result of his vote? So why did District 3 Commissioner feel it necessary to vote in favor of the illegal spot zoning for Mercy Hospital and permitting Home Depot to enter Coconut Grove against the wishes of our District 2 Commissioner and most of our Grovite residence? This was spun as a jobs issue and a way to help this broken hospital that is needed in our community. But the real issue was about changing the zoning for this property and thus opening up all other GI properties to residential development. Fortunately the courts did their job in respecting our zoning code and protecting the rights of our community. The courts agreed with Regalado and Sarnoff that this was an effort to implement illegal spot zoning. All those commissioners, home owner associations, attorneys, lobbyists, developer, hospital officials and Mayor that supported this attempt at implement illegal spot zoning should be ashamed and held responcible for their actions. That is why the majority of Grovites that respect our zoning codes and care about our community will not be casting our votes for Mayor or even CGVC to any candidate that supported the illegal spot zoning of Mercy Hospital.
Grape, re last week's Village Council meeting, you are right, I was not there. My back went out (as in couldn't stand up straight after sitting kind of went out) and I was coming down with the flu, so I went home early from work that day and missed Village Council.
Regalado just gets up and leaves from meetings he is attending, to go to his radio show or who knows what else. He's not the only one who does it ... during the Miami 21 vote Angel Gonzales was missing in action for one of the votes, they tried to find him and were told he had left, and later I saw him and his Chief of Staff walk out of the men's room together.
We pay the commissioners a salary and big perks, and there are only two meetings a month. It doesn't seem that being there to vote is too much to ask.
That whole marlins bringing vitality to Miami is a loaded statement.
The aspirational goals of the Marlins well....it is what it is.
I give a lot of respect to people can see the bad as well as the good.
Not just defending the bad
Michelle, it would be great to know the "controversial" meetings Regalado was not at.
Anon 2:07, the meeting at issue was the vote on whether to accept the fire fee settlement. There have been others.
Lets keep it down here kids.
And a month has passed since all this bashing but my vote is still going for Joe Sanchez.
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