The Miami Herald and its readers have been locked in a big wet kiss in recent weeks over the reporting of pay raises given by Miami Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez.

Alvarez Thursday accused the Herald of bias, but I -- and I suspect most readers -- feel the coverage reflects how a newspaper best serves its community. My concern is another one: Is the Herald getting ahead of itself in raising polling questions about whether to recall the mayor?

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of readers have posted online comments or sent messages of outrage over the salary raises, and many have thanked the Herald for uncovering them and other budget questions.

``The Miami Herald can take a victory lap,'' Jorge Aguiar of Doral wrote in a typical letter to the editor. He credited reporters Jack Dolan and Matthew Haggman for ``relentless and tenacious reporting'' and going ``to bat as designated hitters for the community.''

``Keep digging, Herald people, maybe some of the best nuggets are yet to come!'' cheered a reader online.

A Haggman e-mail held up by the mayor at a Thursday press conference, instead of supporting the bias claim, merely showed a proper concern to get the mayor's response to the reporters' findings. Forwarded by mistake to County Hall, the e-mail exchange with an editor was over whether statements from the mayor's press secretary were sufficient.

Hundreds of readers have told me over the last year that investigative stories are what they want most from a repurposed Herald in an age of cuts. According to Metro Editor Jay Ducassi, the two reporters have dedicated more than six weeks to digging through county budgets and interviews.

Their first story ran on the front page August 23 and detailed how Alvarez in the last year, unbeknown to most taxpayers, has given pay raises of more than 10 percent to a dozen of his inner circle despite calling for severe budget cuts.

The two reporters revealed on the front page a week later how County Commission Chairman Dennis Moss had given out similarly large raises to 18 commission staff members -- one raise for 46 percent.

Then last week, the two reported that Alvarez in recent months had also awarded additional salary increases to dozens of top police commanders and to senior firefighters.

The number of firefighters grossing more than $100,000 had jumped to 742 in July, from 543 in 2005, they reported.

In preparation for a commission meeting Thursday on budget cuts, Herald editors decided to measure what the public thought of the alternatives and of the raises. With CBS-4 News, it commissioned a poll. As a secondary thought, according to Ducassi, the editors included in the 10 questions, one that began: ``One group is circulating a petition to recall County Mayor Carlos Alvarez.'' The dramatic answer became the lead in last Sunday's paper.

``Voters would support a recall effort against him by a 2-1 margin,'' it said.

But wait. What group is circulating a petition and how serious is it? A recall is a major, expensive undertaking, and, while constitutional, is an exceptional break in governing order. It conjures up the revolving presidential doors that until recently plagued Ecuador and Bolivia. Alvarez has two years left in his term.

According to Ducassi, the poll question grew out of an August 31 column by El Nuevo Herald's Daniel Shoer Roth in which he chronicled the filing -- about a week before the first salary story ran -- of a recall petition by Lázaro González, a 63-year old retired lab technician and celebrated gadfly in the Spanish media. But he needs 110,000 certified signatures in a complicated process, and apparently is only taking phone calls in his home, according to the column.

Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi filed suit last week to loosen the requirements, but that will take time. Pizzi said that he will not lead a recall effort, Haggman reported, adding: ``No recall effort has been formally launched.''

The question, then, is whether the Herald newsroom is largely creating a recall campaign.

Sam Terilli, a former Herald lawyer and now professor in ethics and media law at the University of Miami School of Communication, isn't troubled. Given the public anger over the budget and salaries, ``the Herald is asking a logical question that many logical, thoughtful people should ask,'' he told me. Editors should be guided by news judgement and not favored systems of government, he added.

He's right, but I'm still troubled. The Herald is holding government accountable with old-style newspaper fervor, which is great. The editorial page is welcome to call for a recall, but the front page of a Sunday Herald has extraordinary impact.

Until there is a serious recall effort to report and poll on, does the Herald want to encourage Miami to become another Bolivia? I worry.

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