Mayor’s pick, parking authority chief Art Noriega, approved as Miami’s city manager
Art Noriega, the CEO of Miami’s parking authority, was approved Monday to become the next city manager overseeing Miami’s $1 billion government.
The City Commission voted unanimously to sign off on Mayor Francis Suarez’s pick effective immediately. Addressing commissioners before the vote, Noriega vowed to bring increased transparency to the city’s administration.
“I don’t want there to ever be an accusation from this body here or from the mayor himself that we’re not open and honest,” he said. “I’ll make this commitment to you: I don’t know how it’s gonna look, but we’re gonna do a much better job in terms of how we communicate.”
The unanimous vote marked a victory for Suarez, who has faced heavy resistance from the commission during his tenure. One of his harshest critics, Commissioner Joe Carollo, grilled Noriega before the vote Monday, but conceded that he was a qualified candidate who understands the city’s government.
Commissioner Ken Russell added that Noriega was off to a good start in his communication with elected officials.
“Never [before] has a city manager come to my office and simply asked the question, ‘What are your objectives and how can I help you achieve them for your district?’ ” Russell said.
Noriega will receive his same base salary, $310,000 with 5% annual increases, plus a city-owned car and a monthly cellphone allowance of $200. The outgoing city manager, Emilio González, was making $275,000 with the same car and phone benefits.
Noriega pledged not to do any paid outside work after Commissioner Manolo Reyes said he wanted Noriega’s “full attention” on the city.
“I won’t be working for anybody at all other than the city of Miami,” he said.
Noriega said he’s a volunteer on multiple boards that he doesn’t believe do business with the city, and said he would disclose those boards to the commission. He added that he has been nominated for another board that “may end up doing business with the city,” but he said he would recuse himself from any votes on city-related matters.
“I think we need to be very transparent,” Noriega said.
According to Suarez, Noriega wants to eliminate a deputy city manager position that González had employed at a salary of $245,000, instead relying solely on the city’s three assistant managers to help run his office.
Many City Hall watchers had expected Noriega, who has headed the semi-autonomous agency for two decades, to be tapped by Suarez at the City Commission meeting Monday.
Suarez made the nomination official at a press conference Monday morning, saying that Noriega “has proven himself as a bold advocate for solutions.”
“As with any growing city, we have reached an inflection point, one that opens the door for new ideas and a fresh approach,” Suarez said. “Mr. Noriega ... is uniquely equipped to set the tone that will instill a culture of service, innovation, and efficiency for our staff and residents.”
Noriega replaces González, the former Miami International Airport director who served as the city’s top administrator for two years. González announced his resignation in mid-January in a swirl of criticism and a clear division between his administration and some commissioners. He said he needed to spend time with his wife, who is ill, while criticizing the tenor of recent commission meetings, which he said “have devolved into a circus.”
The hire comes a month after González was nearly fired. Carollo, Reyes and Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla voted to dismiss González after Carollo publicly accused the manager of falsifying documents to secure a permit for a backyard deck, and for using his position to fast-track approvals at City Hall. González has yet to publicly address those accusations. The city’s auditor general is investigating the matter.
Suarez has chosen Noriega to fill a seat that can face conflicting pressures from the mayor and city commissioners. As the chief decision-maker in the municipal government’s day-to-day operations, the city manager oversees a workforce of more than 4,000 employees, including police officers, firefighters and code inspectors. Noriega will supervise city employees who issue permits for home improvements, clean parks and negotiate real estate deals, all under a $1 billion budget fueled by taxpayers.
At the highest levels of Miami’s government, commissioners have sparred over the direction of certain city agencies, including community redevelopment agencies and the Downtown Development Authority, while the mayor has struggled to assert himself in a system where most of his power hinges on his ability to secure three votes on the commission. In Miami’s government system, the mayor has no vote on the commission, though he can veto some commission actions — authority that’s now the subject of debate between Suarez and City Attorney Victoria Méndez.
The mayor’s other power: He can nominate a city manager.
“I feel confident we can build coalitions on the commission to get things done in this city,” Suarez said of Noriega.
Suarez will likely lean on Noriega’s relationships with commissioners to help implement his agenda. Noriega has long been friends with Díaz de la Portilla, who was elected in November to represent District 1. Noriega helped raise money for his friend’s campaign.
Noriega is also friendly with Carollo. The parking chief committed more than $35,000 from the authority to sponsor Carollo’s monthly Friday night concerts in Little Havana, as reported by blogger Al Crespo.
The relationship wasn’t always rosy — in 2000, when Carollo was mayor, he criticized the parking authority and called for its privatization in order to boost revenues. Noriega argued against the move. Voters nearly decided the matter in a referendum, though that vote was canceled because of flaws in the Spanish translation of absentee ballots.
Noriega has also faced scrutiny for his spending decisions as the authority’s CEO. In 2010, Miami New Times reviewed his credit card records and reported that Noriega spent thousands on pricey out-of-town junkets and meals. The figures drew criticism from then-mayor Tomás Regalado, who said the authority’s leadership had been “living la vida loca over there too long.”
Parking authority leaders accused Regalado of wanting what Carollo wanted a decade earlier — to privatize parking. Noriega and board members for the authority defended the expenses, arguing that he was attending leadership conferences and securing leases that were lucrative for the authority.
In late 2018, Noriega was able to successfully convince a majority of the commission to hike parking rates for city-owned garages, lots and on-street parking spaces across Miami for the first time in a decade. Noriega argued the increases were needed to boost revenues by $6 million. He also pledged to beef up enforcement across the city. After months of debate and tweaking the proposal to keep rates flat for city residents who register with the PayByPhone mobile payment system, the measures passed in a 4-1 vote, with Reyes opposing.
If approved, Noriega would inherit some big-ticket initiatives. Chief among them: Administrators are currently negotiating the terms of a lease for a massive, $1 billion commercial and soccer stadium complex to replace city-owned Melreese golf course with a venue for David Beckham’s Major League Soccer franchise, Inter Miami, to play home games. The plan includes an outdoor shopping center, office park, hotel and stadium, as well as a large public park.
This story has been updated to reflect that Noriego will receive the same base salary as city manager that he did as CEO of the parking authority.
This story was originally published February 24, 2020 at 5:30 AM.
