Obscene overtime spending in Miami-Dade takes dollars away from county needs | Opinion
Obscene overtime
Miami Herald reporter Douglas Hanks revealed in a Dec. 15 story that Miami-Dade County paid $330 million in overtime last year due to “chronic maintenance issues with aging infrastructure” and “staffing shortages.” That shocked me into a rage, as it seems the county’s “active recruitment efforts” are severely anemic.
One maintenance supervisor racked up 58 overtime hours a week. At $69 an hour, that’s more than $200,000 in a year plus his 40 hours a week at $46 an hour. Hanks wrote that Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said overtime is closely monitored.
How about ramping up the recruitment efforts?
Someone out there must be qualified to do the work at a regular pay rate. Those overtime dollars could be better spent on fixing our county’s rotting infrastructure. They can start by filling the cauldron-sized potholes on Redland’s streets.
Pat Milone,
Redland
Do the math
Surely, the amount of overtime money that Miami-Dade County’s transit system spends on some employees could be better spent on hiring full-time employees, thereby relieving any severe staffing shortages.
Betsy Sharp,
Kendall
Unsettling story
Although the Dec. 17 Miami Herald story, “Dozens of luxury condos, hotels in Miami sinking at ‘unexpected’ rates, new UM study reveals,” made for a good front page story, it failed to interview structural engineers to determine if these building were designed to encounter some settlement. The answer would have been yes. Hence, the reason buildings have expansion joints and controlled joint crack lines which are specifically designed for settlement. There also was no mention of whether the settlement ceased or is continuing.
What would the subsidence results show for high-rises built in Kendall (Dadeland area), Coconut Grove and Coral Gables?
Misinformation or incomplete information is dangerous, causing more stress on a booming South Florida economy then the purported stress on the structures which were engineered to experience settlement.
James D. Tate,
North Miami
In a jam
Recruited to Miami on a job offer, when I arrived in our wonderful Magic City in 1961 from New York City, I likened it to a beautiful large small town. No two central destinations within the county were more than a 20-minute drive apart. With the developmental growth of Brickell Avenue, labeled “the Wall Street and financial capitol of the South,” Miami prided its progressiveness. It then grew to become a small large town.
Today, amid the many vertical structures growing seemingly like weeds, it sometimes takes 45-60 minutes to go anywhere in the county. Driving between venues during Miami Art Week/Art Basel commonly takes two hours. Quality of life is compromised.
With a lack of a planned rapid transit system, as found in New York and other large cities, our insufficient infrastructure also cannot seem to support such growth. Our city and county elected commissioners continue to approve and pass questionable zoning variances on behalf of developers, rather than for the good of our citizens, much less our lucrative tourist industry. We are now a small large city, gridlocked in almost every which way.
Are our local leaders so motivated — hopefully not by the dollar — but by lobbyists, that they have become blinded by the largesse which overshadows the interests of our citizens?
In some communities and hospitality facilities, it was once not uncommon to read signs stating, “No more room at the inn” or “No vacancy.” Naturally, this is not possible with cities, where we welcome all.
While we cannot undo the fix we are in, hopefully our citizens can replace our current “leaders” with more suitable candidates to help slow down unchecked growth. If not, perhaps we should rename our once beautiful town “Gridlock City.”
H. Allen Benowitz,
Miami
Innovate waste
I thank Miami-Dade County Mayor Levine Cava for her willingness to rethink the county’s future waste solutions. Incineration is no longer a useful method for dealing with our waste, due to the greenhouse gases released and the toxic emissions and ash that remain as residue.
Many communities throughout the nation have implemented zero waste strategies without burning trash. This also avoids pitting neighbor against neighbor. We look forward to the new year and working with the county on solutions for diverting waste without sending it up in smoke.
Noel Cleland,
Sierra Club,
Miami
False history
When I opened the Dec. 17 Miami Herald, I immediately noticed an odd and nasty odor. It did not take long to find the source. Kevin D. Williamson’s op-ed, “History will not have mercy on Joe Biden,” reeked because it was so full of manurial opinions about Biden.
Williamson stated that, “There is simply no way to tell the truth about Joe Biden’s life and career without kicking him while he is down.”
Telling the truth? Really?
This from a writer who was fired by The Atlantic after two weeks for his stated view that women who undergo abortions should “be hanged.” The only good thing he said about Biden is that his election denied Trump a second term, for a while.
Williamson filled the remainder of his article with false rhetoric. It is a free country, for now, and the newspaper will publish garbage like his. Readers can always tell they are getting close by the smell.
Alfred Sasiadek,
Lauderhill
Seeing tyranny
If there is one thing we should have learned these past four years, it would be what English philosopher John Locke said in 1689: “wherever law ends, tyranny begins.” Those local, state and federal politicians who have decided which laws to enforce and which to ignore and who have used the law to persecute and stifle their opponents or silence them through unlawful censure and suppression of their free speech, have reminded us of just what tyranny looks like.
Through the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Polybius, Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, we can see that tyranny has been well understood for thousands of years and will continue as long as corrupt and self-serving politicians roam the earth.
Patrick Henry said it best: “Give me liberty or give me death.”
Charles Michael Sitero,
Ormond Beach
Waiting lists
Our nation’s politicians have seemingly created a school shooting response checklist.
For Democrats, it’s better firearm controls; president asks congress to act; mental health.
For Republicans, it’s thoughts and prayers; arm teachers; guns don’t kill, people do; Second Amendment; mental health.
Next...
Alex Jimenez,
Winter Park
Crime scheme
Most people have read about or seen a movie involving the “protection racket” employed by so-called organized crime. The mob insinuates to a business owner that protection is needed from the “bad guys” (usually that same mob) and regular payments will insure there won’t be any future problems.
Isn’t that the position Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg found themselves in after Donald Trump — who has criticized Amazon and Facebook/Instagram (parts of Meta) — was elected weeks ago?
They both jumped at the opportunity of financing Trump’s inauguration and each gave a $1 million, but not because they are great friends of Trump. Indeed, it’s unlikely either voted for him. Their generosity is nothing more or less than an effort to avoid the wrath of history’s most vindictive and irrational president.
David Kahn,
Boca Raton
Oh, Canada
Dear Americans, Canadians absolutely do not want to become the 51st state of the USA.
Why would we accept lowering our standard of living? Why give up an excellent education system and universal health care? Why give up direct democracy? Why would we accept a person we consider a madman and a bully as our leader?
Donald Trump wants our water. He’d love to take us over. We won’t come.
Gail Rutherford,
Toronto, ON