Getting A Head In Miami

Steve M. points out that Tuesday's special election to recall Miami's mayor, Carlos Alvarez, was pretty much a wipeout, losing the recall vote by a staggering 75 points.  The right is eagerly claiming the Tea Party now rules South Florida, but the truth is Carlos Alvarez was removed by one of the Forbes 400, Norman Braman, who simply bought himself a recall election.

"County voters have demonstrated by their ballots that they are tired of unaccountable officials, of being ignored and of being overtaxed in this very difficult recessionary time," Braman said at a news conference.

Alvarez maintained throughout the recall effort that raising taxes was necessary to fill a $444 million gap and avoid cuts to critical social services. He said those affected by the property tax increase had enjoyed an artificially low 3 percent annual cap on tax increases during the real estate boom, and that the last round of contract negotiations had authorized most of the employee raises.

Francisco Rodriguez, 58, a bus driver, said his property taxes increased by about $600 this year, leading him to cancel his health insurance. He voted to remove Alvarez.

"It's time for him to go," Rodriguez said. "We want a change."

There have been numerous recalls of state officials in recent years, but not any of a local government official in an area as big as Miami-Dade County. said Joshua Spivak, a recall expert and senior fellow at Wagner College in New York. The Los Angeles mayor was recalled in 1938, but Spivak said the population at that time was smaller.

Alvarez, a former county police chief, also says Braman is angry over losing an effort to block the county from funding a new $600 million stadium for the Florida Marlins baseball team.

At Alvarez's urging, the county commission approved it.

"The defining issue really is the type of government that the citizens of this community are looking for," Braman said. "It's about empowering the people of this community to take it back from the politicians who have been running it, and running it in a way that I think endangers the fiscal future of our community."

So when Alvarez blocked Braman's new stadium, Braman bought himself a recall for Alvarez.  Make no mistake, when Braman says to take Miami "back from the politicians" he means give it to the "rightful" owners of America:

The Forbes 400.

Revenge, as Carlos Alvarez found out, is a dish best served by somebody who can afford to do a proper job of it.