Great article by Sean Rowe on Mt. Trashmore ("Our Garbage, Ourselves," January 25). There are a few things New Times should know about Dade's incinerator, officially known as Resources Recovery. It is much more than an incinerator; it employs a front-end processing system that recycles metals for resale, producing revenue for Dade County (and the plant operators). The two Broward plants employ "mass burn," which is exactly what it sounds like -- dump it and burn it. Better than a landfill, but still not preferable to processing.
Landfills being the dead ends they are, Resources Recovery, while not ideal, has certain saving graces, especially for the hard-pressed Dade County taxpayer. Every time you see a garbage truck crossing the Broward line, it is not waste, it is cash, and it belongs to Dade County and its taxpayers.
Rick Gonzalez
Miami Lakes
Odio: Survival of the Slimiest
As I read Robert Andrew Powell's story "The Graduate" (January 18), referring to Cesar Odio's academic credentials, the words of Mark Twain rang loudly in my mind: "Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it." Those words might be the motto by which Mr. Odio has lived and survived for ten years as city manager. How else could a man with questionable academics and a dubious private-sector background manage to stay on top of a crystal palace for so long?
The answer: By mastering the art of selling your hide to secure three votes on the city commission and thus keeping your job, a skill in which the use of misinformation, half-truths, and promises you have no intention of keeping becomes an essential part of the game.
The fact that he may not have a legitimate college degree is not at all surprising. What surprises is that some city commissioners do not seem to care. Mayor Clark, Willy Gort, and J.L. Plummer will continue to support Mr. Odio with or without a degree, a testament to the manager's Ph.D. in political manipulation.
Simon Nugiel
Miami
Odio: God's Little Cretin
My comment about Cesar Odio is a big "So what!" This is Miami, man. It is obvious that the city is not run by intellectuals. It is run by astute politicians whose only thoughts are for their own gain. Everyone here knows that college knowledge -- or even ability -- does not determine who gets what office or who doles out property or zoning changes. What matters are the connections you have and who you know.
I know one thing for sure: Your pitiful articles don't stand a chance in the furnace of their personal gerrymandering. The only hope is that God, who has been pretty damn merciful to these cretins, judges them to be spit.
Name Withheld by Request
Miami
Odio: Calling All Feds!
I want to congratulate Robert Andrew Powell for his in-depth article "The Graduate." Marvelous investigative reporting. I hope it will attract the attention of federal authorities.
I sincerely hope Mr. Powell won't be arrested for stalking the emperor. For doing much less I was arrested and charged by Odio and his cronies, including the State Attorney's Office's Charles Reynolds, chief of the "criminal cover-up" division.
Manuel Gonzalez-Goenaga
Miami
Odio: King of the Whopper
Perhaps Cesar Odio might try the Burger King corporation and get a real diploma from Whopper University. He can earn it doing what he seems to do all the time lately -- making whoppers.
Joe Lorenzo
North Miami Beach
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