Subject: George Burgess

• Masvidal et al Get Paid, Again

  July 24, 2007

• Coconuts, Delicious or Deadly?

  January 4, 2008

• In Carlos We Trust, Really

  May 6, 2008

• News Roundup

  September 26, 2008

• Down in Flames

  July 15, 2004

• The Bitch

  September 30, 2004

• Yours for the Hacking

  November 4, 2004

• From Miami Journalist to White House Aide

  We were so very, very angry when former Miami Herald county reporter Matt Pinzur took a $115,000-per-year job as a special assistant to county manager George Burgess. So, if only out of consistency, we should be very, very angry that former Time magazine's Washington bureau chief Jay Carney ditched his desk to take a job as Joe Biden's communications director. Ironically, way back in the day, Carney worked for the Herald too. He also served as Time's Miami bureau chief in the late Eighties/ear

  December 16, 2008

• Bike the Rickenbacker, Get Ready to Two-Wheel in downtown and on the Beach

  Let's face it. Miami is one of America's worst places to ride a bicycle.Guys on two wheels get whacked on Brickell, nailed in the Redland, and steamrollered on US 1. Bicycling magazine placed us at the bottom along with Dallas and Memphis not long ago. And Florida is clearly the worst in the nation -- with virtually all of our metro areas among the nation's deadliest.So we're delighted by the plan -- stated on a memo after the jump -- to open the Rickenbacker Causeway to bicyclists this Saturday

  January 8, 2009

• Glenn Straub: Too little too late

  Hey Glenn Straub. I WANT to watch baseball downtown,. I WANT to TAKE the Metromover to games,But I wish you would just shut up.Straub penned a letter to the public (which you can find on the jump) defending his idea for a downtown stadium. But we've moved too far with the Little Havana stadium and I for one am sick of watching the Marlins give away every decent player who ever swung a bat for them. With the city vote yesterday voting to expand the Southeast Overtown Park West District, we have r

  March 13, 2009

• Let me get this straight

  So at around the 7:04 p.m. mark of the Miami-Dade County Commission's nine-hour bull session to approve the Florida Miami Marlins' new stadium, Commissioner Sally Heyman posed a rather simple business question. She asked what would happen to the ballpark's projected $1.9 billion cost if the municipal bond interest rates went up half a point when the county actually issues the bonds? County Manager George Burgess, who's been heralded as a financing guru, replied: "We're not going to know what th

  March 24, 2009

• County Manager George Burgess Vacations Despite Fragile Deal

  March 5, 2009

• Letters from the Issue of October 9, 2008

  "The whole situation makes me sick. I have no doubt Pinzur will be Burgess's loyal lap dog"

  October 9, 2008

• Selling Out at the Miami Herald

  The newspaper's county hall reporter takes a six-figure job with the very people he was supposed to cover.

  September 25, 2008

• Val Screen Vies for Commissioner Audrey Edmonson's Seat

  August 7, 2008

• In Carlos, We Trust

  May 15, 2008

• Marketing Mayhem

  Da Hood Gone Wild creator takes cues from Joe Francis.

  March 20, 2008

• On the MMAP

  The key to understanding the new corruption charges? Look at the old ones.

  December 27, 2007

• High Rollers on the High Seas

  November 15, 2007

• Letters from the Issue of August 23, 2007

  August 23, 2007

• Museum Park Trial Balloon Bursts

  March 29, 2007

• Water Fight

  August 10, 2006

• Death by the Pound

  January 26, 2006

• Civil $ervice

  January 5, 2006

• Pet Dumb

  November 17, 2005

• Double Speak

  June 16, 2005

• Racial-Profiling Study Liberated

  May 5, 2005

• If Signs are Outlawed…

  December 9, 2004

• Vote for Culture

  November 18, 2004

• Trouble at Home

  November 18, 2004

• Rage Against the Machines

  September 23, 2004

• Letters July 15-21, 2004

  July 15, 2004

• Politically Tone Deaf

  June 24, 2004

• BEST LOCAL PHANTASMAGORIA

  May 13, 2004

• Junk Bonds

  May 6, 2004

• The Bobble Boy

  January 15, 2004

• A Deal to Dial For

  January 15, 2004

• Neighborhood Bully

  November 6, 2003

• Swimming with the Sharks

  August 16, 2001

• Wackenhut Stands up to Miami-Dade

  May 7, 2009

• Slot Machines at Our Airport?

  via Iotea's flickrSometimes Miami-Dade County Hall reminds me of that guy who's always dreaming up wacky get-rich-quick schemes and shady money-making ideas ("Dude, I just bought that book from the guy who wears question-mark-print suits..." "If I hit up every sperm bank in the tri-county area once a month..." "I just met this guy, Bernie Madoff..."). The county commission and George Burgess's latest plan is to put slot machines in Miami International Airport to cover its rising costs and deb

  July 1, 2009

• Hey George! Who's On First?

  Alex Izaguirre In case you missed it, during the early hours of July 1, the Miami-Dade County Commission approved a revision to the financing plan for the Marlins baseball stadium that is going to end up costing us $2.4 billion - a number that somehow eluded the intellectual prowess of financial guru and County Manager George Burgess.It was one of those classic moments in county government that makes political wonks like me giggle with cynicism. Here was our six-figure salaried top governme

  July 14, 2009

• The Week That Was: Miami Social Makes Us Want to Burn Down a Castle

  JipsyCheck our Swim Week photo collection here.Something purporting to be a television program called Miami Social infected airwaves this week. We introduced you to the cast, and they proceeded to do nothing. Though, the show seems to be less infectious than Swine Flu. Also, Glenn Garvin made a funny joke, that makes us love him, that is until he writes his next weird libertarian political missive.The County may just cut there entire arts and culture budget, because it's not nearly as important

  July 17, 2009

• Most County Executives Safe from Budget Cuts

  Alex Izaguirre​UPDATE: Earlier this week, Miami-Dade County spokeswoman Vicki Mallette responded to my earlier report regarding executive salaries. I apologize to my readers for not posting her response sooner.She insisted that Alvarez is proposing in the budget a ten percent reduction to the county executive offices, which is not reflected in this post."Your recent column seems to suggest all of the cuts have been identified," she says. "This is not the case. Rest assured, more cuts are comin

  August 14, 2009

• Big Money on Top at Miami-Dade County Hall

  August 13, 2009

• County Execs Drive Expen$ive Car$ on the Taxpayers' Dime

  ​The more Riptide dissects Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez's proposed budget cuts in order to make up a $427 million shortfall, the more we realize el alcalde fuerte is not gonna mess with his executive staff's perks. The mayor's spokeswoman, Vicki Mallette, confirmed Alvarez will not ax the approximately $101,200 a year the county sets aside for car allowances used by him, County Manager George Burgess, his assistant county managers, the assistants to the county manager, the special as

  August 17, 2009

• Ridin' Dirty

  August 20, 2009

• Two-Thirds of Voters Have Negative Opinion of Mayor Alvarez, 46 Percent Support Recall

  Jonathan Postal Miami-Dade Mayor Alvarez and the County Commission have thrown sizable pay raises to staffers like they were life-vests on a sinking ship. They've simultaneously tossed funding to cultural efforts and other social programs overboard. That hasn't proven popular with voters. According to a new poll commissioned by Local 10 and conducted by Bendixen and Associates, key county leaders are facing high levels of negative opinion, with 46 percent of voters even going as far

  September 10, 2009

• Millions in Car Allowances and Other Perks Safe From Budget Cuts

  Alex Izaguirre​Tomorrow evening, Miami-Dade County Commissioners will finally set the budget for the upcoming year. We already know that Mayor Carlos Alvarez is proposing some seriously draconian cuts and will make good on his promise to lay of 1,700 employees, which does not bode well for south Florida, where the unemployment rate has soared past ten percent and where we are still seeing a record number of foreclosures take place.And to further close the gap on a $444 million shortfall, the m

  September 16, 2009

• 78 Percent of Cultural Programming Budget Saved

  Phew.According to Michael Spring, Director of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the budget adopted by the Board of County Commissioners at 5:01 a.m. this morning restored a little over $8.6 million to the department's arts grants for cultural programming, or about 78 percent of the $11 million originally requested."Yesterday, it was zero," Spring said, "so it's really good news."What that means is that Spring doesn't expect any of the 400 cultural organizations who depend on

  September 18, 2009