George Burgess

Miami's Five Worst City and County Managers Who Prove Merrett Stierheim Wrong

Over the weekend, Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez revealed he is entertaining the idea of eliminating the city manager's position in favor of the strong mayor form of government. His proposal, which would require voter approval to change the city charter, makes sense because it gives residents one ... More >>

Miami-Dade Paying $340,000 To Lobbying Firms Tied To Marlins Debacle, Genting Agenda

The four firms representing Miami-Dade County before the state legislature are mired in potential conflicts of interests and ongoing controversies. Yesterday, county commissioners awarded $120,000 each to law firms Ronald L. Book P.A. and Rutledge, Ecenia & Purnell, as well as $50,000 each for A ... More >>

Does Bouygues, Contractor on the $1 Billion Port of Miami Tunnel, Have a $1 Million Yacht?

According to a tipster, this is Bouygues's $1 million boat​These are dangerous times for the conspicuously wealthy. Overtaxed voters just threw out BMW-driving county mayor Carlos Alvarez. The outrage over George Burgess's $500,000 severance package is still palatable.But nothing brings out the pi ... More >>

County Manager George Burgess Is Resigning

​Hours after voters tossed out the bums (ahem, Carlos Alvarez and the vile Natacha Seijas), County Manager George Burgess got the hint as well. Burgess is set to resign his post today at a 2 p.m. news conference.In memorium, we'll just toss out two things about Burgess: $422,118 (yu ... More >>

Burgess and Alvarez Bid Dade Voters Adieu With Teary Farewell Speeches

Photo by Tim ElfrinkGeorge Burgess watches Carlos Alvarez's farewell speech.​The 29th floor of County Hall had all the ambiance of a funeral procession on Wednesday afternoon. Staffers with puffy eyes hid in cubicles, and an uncomfortable silence reigned until County Mayor Carlos Alvarez and Manag ... More >>

Setting The County Record Straight

Courtesy Genius of Despair from Eye On Miami​With the news that Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess is using county resources to help "set the record straight" about all the great and wonderful things he and his clan of bureaucrats do for us ungrateful residents, Banana Republican thought we' ... More >>

County Commissioner Natacha Seijas contributor has a shady past

Natacha Seijas Takes Donation From Businessman Once Banned By Miami-Dade County

​The top individual donor to the political action committee seeking to block Miami-Dade Commissioner Natacha Seijas' recall is a Hialeah businessman who was barred from getting county work. The campaign treasurer's report for Abre Los Brazos shows that Zitro Inc., a company owned by Hector P. Orti ... More >>

Miami Art Museum's New Building Breaks Ground and Into Barcelona's "Cool"

Michael MillerCounty mayor Carlos Alvarez (center) helps break ground for the new Miami Art Museum​Miami may not produce delicious paella, world-class wine, or soccer teams so good an entire nation has an orgasm every time its scores.But we will soon have an art museum to rival classy Barcelona's ... More >>

Here's A List of All 3,301 Miami-Dade Employees Who Make Six Figures

​At last glance, more than one in ten Miamians are unemployed and a solid chunk of the rest are proud pledging members of Broke Phi Broke. That's why County Mayor Carlos Alvarez is in serious danger of getting recalled -- and the rest of the County Commission shouldn't be feeling too comfortable e ... More >>

It's Official: Florida Marlins Screwed Miami-Dade Taxpayers

​Florida Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and team president Dave Samson have been exposed for the treacherous, no good, low down, lying dogs they are. Sports blog Deadspin got a hold of the Marlins' financial information which shows the team turned a profit the last two years and that the team could h ... More >>

Small Step Forward For Miami Art Museum, $69 Million Left To Raise

Miami-Dade is finally ready to give the blighted Miami Art Museum $100 million to begin construction of its long-in-the-works home at Bicentennial Park. While the museum has suffered a number of setbacks in the last decade, county manager George Burgess wrote last week he's satisfied with the $31 mi ... More >>

Marlins Ballpark is On Time and Under Budget

​Almost everyone who opposed the new Marlins ballpark balked at the price ("yeah, just wait until it goes over budget") and the time line ("They'll be lucky if they're open for the 2015 season"), but surprisingly a year after breaking ground the thing is actually on time and even slightly under bu ... More >>

County Commissioners Admit 'Errors' in Carlos Bertonatti Case; Bikers Protest

Bart Sherwood passes the grisly photos around the Miami-Dade County Commission chambers.Photo by Tim ElfrinkLycra pants mingled with business suits at the county commission chambers last night.​In the first image, his face is scraped and swollen, his arms are wrapped in plaster, and IVs run into h ... More >>

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 t ... More >>

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 F ... More >>

Ridin' Dirty

Miami-Dade County execs drive expensive cars on the taxpayers' dime.

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 ... More >>

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 coun ... More >>

Big Money on Top at Miami-Dade County Hall

When in doubt, pay the chiefs and forget the workers.

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 funn ... More >>

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 gur ... More >>

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 ... More >>

Wackenhut Stands up to Miami-Dade

Security firm denies ripping off the county and fires back with a $20 million lawsuit.

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 municip ... More >>

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 ... More >>

County Manager George Burgess Vacations Despite Fragile Deal

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 ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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"

News Roundup

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.

Coconuts, Delicious or Deadly?

On the MMAP

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

High Rollers on the High Seas

Sports geeks set sail on the Aquasino

Masvidal et al Get Paid, Again

Water Fight

The Biscayne Aquifer is pristine no more

Death by the Pound

Hidden from the public and cloaked in euphemism, regulated execution of dogs and cats is a routine horror. Can a new animal services director make a difference?

Civil $ervice

Who says it doesn't pay?

Racial-Profiling Study Liberated

If Signs are Outlawed…

…Then Only Outlaws Will Have Signs

Vote for Culture

What exactly does that mean? Today we know it means that two museums will receive hundreds of millions of dollars to build hulking structures in a waterfront park. But on November 2, most people had no clue

Trouble at Home

Note to Miami's Kerry boosters: All politics is local

The Bitch

Letters July 15-21, 2004

Politically Tone Deaf

George Burgess, the county manager, hits a sour note

Junk Bonds

Giant bronze dolphins and Miccosukees in the golf zone

The Bobble Boy

Another athlete achieves plastic immortality

A Deal to Dial For

A tenacious entrepreneur and county commissioners are hung up on the repercussions of a prepaid phone card bid

Swimming with the Sharks

An eight-year-old's severed arm and a broker's chewed-off leg aren't enough to convince Florida to ban interactive diving