A couple months ago, the City of Miami's budget was about as well-balanced as Gary Busey on PCP.
The Commission, Mayor Manny Diaz and the city's three unions staged a vicious tug-of-war over who would feel the most pain in plugging a $118 million hole.But as Tomas Regalado prepares to take over Diaz's seat later this afternoon, he inherits a budget balanced for the moment by an uneasy agreement. The unions and City Manager Pete Hernandez all agreed to pay cuts and layoffs in early October.
Charlie Cox, chief of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees union, tells Riptide he ended up with 40 layoffs. Hernandez, in turn, promised the Herald he'd lose "a dozen" of his top earners.
So who did Hernandez and City Attorney Julie Bru actually lay off? Riptide has obtained their records, and it shows that, indeed, pink slips went out to 39 city employees, from Bru's office to NET to Information Technology.
But only nine of those layoffs hit managers pulling in more than $100,000 a year.
Hernandez's own executive assistant, Gilbert Cabrera, avoided the ax by taking a pay cut and moving to the Solid Waste Department.
Click through for the full list of the top-earners who did get laid off.
- Lysia Bowling, Assistant City Attorney -- $133,900
- Gary Cobb, Assistant Director to the Department of Information Technology -- $120,000
- Teresita Fernandez, Executive Secretary in the Office of Hearing Boards -- $ 125,598
- Elliot Fixler, Assistant Director in the Department of Risk Management -- $120,276
- Roger Hernstadt, Assistant City Manager -- $179,500
- Kirk Menendez, Project Manager in the City Manager's Office -- $107,362
- Heriberto Padilla-Morales, NET Administrator -- $111,061
- Michael Rath, Assistant Director in the Department of Purchasing -- $122,445
- Maria Santovenia, Assistant City Attorney -- $146,779
