Almost time to fold up Carlos Alvarez's circus tent

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The Herald reports today that according to a Miami Herald/CBS4/Univision 23 poll conducted by Bendixen & Amandi International, "a tidal wave of voter discontent crossing all political and demographic lines threatens to sweep away both Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez and County Commissioner Natacha Seijas from their jobs."

The results of the are fascinating.

But the number that jumps out at me ... or to be more precise, jumps out, waves a red flag and shouts through a bullhorn is 80. Eighty per cent of the poll's respondents couldn't name Carlos Alvarez’s biggest accomplishment in six years as mayor. Nothing. Nada.

From the Herald story:

It represents a sharp turnaround for Alvarez who, in 2007, sought — and got — enhanced power to run the county government, in large part by arguing that a single, empowered executive was needed to fix a dysfunctional county government. Underscoring the last point, when asked to name the strong mayor’s biggest accomplishment, fully 80 percent of poll respondents said there were none or couldn’t think of any.

I'm sure the mayor would beg to differ. So maybe the question that should be asked is what has the mayor's communications director, Victoria Mallette been doing?

Isn't it her job to communicate all of the mayor's many accomplishments to the voters?


But all too often we read these kinds of things in the paper: "Mayoral spokeswoman Victoria Mallette did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday." Mallette, it should be noted, makes over $124,000 a year not to return phone calls.

Random Pixels can name one accomplishment. The mayor did fix himself up with a fine ride!

When County Hall's budget ax fell last year, the mayor and commissioners slashed more than $400 million in jobs and spending. Yet one perk was preserved: Their taxpayer-subsidized luxury cars.
[...]
County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, already provided two county-owned Chevy Suburbans and two drivers to crisscross South Florida, is poised to take possession of a new BMW 550i Gran Turismo sedan. Taxpayers will cover a big chunk of the cost.

Now some might say it's petty to focus on somehing like a car lease when you're running a county as large as Miami-Dade. It's just a little thing, after all.

But, you see Mr. Mayor, when voters can't name any big accomplishments, they tend to focus on those little things.

Like the song says, "little things mean a lot."

Hit it, Kitty!