Carlos Gimenez reduces departments -- but doesn't get rid of as many as originally promised

Early in the morning on Sept. 23, 2011, Miami-Dade County Commissioners signed off on a $6.12 billion budget that included some key victories for Mayor Carlos Gimenez including his proposal to reduce the number of county departments.

Gimenez wrote on his campaign website April 26, 2011: "Although the economic downturn has forced a contraction in the size of county government, it remains bloated, with over 60 departments, agencies and offices -– some of them employing only a handful of people, and a director making over $200,000. One of my top priorities is to reorganize and consolidate county departments, bringing the total number to no more that 25 – the same as the State of Florida. By eliminating unnecessary departments we can reduce the tax burden on Miami-Dade residents."

He made the same promise in a Miami Herald editorial board questionnaire:

"County government is far too bloated. It currently has 60 departments, agencies and offices and could function efficiently with 25 departments, the same as the State. We will reorganize and consolidate county departments, eliminate unnecessary positions, and reduce top-level salaries and executive benefits."

But Gimenez set the bar too high: He couldn't cut from 60 to 25. There are only 55 departments, agencies and offices, according to county spokeswoman Suzy Trutie. And of the 55, 13 aren't under the mayor's purview: Board of County Commissioners, Citizen"s Independent Transportation Trust, Clerk"s Office (Clerk of the Courts and Clerk of the Board), Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, County Attorney"s Office, Homeless Trust, Housing Finance Authority, Inspector General, Judicial Administration (Circuit and County Judges), Metropolitan Planning Organization, Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust, Property Appraiser"s Office, and Vizcaya Museum and Gardens

So that means Gimenez could only tinker with 42 in his merger plan. 

On Sept. 2 Gimenez unveiled his plan to reduce county departments in a memo posted on the county's website. He said the mergers would save about $5 million and include 40 layoffs. (That's in addition to the 1,139 job reductions expected as of Sept. 23: about 500 vacant and 639 filled.) He wrote another memo to commissioners about his merger plan on Sept. 16 that provided more details. 

Gimenez tweaked his plan in response to input from commissioners -- for example he had initially proposed that agenda coordination fall under Management and Budget but those positions were moved to the Board of County Commissioners. At the Sept. 22 final budget meeting that stretched into the next day, the commissioners also rejected Gimenez's proposal to merge the Office of Human Rights and Fair Employment Practices with Community Action Agency and Human Services. The Office of Human Rights and Fair Employment Practices will temporarily be under the mayor's purview and Commissioner Dennis Moss directed the county attorney's office to come back to commissioners as soon as possible to present a proposal to make it an independent entity. 

By approving the budget, commissioners signed off on most of Gimenez's merger plan, which means that as of Oct. 1 there are 26 departments under the mayor's jurisdiction (including temporarily the Office of Human Rights and Fair Employment Practices) -- plus the Office of the Mayor, plus 13 other departments that aren't under the mayor's purview -- for a total of 40. Assuming commissioners later approve a plan to make the Office of Human Rights and Fair Employment Practices an autonomous entity, that leaves the total of 40 the same but shifts one from under the mayor's jurisdiction to independent.

Gimenez gave the impression to voters during the campaign that he would reduce the number of departments from 60 -- or "over 60" -- to 25. His mergers -- delivered just months after he was elected -- are a significant step toward cutting costs at County Hall. But he didn't go quite as far as he promised during the campaign because he doesn't have jurisdiction to merge 13 -- and he's not counting his own Office of the Mayor in the mix. Also, the Office of Human Rights and Fair Employment Practices is expected to become an independent entity. On the Carlos-O-Meter, we define a Compromise "when they accomplish substantially less than the original statement but when there is still a significant accomplishment that is consistent with the goal of his original promise." We define a Promise Kept as "when the original promise is mostly or completely fulfilled."

We rate this a Compromise.