Two Republicans ousted in recall vote in Miami Dade County, Florida.

[mfcorey1]

9 of 10 say ‘yes’ to ousting Mayor Carlos Alvarez

Despite spending more than $1 million to fend off ouster, the mayor of Miami-Dade suffered a humiliating defeat. Nine of every 10 voters chose recall.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/15/2117129/9-of-10-say-yes-to-ousting-alvarez.html##ixzz1GkBDFH5Y

[SoCalDem]

1. BRAVO ..!!

more please:)

[cui bono]

2. Nice!!! Let this be the first of many. (typo said meany, maybe I should've left it) n/t

[sabrina 1]

3. Buyers remorse?

Great news! Maybe it spread across the country.

He spent one million trying to stay in power. I wonder how much he spent to get there?

This could be a cheap way to get progressive Dems in office. First, let Republicans spend a fortune getting elected, give them a couple of months to reveal themselves and their policies, then recall them. This way good people wouldn't need much money to get elected.

[eomer]

4. Republican, yes, but to some extent the reasons for recall were that he was not "Tea Party" enough.

The main reasons used in the recall campaign were that he raised the property tax rate (to compensate for lower property values) and raised salaries for county employees. In other words, for doing what I and many other progressives think we need to do in this recession.

There was also the issue of building a baseball stadium with public money for the Marlins. We had a referendum, it lost (I voted against), they waited a couple of years, and now they are building it anyway. The mayor was in favor, both originally and in ignoring the referendum and going ahead anyway, and the main backer of the recall, Norman Braman, was opposed to building the stadium. This issue, however, seems to have been secondary to the property taxes and public employee salaries.

So this is not necessarily a good sign just because the mayor was a Republican. It is likely more like Charlie Crist getting replaced by Rick Scott. They're both Republicans but Scott is obviously much worse than Crist. Let's see who the new mayor is before cheering.

[mfcorey1]

5. Thanks for those details. I hate to be chasing fool's gold. nt

[Gaedel]

6. Local conservative radio

Was "leading the charge" in the campaign against Alvarez.

[BR_Parkway]

13. Wasn't there some billionaire car dealer also pushing this? n/t

[Gaedel]

16. Yes, Norman Braman

He was pissed about the way the stadium deal went down and bankrolled the recall.

Jimmy Cefalo (former Dolphins player) was the radio voice attacking Mayor Alvarez (same station for Rush, Beck, Hannity).

Whatever, they struck a note because Alvarez went down the tubes 80% to 20% in the recall election.

Right after the feds announced no cost of living raises for social security or for military and federal retirees, Alvarez negotiated a significant COL for his government employees plus raised the salaries of his inner circle by an even higher amount.

Then, he raised property taxes to cover up the increases.

Even the Cuban community, which was his base, deserted him.

[mfcorey1]

10. May they continue to eat their own. nt

[Snoutport]

22. ah yes

it is a cannibalism that I am enjoying watching!

[malaise]

7. I started a thread asking about this yesterday

and the majority of responses were that there are no recalls in Florida.

Great news

[1monster]

15. There are recalls in charter cities and counties. There are no recalls for the

State Legislature or Governor.

[SpiralHawk]

8. Americans assert themselves

Thank heavens.

Republicons begin reaping the crap they have sown...

[DemoTex]

9. All aboard! The Recall Express is soon leaving the station.

Miami to Madison.

[Vinca]

11. Maybe people have suddenly caught a case of sanity.

[LiberalAndProud]

12. Alvarez pissed off billionaire Bramen because he raised property taxes.

He spent more than $1 million. How much did Bramen spend? I don't think his replacement will be an improvement.

[Scuba]

14. Keep this ball rolling!!!!!! n/t

[FLAprogressive]

17. and the media has reported this as "Someone who raised taxes" getting ousted....

[Gaedel]

18. It was

The passion supporting the recall along with Braman's money was stirred up by Alvarez raising property taxes to make up for falling assessments. The other jurisdictions are slashing the budget to try and hold the line on raising the millage rate.

[FLAprogressive]

19. If it were a Dem, it would be played as "Democrat (Who Raised Taxes) Gets Ousted"....

[Gaedel]

20. I don't know about Miami-Dade

Are the elections there partisan or non-partisan?

[madfloridian]

21. Why he was recalled is scary. He tried to be moderate about taxes.

:shrug:

[Snoutport]

24. oooh...recalled by the way right and the left?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Any chance a Dem can win?

[Dappleganger]

23. Good, but I fear the replacements.

The real democrats need to get their butts in gear and take those positions back.