Good luck Miami

The County commissioners are going to need it. Miami-Dade elected officials have been receiving the same base salary since the 1950s, $6,000. Now commissioners want a raise to $89,000 but first must get voter approval. I'll be one of the first to say that $6,000 is inadequate and a raise in order. However getting one approved by voters is a long shot. Maybe the commissioners should come down to a salary about half of what they are asking if they want a realistic chance at approval.

Open Post- Bright & Early, Basil's Blog,

For nearly five decades, Miami-Dade voters have enforced a de facto salary freeze on county commissioners -- routinely rejecting any attempts to boost salaries since the county incorporated.

Today, Miami-Dade commissioners will discuss asking taxpayers to raise the commission salary from $6,000 to nearly $89,000.

The item, sponsored by Commissioners Bruno Barreiro and Dennis Moss, marks the third time in three years the salary issue has come before the full board.

If it passes the full commission at today's meeting, it will appear on the ballot for countywide elections in September.

But if history is any indicator, it will be a tough sell.

''People are mistrustful of the County Commission,'' said Commissioner Katy Sorenson, who supports the pay raise. ``They may like their individual commissioner, but they may hate the commission as a whole. The reflexive response is to say no.''

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who has been in a public feud with the commission since he took office in 2004, supports the move to put the salary increase up for a vote.

Regardless of the rift, Alvarez said he supports a full-time salary for commissioners.

Advocates say the increase would level the playing field come election time and help eliminate possible conflicts that arise when elected leaders pursue employment opportunities outside of County Hall.

Miami-Dade is the only one of Florida's 67 counties that does not rely on a state formula that ties commission salaries to population.

Broward County commissioners, for example, make more than $88,000.

Miami-Dade's home rule charter, however, specifically set the $6,000 salary in 1957 -- with no mechanism to account for inflation or other circumstances.

''This was a smaller, less complicated county at that time,'' said Sorenson, who has no other job outside of her district seat. ``This is a full-time job. The benefit is that this would allow a greater pool [of candidates], not just people who can afford to run.''

Voters have rejected an increase seven times -- most recently in 2004, when a slim majority turned down a proposal that would have also placed term limits on commissioners.

Barreiro, whose day job is at the helm of a home healthcare firm, says he hopes the narrow loss bodes well this time.

''I'm lucky, I have my own business,'' he said. ``But you're not going to attract a regular 30- or 40-year-old professional that has to keep a family.''

Last year, Moss pushed for the salary question to appear alongside a special slots election. But his move fizzled after the gaming industry objected to the addition to the proposal.

While commission salaries have stayed the same since the Eisenhower administration, commissioners have some considerable benefits nonetheless: $24,000 annually for expenses, $10,000 annually in executive benefits and $9,600 annually for transportation allowances or county-leased cars.