Posted on 11/18/2004 7:53:41 PM PST by PJ-Comix
As Carlos Alvarez was sworn in Tuesday as Miami-Dade County's new executive mayor, two county commissioners were noticeably absent.
The first being Natacha Seijas, a woman of sour disposition no one missed.
The other, Joe Martinez.
''I just didn't go,'' Martinez told me Wednesday.
But why? After all, like Alvarez, Martinez rose from the ranks of the Miami-Dade Police Department.
``I just didn't go.''
In the four years he has been in office, Martinez has developed a reputation for having an ego that rivals any other on the commission. In addition to asking him why he chose to deliberately snub Alvarez, I also asked him about a report that earlier in the day, during the swearing-in ceremony for county commissioners, Martinez threw a fit when Alvarez showed up backstage to the commission event.
Martinez denied being upset. ''What are you trying to get at?'' Martinez asked me.
I told him I wanted to understand his animosity toward Alvarez.
''We are not the best of friends,'' Martinez responded.
Again, I asked why?
''We're just not,'' he said, refusing to elaborate.
Since Martinez wasn't going to give me any answers, I called Alvarez.
Martinez and Alvarez served together for years. When Martinez was a patrolman, Alvarez was a major. As Alvarez moved up the chain of command, eventually becoming director, he looked out for Martinez, who became a lieutenant before being elected to the commission in 2000.
''We were friends,'' Alvarez recalled. ``And when he was elected, he asked me to swear him in as a commissioner. And I did.
``But quite frankly, after he became a commissioner, he changed overnight.''
Alvarez said that by early 2001, Martinez tried to tell him whom to promote in the police department. ''I started getting pressure to promote his friends,'' Alvarez recalled. ``I said no.''
Martinez, according to Alvarez, grew angry and threatened him. ''We had words and I still said no,'' Alvarez recalled. ``And then we had some more words and then that was it.''
Since then, Alvarez said his relationship with Martinez has never been the same. ''I don't dwell on those issues,'' Alvarez said Wednesday. ``But he seems to dwell on them.''
Martinez denied pressuring Alvarez. ''If that's what he wants to say, that's up to him,'' Martinez said. ``No. Never pressure.''
Did he ask, in any way, for Alvarez to promote his friends?
''I'm not going to get into that now,'' Martinez said before ending the conversation.
John Rivera, president of the Miami-Dade County Police Benevolent Association, said Wednesday it was well known that Martinez despises Alvarez and that ``it supposedly had to do with friends and supporters Martinez wanted to see promoted.''
''Carlos stood his ground,'' Rivera said.
What makes Martinez's childish behavior significant is that he is vying to be the next chairman of the commission. Other possible candidates include Jose ''Pepe'' Diaz, Katy Sorenson and Dennis Moss. Commissioners will choose the new chair Nov. 30.
Martinez has support, especially from those who want to take a hard line against Alvarez. In some ways, though, the best thing that could happen to Alvarez is for commissioners to select Martinez, whose brusque manner and apparent arrogance embodies many of the things the public hates most about the commission.
As chairman, Martinez would be the main spokesman for the commission in opposing many of Alvarez's reforms. But how much credibility will he have with the public now that every word out of his mouth will have to be viewed through the prism of his personal animus toward Alvarez?
Alvarez said he is not going to worry about who the commissioners select as their chair.
''That's up to the commission to decide,'' he said. ``Whoever it is, I will work with them.''
FYI
People tend to forget that the city of Miami is actually not that big (about 350,000), and that most of the commercial activity has shifted to Coral Gables and the Doral area west of the airport. Miami-Dade County has over 2 million people.
I don't think another county in the country has a hyphen in the middle of it. It just looks so dopey. I find it painful everytime I read "Miami-Dade County."
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