Miamians hate it when media criticism of their city is couched in stale clichs like “Trouble in Paradise” or “Paradise Lost.” I agree: it’s time to nix the whole “paradise” chestnut, because Miami isn’t and never really was paradise. In fact, it was originally a mangrove swamp; South Beach is entirely man-made. Yes, Miami winters are balmy, but have you ever spent an entire summer here? By August you’re dreaming of Montreal.
But put aside Miami’s natural attributes and consider its civic qualities, and things get really infernal. In March, the voters of Miami-Dade County, or metropolitan Miami, recalled their Mayor, Carlos Alvarez, who during the worst recession since the Great Depression gave his top staffers pay raises as high as 15% while using his government car allowance to help pay for his new luxury BMW. In the June 28 run-off election to replace Alvarez, the choices were a Hialeah politician under federal investigation for alleged loan-sharking and a member of the Miami-Dade County Commission, a body so clueless and cavalier that one of its members heads a construction company that gets contracts from Miami International Airport — which the Commission oversees.
