Pension spending, curbing crime, and pizza boxes dominated discussion at the first of three candidate forums sponsored by the Ponce Business Association.
The forums, moderated by CBS4 news anchor Eliott Rodriguez, a Coral Gables resident, are designed to introduce voters to the 10 candidates who are vying for three seats in the April 9 city election.
Thursday night, the five candidates for the Group 3 seat — Jackson Rip Holmes, Patricia Keon, Phillip (P.J.) Mitchell, Norman Anthony (Tony) Newell and Mary Young — didn’t spar over any issue. They agreed, for the most part, that out-of-control pension costs are the most pressing issue in the Gables. They also fielded handwritten questions from residents who gathered in a meeting room at the Coral Gables Congregational Church.
• On pensions:
Since 2001, the city’s unfunded pension liability swelled from $8 million to $235 million. In September, Coral Gables commissioners voted unanimously to reduce pension benefits for some police officers and to require a larger annual pension contribution from current officers, from 5 to 10 percent of wages. That saved an estimated $1.9 million per year. Negotiations with the firefighters union are ongoing.
In addition, in December, the commission voted 3-2 to reject the Retirement Board’s request to provide a 6 percent cost-of-living increase for retirees. If the city had approved that, the cost would have been $1.6 million per year over 30 years — or $48 million.
The Retirement Board oversees pension money for police officers, firefighters and general employees. Term-limited commissioners Ralph Cabrera and Maria Anderson dissented. Cabrera is running for the mayor’s seat against incumbent Jim Cason and the two will appear at a March 21 forum at the church.
Holmes, 61, a commercial real estate broker who ran for the Group 4 seat won by Commissioner Frank Quesada in 2011, believes a stronger downtown, with tax revenue from an anchor mall store, could shore up the pension problem.
“One of the reasons we’re in this deficit and $200 million in unfunded liabilities is deficient financial planning in the downtown area. In my heart of hearts, that’s why I’m running. I’ve been trying to get this city to have a department store on Miracle Mile. Had we done that, we wouldn’t have these unfunded liabilities. We need to have a retail anchor so when you make a shopping decision, instead of going to Dadeland, you go to Miracle Mile.’’
The city, however, has two major department stores anchors at The Village of Merrick Park: Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.
Keon, 64, a member of the Coral Gables Planning and Zoning Board and civic volunteer, praised the efforts of the current commission and city manager Pat Salerno for tackling the pension problem.
“There have been huge changes under the current city manager in two years’ time to resolve [pensions.] Under current management, it is likely if we negotiate, it will work out fine,” she said.
Mitchell, 39, a partner with the law firm Mitchell & West, advocated that new city employees choose between a city pension or a defined contribution plan like a 401(k).
“When I first came to work they allowed us a choice — pension plan or defined contribution,” Mitchell said.
If the city were to give its employees a choice, which it does not do now, it could result in the city losing much of the general employees’ 20-percent contribution to the fund, which goes toward paying down the unfunded liability.
Newell, 30, vice president of operations for Hammer Construction Corp., praised the ongoing negotiating efforts and stressed generating revenue streams. “We imposed some good concessions on the police and Teamsters. … Revenue comes through taxes and generating business. All of us want taxes to remain low and they have been for two years in a row. The only way to do that is to generate income, smart development, but not urban sprawl.”
Young, 55, director of the University of Miami School of Business Administration’s Ziff Graduate Career Services Center and former chair of the Coral Gables Community Foundation, stressed a “shared responsibility” and honoring commitments to current employees while recognizing the need to modify contribution plans with new hires.
“The process has started to come up with an executable plan,” she said. “As new people come in, the program recognizes it is no longer affordable and changing that to allow people to move to other sorts of funds that they are primarily contributing to, as well as our city,” would maintain quality of life.
• On crime:
The five candidates urged for more citizens’ watch groups and education programs between law enforcement officers and the public.
Keon spoke of setting performance standards for various city departments. “And that includes the police department,” she said. “After a crime is committed houses are placed on a watch list. What we need to look at is the clearance rate of crimes. When there are two or three home robberies, they aren’t random groups of people. These are the same groups of people committing these crimes.”
Newell added that attracting the best officers would help reduce crime and that generating revenues would help the city compensate these individuals. “We need to have a strong, well-funded police force that can respond on time and is adequately equipped. The main draw to their job is they want to serve and feel a sense of duty, but it’s also pensions.’’
• On the mayoral candidates and city manager:
Rodriguez asked the candidates whose policies they favored — Cason’s or Cabrera’s. Only Newell bit.
“Mayor Cason has done a fantastic job. It was so much easier to run two years ago because you could harp on so many problems the city had and here we are talking about pizza boxes. We were on the same road Detroit was on two years ago, hemorrhaging money, and we fixed that, to where we can talk about Streetscape and sidewalks. I think the mayor has done a good job. I think Ralph can do a good job. But I think my policies are closer to Mayor Cason’s.”
The others, however, passed. “That race is a decision the community will make with their vote,” Young said.
The Group 3 candidates also praised Salerno for his financial acumen even if his style isn’t “warm and fuzzy,” as Mitchell said.
“I will do my best to work with Pat but if I see Pat is not doing what he should be doing I’ll call attention to it and, with the powers invested in me, I’ll exercise them,” Mitchell said.
Holmes noted Salerno’s refinancing of loans helped save the city $22 million, but said the manager had accepted a pay raise amid budget cuts. Salerno has not received a pay raise since he took office under former mayor Don Slesnick’s administration in 2009.
“Pat is an excellent financial manager for this city,” Keon said. “He has done an excellent job of stabilizing this city fiscally.”
Added Newell: “When I think of Pat I think of managing finances and freeing up $22 million at no cost to the city. Pat has these creative solutions.”
Newell likened Salerno to TV’s fictional Dr. Gregory House, an unconventional character played by Hugh Laurie on the medical drama,
House.
“If you’re sick, who do you want working for you? I can’t speak to his management style but if it’s rough and tumble, so be it. That’s what we need in this city now. He laid some people off, but he had to. He had to cut back on raises, but he had to. That’s why people don’t like him. He’s tough and they don’t like his bedside manner,” Newell said.
• On pizza boxes:
Residents have complained that the pits in the swales have become the dumping ground for pizza boxes. Rodriguez read a question that asked the commission candidates for solutions. Ideas included filling the holes, looking into privatized trash pickup or the distribution of receptacle bins similar to Miami-Dade’s trash pickup program.
Young, turning toward Newell, quipped, “If our city’s worst problem is Tony’s pizza box in my pit, we’ll sleep well tonight.”
Follow @HowardCohen on Twitter.
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