Citizen outrage overflows at Miami-Dade Commission tax hearing: More than 1,000 people packed a Miami-Dade budget hearing, demanding funding for community groups and sometimes deriding county spending.

Sep 04, 2009 (The Miami Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- RNDOF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Confronting a record $427 million budget deficit, Miami-Dade commissioners Thursday were faced with the dilemma of setting a tax rate against a backdrop of outrage from taxpayers and pleas for help from community groups.

Round One of two budget hearings drew more than 1,000 protesters, advocates and concerned citizens, with residents descending on County Hall waving placards and joining in song -- some even dressed as superheroes in blue tights and orange capes bent on delivering social justice.

"The people, united, will never be defeated!" the Community Avengers chanted.

The budget hearing started at 5 p.m. and continued into the night. As midnight approached, nearly 200 people had spoken and commissioners had not yet begun their deliberations.

Commissioners must set a proposed property-tax rate amid public outrage over potential tax hikes, sharp cuts to services -- and big-ticket salary raises for some executive county employees.

"We're not one of the lucky ones to get a raise," said Don Reno, 28, a Miami-Dade firefighter from Kendall who was joined by dozens of other county firefighters clad in red T-shirts and opposing funding cuts.

Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who handed out several of those big raises to his close advisors this year and last, declined to make a statement before the budget hearing began. The mayor said he would give his address after the public spoke.

Alvarez is proposing a budget that lays off 1,700 county workers, cuts salaries by five percent, slashes funding to arts and social services, and imposes a small tax increase on property owners.

Striking a balance between slashing services -- including funding for arts and social-service programs for the disabled, elderly and young -- or raising taxes on an electorate struggling to make ends meet leaves commissioners with politically unpleasant choices.

"We all want two things," said Commissioner Katy Sorenson at the outset of the hearing. "We all want services. We all want to pay less in taxes. If only it were that easy."

The commission will meet again in two weeks to finalize the budget.

OUT TO BE HEARD

Public input was open to anyone who wanted to speak -- for two minutes at a time.

The crowd was orderly and the police presence not overbearing, yet Chairman Dennis Moss wasted little time dismissing a speaker after public comments began.

Beatriz Pi, 53, approached the podium to say that the big raises granted to top county officials amid the searing economic downturn were wrong.

A series of Miami Herald reports has detailed handsome raises given this year by Mayor Alvarez and Chairman Moss to staffers despite government revenue shortfalls.

But as soon as Pi mentioned Alvarez's name, Moss interrupted, saying she needed to stop her "personal attacks."

"Otherwise, I'm going to shut you down," Moss said.

"But this is freedom of speech," she protested.

"We're here to talk about the budget," Moss said. When Pi started to name names, Moss made good on his threat. Pi was stopped short.

"I'm very angry," Pi said afterward. "This isn't right."

Following that exchange, the salary controversy was hardly mentioned again.

Yet, outside the commission chamber, there were numerous outbursts decrying the pay hikes at a time when services may be cut and taxes increased.

"We are tired of these people stealing our tax dollars," said Ella Kitchen, 71, of Liberty City. "I would like to know how Alvarez sleeps at night. We are seniors who put him in office -- but we're going to get him out."

Speakers arguing against cuts to arts, recreation and social programs vastly outnumbered opponents to a tax increase.

Wanda Gomez, a 32-year-old survivor of a violent domestic stabbing, raised her placard outside the chamber: "I would be dead if domestic violence services didn't exist."

Social services are "the lifeline that keeps the frail, the elderly, the people who cannot raise their voices . . . from falling into utter despair," said Pedro Rodriguez, 56, CEO of Spinal Cord Living-Assistance Development in Hialeah.

Several spoke about the need to preserve services aimed at reducing drug and alcohol dependency.

Both arms covered in tattoos, Daniel Lopez-Calleja, 24, said it was because of the funding of substance-abuse programs that he was no longer a "leach" on society.

"It was completely impossible for me to be here four years ago," said Lopez-Calleja, who now counsels teenagers in eight schools in South Miami. "If funds are cut from programs like ours, we could be sitting here a few years from now trying to figure out how to clean up our streets."

Michael Johnson, a 32-year-old recovering alcoholic, told commissioners that community-based organizations -- or CBOs -- turned his life around.

In 2006, Johnson said he drank prodigious amounts of bourbon and beer daily. Today, Johnson said he doesn't drink and is working toward a psychology and math degree at Miami Dade College. "Eliminating CBOs is like putting that drink back in my hand," he said.

Business leader Adolfo Henriques, chairman of the Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs Council, said it's imperative that tax funding for arts programs be maintained -- noting that for everydollar of county support, cultural organizations leverage 27 additional dollars.

"The last thing we should do is cut an investment that yields enormous economic benefits, creates jobs and generates tax revenues," he said.

Yet, before the meeting started, commissioners Javier Souto and Carlos Gimenez issued budget proposals opposing a tax increase.

That move, while appeasing to homeowners wanting a lower bill, would make it harder to fund social programs.

Biscayne Park Commissioner Steve Bernard said county commissioners must focus on rooting out waste. "When we look at our budget, we look at every single line item and dollar," he said. "If we can do it, you can do it."

Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina delivered a letter to commissioners arguing against raising taxes. "If residents have to live on fixed budgets and make sacrifices," he wrote, "then we who are elected by those same residents must do the same."

FROM THE START

The debate actually began hours before the meeting, when hundreds converged on County Hall in a last-ditch effort to avoid sweeping budget cuts for social-service programs run by community-based organizations.

About 200 placard-waving protesters rallied against Alvarez's budget, which calls for cuts in funding for community-based organizations.

The Penny Wise Miami Coalition -- a consortium of community-based groups that organized the rally -- estimates that Alvarez's budget will eliminate $31 million in funding for 275 organizations. The siphoning of this funding, some campaigners said, would lead to more expensive services in the long run.

Daniella Levine, president of Human Services Coalition and a leader of the Penny Wise campaign, shook an oversized baby bottle full of pennies as she led loud chants.

"The idea is that it's a penny of savings for a pound of foolishness," Levine said.

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