Carlos Alvarez (mayor)

Carlos Alvarez
6th Mayor of Miami-Dade County
In office November 6, 2004 – March 11, 2011
Preceded by	Alex Penelas
Succeeded by	Carlos A. Giménez
Personal details
Born	1952 (age 58–59)[1] Havana, Cuba
Political party	Republican
Children	3
Alma mater	Florida International University (B.B.A.)
Profession	Police officer Politician

Carlos Alvarez (born c. 1952) is a Cuban American politician, and the former mayor of Miami-Dade County. He was first elected mayor in 2004, and re-elected in 2008. His mayoralty ended in March 2011 after a recall election.^[2] In both mayoral elections, he listed his party as "No Party Preference",^[3] although an article in the Christian Science Monitor described him as a member of the Republican Party.^[4]

Early life

Carlos Alvarez was born in Cuba around 1952. When he was eight years old, his family emigrated to Miami.^[5] Alvarez received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Florida International University in 1974. In addition to his FIU degree, Alvarez completed training at the Senior Management Institute for Police and the FBI National Academy.

Police work

In 1976, Alvarez joined the Miami-Dade Police Department.^[5] He was promoted through the ranks and, in 1997, became director of the MDPD.^[5] He served as director from 1997 to 2004. His tenure as director was called "relatively free of trouble, at least by local standards" by the Miami New Times, although in 2004 a group of policemen who served in the department described his management style as marked by "favoritism and retaliation".^[6]

Mayoralty

Carlos Alvarez ran for mayor in the 2004 Miami-Dade mayoral election, and defeated his opponent Jimmy Morales.^[7] He became Miami-Dade County's sixth mayor, replacing Alex Penelas. In 2007, Alvarez successfully launched a referendum to give the mayoralty more power, giving him direct control of the county's bureaucracy.^[8]

Alvarez was re-elected as county mayor on August 26, 2008, for his second term.^[9]

In 2009, Alvarez led a successful effort to spend hundreds of millions of dollars of the city's money to build a new baseball field for the local team the Florida Marlins.^[8] In August 2009, The Miami Herald revealed that Alvarez had recently given pay raises to close aides of his, including chief of staff Dennis Morales, whose new salary was over $200,000 a year.^[8] In September 2010, Alvarez pushed for a 12% increase in the property tax rate.^[8]

Recall

An effort to recall Alvarez began in October 2010, backed by billionaire businessman Norman Braman, a former owner of the football team the Philadelphia Eagles, due to Alvarez's simultaneous tax increases and pay raises for county workers.^[8] Braman spent over $1 million of his own money on the effort.^[4]

Alvarez was recalled in a March 15, 2011 election. Over 88% of the voters in the recall election, or 176,000 people, voted to have Mayor Alvarez recalled.^[10] The election was the largest municipal recall vote in United States history,^[4] and the 2nd largest in the U.S. of any kind, after the 2003 recall election of California governor Gray Davis.^[8] Alvarez officially left office on March 18, 2011 when the county canvassing board certified the results.^[2]

Personal life

Alvarez is the father of two sons and one daughter.^[5]

See also

• List of mayors of Miami-Dade County, Florida

References

1. ^ Rulers.org, U.S., Major cities, Miami, Miami-Dade County
2. ^ ^{a b} [1]^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Miami-Dade official election results; http://www.miamidade.gov/elections/elected_candidates.asp
4. ^ ^{a b c} "As recall wave builds, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez first to go", Patrik Jonsson, The Christian Science Monitor, March 16, 2011
5. ^ ^{a b c d} Biography: Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Central Florida News 13
6. ^ Korten, Tristram (2004-09-30), "Dissent Within the Ranks", Miami New Times, http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2004-09-30/news/dissent-within-the-ranks/ 
7. ^ Sokol, Brett (2004-11-18), "Trouble at Home", Miami New Times, http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2004-11-18/news/trouble-at-home 
8. ^ ^{a b c d e f} In dramatic revolt, Miami-Dade voters fire Mayor Carlos Alvarez over pay hikes, tax increase, Matthew Haggman and Martha Brannigan, The Miami Herald, March 15, 2011
9. ^ Rabin, Charles; Pinzur, Matthew (2008-08-28), "MAYOR'S RACE: Mayor wins, but discord detected", The Miami Herald: B1 
10. ^ The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/miami-dade-county-voters-recall-mayor-carlos-alvarez-amid-frustration-over-property-taxes/2011/03/15/ABjcKZa_story.html. ^{[dead link]}

Persondata
Name	Alvarez, Carlos
Alternative names
Short description	Florida politician
Date of birth	c. 1952
Place of birth	Cuba
Date of death
Place of death