Our New Mayor. I hope you guys are happy

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Matti Bower was sworn in Wednesday as Miami Beach's first Hispanic mayor, taking over a city that until a decade ago had no elected Hispanic officials.

She is also the first female mayor of the city.

"From the very beginning, I was told I could not do this," Bower said.

Bower ignored the "first ever" topics in her first address as mayor. She said the campaign that brought her 54 percent of the vote wasn't about her gender or ethnicity.

"That was the topic -- the special interests trying to get control," Bower said.

The new commissioners sworn in on Wednesday -- Jonah Wolfson, Ed Tobin and Deedee Weithorn -- all spoke of residents fed up with business interests trumping their concerns.

"They spoke very loudly that they wanted their city back," Weithorn said.

"I think we have more of a resident-minded commission now," Wolfson said.

The new commission also represents a defeat for Miami Beach's police and fire unions. All four candidates they backed lost.

While her opponent said he wouldn't re-examine police and fire contracts in tight budget times, Bower said, "We need to look at every department."

Bower said the average Miami Beach police officer now earns $108,000 a year, which is unsustainable if citizens get the tax cuts they want.
Copyright 2007 by NBC6.net. All rights reserved.
©2007 NBC Universal, Inc

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MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Matti Bower was sworn in Wednesday as Miami Beach's first Hispanic mayor, taking over a city that until a decade ago had no elected Hispanic officials.

She is also the first female mayor of the city.

"From the very beginning, I was told I could not do this," Bower said.

Bower ignored the "first ever" topics in her first address as mayor. She said the campaign that brought her 54 percent of the vote wasn't about her gender or ethnicity.

"That was the topic -- the special interests trying to get control," Bower said.

The new commissioners sworn in on Wednesday -- Jonah Wolfson, Ed Tobin and Deedee Weithorn -- all spoke of residents fed up with business interests trumping their concerns.

"They spoke very loudly that they wanted their city back," Weithorn said.

"I think we have more of a resident-minded commission now," Wolfson said.

The new commission also represents a defeat for Miami Beach's police and fire unions. All four candidates they backed lost.

While her opponent said he wouldn't re-examine police and fire contracts in tight budget times, Bower said, "We need to look at every department."

Bower said the average Miami Beach police officer now earns $108,000 a year, which is unsustainable if citizens get the tax cuts they want.
Copyright 2007 by NBC6.net. All rights reserved.
©2007 NBC Universal, Inc

Get RSS

Next contract is going to be ugly.

Why doesn't the Union get with the program and deal with the media and her and clarify the AVERAGE yearly salary that is based on 40hr work week only? And make it CLEAR that it is up to the individual Officer to take salary incentive classes, get a AA/BA degree, work off duty/overtime, etc. Make it clear to everyone these are EXTRAS the individual Officer gets if CHOOSES to go above and beyond.
So now the NEWS MEDIA through Bower says the AVERAGE Officer makes $106k. That never looks good towards the community especially when the #'s not actual.
IDEA
-Union- Get with new mayor and/or commissioners and/or news media and do not bark at them. Have the factual 40hr a week BASE salary of a 13 year Officer and present to them. If for nothing, the Mayor eats crow.
-mr. write my own ticket, self-made officer/sgt, PIO. Don't wait for the negative slander towards our PD to happen again, but why not be pro-active and contact the media/mayor/commissioners and clear the air with the facts?

-mr. write my own ticket, self-made officer/sgt, PIO. Don't wait for the negative slander towards our PD to happen again, but why not be pro-active and contact the media/mayor/commissioners and clear the air with the facts?

BH does not have the authority to just do that. The Chief would have to approve it. Being that this may put egg on Matti's face, I doubt that this is going to go anywhere.

I remember when BH got into a 34 with Joan Fliesman about releasing the Rolex Robber a-forms and how the release would jeopardize the case. BH was ordered by AM to release them to her. He almost got transferred due to him and AM getting into it. If you don’t believe me, ask 2911 DM or BH himself. This was a favor for a retired LT from here that works in Bal Harbour now as their Chief.

Yeah, the retired Lt. now Chief in Bal Harbor. Another DD buddy. Another loser!