Carlos Gimenez

Carlos Gimenez was born in Cuba. Gimenez graduated from Christopher Columbus High School.[1] He earned a bachelor's degree in public administration from Barry University in 1999.[1][2][3] Gimenez's career experience includes working as a firefighter with the City of Miami Fire Department and the manager of the City of Miami.[1][2]Gimenez served as mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida, from 2011 to 2020. Though the county's mayoral election is nonpartisan, Gimenez identified as a Republican during his terms as mayor.[4]

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Campaign website

Gimenez's campaign website stated the following:

Elected in 2011 with a mandate for change, during a time of economic crisis, declining household incomes and job losses, Gimenez has led dramatic positive change in South Florida by balancing the county’s budget every year without raising taxes and bringing Miami-Dade taxpayers the largest tax cut in county history. The Gimenez tax cut has saved property taxpayers more than $1.9 billion, or more than $1700 per household.

To help bring the county budget under control, Gimenez cut his own salary by fifty percent and cut his office budget by over $1 million. He put the county’s checkbook online so all taxpayers could see how their tax dollars were being spent. To make government more efficient and effective, Gimenez reduced the number of county departments from 42 to 26, eliminated 1700 positions and renegotiated contracts with public sector labor unions, saving taxpayers over $400 million. In his first two years in office, Gimenez reduced the wait time on county permit processing by three months.

After graduating from Christopher Columbus High School, Gimenez earned a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from Barry University and spent twenty-five years as a firefighter with the Miami Fire-Rescue Department, nine as Chief. Having been recognized for his management of the Miami Fire-Rescue Department, Gimenez was appointed Manager of the City of Miami in 2000, where he brought fiscal sustainability and reliability overseeing a $500 million annual budget and 4000 employees. Due to sound fiscal practices, Gimenez reduced the tax rate to its lowest level in 50 years while creating a $140 million reserve and elevating the City’s bond rating from “junk” status to investment grade.[5]

—Carlos Gimenez's campaign website (2020)[6]

Gimenez's campaign website included the following themes:

Economic growth & job creation

Mayor Gimenez is committed to continue enhancing the quality of life for all Miami-Dade residents. Less than a month after taking office, Mayor Gimenez approved the largest tax cut in Miami-Dade County history. This tax cut resulted in saving of approximately $1 billion dollars, or $1,000 per average homeowner.

Since 2011, Miami-Dade County has added over 150,000 new jobs in the private sector and has led the state in job creation. Under Mayor Gimenez's leadership, the unemployment rate has dropped from around 12% to about 5.9%.

With initiatives like "One Community One Goal" and "Employ Miami-Dade", Mayor Gimenez is working to create a world business hub to promote trade and education in Miami-Dade, with policies and incentives that will generate new jobs and opportunities for private investment.

"One Community One Goal" is a community-wide plan aimed at generating new higher-paying jobs in targeted industries like technology. "Employ Miami Dade" focuses on training, providing our residents the necessary skills to enter the workforce, as well as connecting residents from neighborhoods with high unemployment rates with potential employers, and ensuring they are considered first for local jobs.

Public Safety

Throughout his career, from firefighter to County Mayor, the safety and security of our residents has always been Carlos Gimenez's number one priority. Mayor Gimenez has hired over 130 police officers in the last fiscal year, surpassing the county's goal, while also continuing to replace the county's police-vehicle fleet and modernizing its real-time crime center.

Mayor Gimenez championed and implemented a system of 1,000 police body cameras, and helped secure a $1 million federal grant to launch the camera program in Miami-Dade. This system will bring enormous benefits to our community, keeping everyone safe and showcasing our police officers' good work. The police body cameras will be an effective tool to connect the county's police department with our community.

Under Mayor Gimenez's leadership, the Miami-Dade Police Department introduced a community program to combat crime across the county reaching out to at-risk youth. The 25 police officers selected for the "Youth and Community Safety Initiative" are responsible for mentoring at-risk youth with the goal of giving them better alternatives and steering them away from crime and violence. The unit will also help their families, by providing family counseling, job placement and substance abuse treatment.

Transportation

Mayor Gimenez is committed to continue providing our residents and visitors with a clean, safe, reliable, accessible and convenient transportation system. The mayor's commitment to cutting red tape led to the creation of the new Department of Transportation and Public Works. This streamlined department has proven to be an effective way of coordinating county efforts with the Florida Department of Transportation, Metropolitan Planning Organization, and others.

Mayor Gimenez's plan has increased mobility and will ease congestion. The mayor's proposals also include enhancing county buses and eliminating certain stops so trips are faster. The county is also identifying express bus routes to take residents to and from different parts of the county faster. Mayor Gimenez has also made progress synchronizing traffic lights, by implementing a new system using modern technology.

Thanks to Mayor Gimenez's leadership, our residents and visitors are now able to legally use ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft. Mayor Gimenez's commitment to legalizing these services brought Miami-Dade County transportation into the 21st century. The mayor listened to our community and will continue to integrate new technologies to improve the way we move around Miami-Dade.

Focusing on promoting mass transit and making it one of his priorities, Mayor Gimenez proposed and advocated for the SMART plan for transit, which calls for six corridors to travel across Miami-Dade. By constructing a system for the future, the mayor's vision is to leave a better public transportation system for our children and grandchildren.

[5]

—Carlos Gimenez (2016), [7]