1675-23 New Hotels 244 of 490, 2 Terms
mh BEACH'S CARLTON BREWS 09/19/1994
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1994, The Miami Herald
DATE: Monday, September 19, 1994 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 1B LENGTH: 106 lines
ILLUSTRATION: photo: Roger Carlton (a)
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: FRAN BRENNAN Herald Staff Writer
BEACH'S CARLTON BREWS
CONTROVERSY, CONFIDENCE
After the abrupt departures of two police chiefs in as many weeks, many in
Miami Beach blamed City Manager Roger Carlton. Much of the blame came from
within the Police Department, where Carlton admits he hasn't made many
friends.
But others, too, have said the loss of two respected chiefs was one of
several missteps by Carlton since he became manager in March, 1992.
Since then, he has won kudos for his fiscal management, his work ethic
and his success in bringing a convention center hotel and the first movie
theater in years to Miami Beach.
But getting people to like him hasn't been his strong suit.
"Roger is not a schmoozer, " said Mayor Seymour Gelber. "He has a kind of
intensity. He's a workaholic who really believes that this is his city. And
there are times we have to disabuse him of that."
Gelber has often led the fight to convince Carlton that Miami Beach is
not his to run. Last fall, he called for a
commission "report card" on Carlton. The manager earned a B
average, with low marks from some commissioners in community relations and
mostly high marks for the big-ticket projects. In June, the mayor suggested it
might be time to "say goodbye" to a manager who wasn't "minding the store"
when it came to the less- than-glamorous issues of everyday city
administration.
First, there was Ray Schaeffer, the parking director Carlton hired at a
salary twice that of the outgoing director and with a contract that had not
been approved by the City
Commission.
Although commissioners approved the contract after the fact -- with some
trepidation -- the new, $90,000-a-year director didn't last. When Schaeffer
left with six months severance pay in his pocket, Gelber ordered Carlton to
take over the department.
"Clearly, it has been a major failure of the administration, " said
Commissioner Neisen Kasdin, who believes Carlton had good intentions when he
first hired Schaeffer. "The department is not run properly. The philosophy of
dealing with parking has been too much oriented in the past with Roger with
increasing revenues instead of increasing services to the community."
Carlton, who once headed Miami's off-street parking division, defends
the Beach department, citing a new residential parking permit program and
valet parking regulations. The solutions to the city's parking woes are all in
place, he says. .
Others say they have been a long time coming. Too long. Month after
month, Gelber mails out letters to people in Miami Beach and across the
country who have written to complain about parking problems, dirty beaches,
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neglected parks. The mayor sends copies of the letters to Carlton, most often
with messages like, "Roger, can we clean up this area?" and "Roger, can't we
straighten out City Hall?"
"With any city administrator, what they focus on ends up being
disproportionately what city resources go to," Miami Beach developer Craig
Robins said. "Whether for better or worse, there has certainly been an extreme
amount of focus on realizing major projects in the city."
Carlton, 47, who makes $131,250 a year, prides himself on realizing
major projects. Hanging on a wall of his office is a handmade likeness of him
with the definition of a Tasmanian Devil underneath.
"Known for its ferocious tenacity, the vicious Tasmanian Devil is one of
the most unrelenting members of the animal kingdom," it reads. "He will seldom
give up on anything until his objective is obtained."
That may be an asset for Carlton.
"He's a tough, stubborn, energetic administrator," Commissioner Nancy
Liebman said. "Do we want a schmoozer or do we want a bulldog? I still want a
bulldog."
While Kasdin, Gelber, Liebman and Commissioner Susan Gottlieb have
accused Carlton of not sharing their vision for Miami Beach, others say
Carlton is doing just what the
commission wants.
"When we hired this guy, we said, 'We want fiscal accountability. We
want to take on the unions, ' " Commissioner David Pearlson said. "Do you
expect the union officials to love this man when he's the first successful
manager to take on the unions?"
Collective bargaining with the police and fire unions was among Carlton's
first tasks after leaving Wometco Enterprises and joining the city in March
1992. By all accounts, it wasn't pretty. After a decade of negotiating with a
manager who had once been a police officer, the unions were not impressed with
Carlton's style.
"He came in swinging, " said Antonio Dominguez, who retired
from the force last month.
"He has always been a negative when it comes to dealing with the Police
Department, " Dominguez said. "Since the very beginning, he started announcing
he was going to reduce benefits. He kept the department hostage by threatening
to fire and demote people if he didn't get his way."
Dominguez said most officers blame Carlton for the departures of Lou
Guasto, who was chief for a year after Carlton fired his predecessor, and
Rocco De Leo, who retired last week after only two weeks at the helm.
"I tried very hard to work these matters out with both of them," Carlton
said. "There is nothing in this that relates to mismanagement."
Carlton calls himself a "lightning rod" and says it is the nature of his
job to make some people unhappy.
"When you take tough stands like I do -- and I don't do it without
consensus from the commission -- and the heat turns up, it comes to me, "
Carlton said.
Carlton may never be able to win over the Police Department. He may not
even be able to win over the commission, Gelber says. A city manager's job is
risky, and Carlton takes risks with it.
But he doesn't intend to change.
"The buck stops here," Carlton said. "You get praised for what you do
well. You get crucified for what doesn't go well. There are always things that
could have gone better. You grapple with those and do the best."
KEYWORDS: ROGER CARLTON CONTROVERSY
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