Is anyone surprised that the City of Opa-locka is about to go bust?  As the Miami Herald reported last night, On the brink of financial collapse, Opa-locka seeks state help, … well the headline says it all.

Last month the city’s phones were turned off for non-payment of the bill.

Restoration of City Hall came to a screeching halt as the contractor has left the building.

If you’re an employee, and you’ve been contributing to your own health and life insurance policies, don’t get sick.  Or die just yet.  The city stopped paying your premiums.

In fact, if you’re a city employee you might as well just go home.  You probably won’t be getting paid any time soon.

At 10:00 this morning, City Manager Steve Shiver and Mayor Myra Taylor were scheduled to ask the Governor for a bailout.  If granted, this will be the second time since 2002 that Florida taxpayers will pay for Opa-locka’s gross mismanagement of its own government.

It now seems laughable that little more than a month ago, Shiver and the finance director couldn’t agree on how much of a budget deficit they were facing.  The city manager claimed that the “the gap is under $1 million, the city’s finance director insisted the shortfall was closer to double that amount, about $1.9 million,” as the Herald previously reported on September 29, 2015.

All that arguing was pointless since it has now been revealed that the deficit is actually closer to $8 MILLION!

But, hey.  What’s six or seven million dollars among friends?

The Herald article also noted that Opa-locka is due approximately $1.5 million in unpaid water and sewer bills “by thousands of residents and businesses.”

Ironically, the only deadbeat that really matters is the Mayor herself!

Among the Herald revelations:

One of the delinquent accounts: the Vankara Christian School, operated by Mayor Taylor and family members, which shows a deficit of $112,000 for bills dating back years.

The mayor did not respond to requests for an interview about the school or her house in Opa-locka, which showed a delinquent account of $974 until Wednesday, when a family member paid the bill.

And yet, I bet she’ll handily win her next bid for re-election.

Way to vote, Opa-locka citizens!

Then again, they also forgave convicted criminal Terence K. Pinder last November and gave him a seat back on the dais.

Almost as bad as the mayor’s personal contribution to the deficit is the fact that those who have been paying their bills may still be in danger of losing service.  Opa-locka collected the money from those customers but didn’t turn over the county’s share of $679,000.00 that the city owed “for treating the sewage and water delivered to thousands of businesses and homes.”

Opa-locka’s county representative, Commissioner Barbara Jordan, was shocked that the city’s outstanding bill is so high.  She also stated that “the money owed to the county, including $964,000 in outstanding sewage treatment costs, would not be forgiven.”

In other words, Opa-locka is screwed.

In a letter to the Governor, City Manager Steve Shiver wrote, “Poor decisions over recent years have led to today’s major cash flow crisis.”

Ya think?

I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure he was referring to the last three years when former City Manager Kelvin Baker was steering the ship.

Baker may now be Lauderdale Lakes’ problem, but his legacy in Opa-locka will live on in infamy.

Although I do feel for the residents of Opa-locka, this city’s self-induced crisis is just another blatant reminder that elections have consequences.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”