The campaign to recall Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez has erupted into a pitched battle, with the mayor drawing significant funding from the police union as his chief critic said recall petitions are pouring in faster than they can be counted.

Blasting the county’s new budget as “morally wrong,” Miami billionaire Norman Braman told a luncheon crowd of the Downtown Bay Forum Wednesday he has already collected nearly enough petitions to call a special election to decide the mayor’s fate.

“All I’m doing is providing the spark. I hope the spark will spread so we can get into meaningful charter reform,” Braman said.

After launching the campaign in a fury over a county budget that raised the property tax rate while handing raises to most county employees, Braman said about 53,000 people have signed petitions, which are being checked against a list of registered voters to verify validity.

Braman, who has hired a professional petition gathering firm, has until Dec. 5 to collect signatures from at least 4 percent of registered voters in the county — about 52,000 people — in order to put the recall question before voters. He said he plans to gather 90,000 names to ensure a comfortable margin against invalid petitions.

Alvarez, working to beat back the recall drive, is finding big support from a longtime ally: the Police Benevolent Association.

A political action committee the mayor formed to combat the recall has collected $54,650 in contributions since its formation Sept. 25. Of that, $50,000 has come from the Dade County Police Benevolent Association PAC, according to a report covering the period through Oct. 8.

Alvarez headed Miami-Dade County police before becoming mayor and has worked to protect the police budget — and salaries — while in office.

Under collective bargaining agreements hammered out by Alvarez’s administration, Miami-Dade County police are in line for 13 percent pay increases in the period between Sept. 2010 and Sept. 2011. That’s higher than the 3 percent raises granted to most county employees in the final quarter of the current fiscal year. The mayor said the hike will help put police pay in line with that of county firefighters.

In a statement, Alvarez said, “After 20 months of negotiation, a contract for the PBA was presented to the County Commission who approved the agreement, with little discussion, by a vote of 12-1. I was a dues-paying member of the PBA for 28 years.

“I believe in public safety and appreciate that the PBA, without asking, donated to the PAC and is standing behind me in a time of need.”

The Miami-Dade PBA plans to join other county unions at a pro-Alvarez rally 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the 1600 block of Southwest 27th Avenue — near Braman’s recall headquarters.

“Our support is not only well known — it’s well founded,” said John Rivera, president of the PBA. “You’ve got to go right into the lion’s mouth if you want to tame the lion.”

PACs are permitted to collect unlimited funds to promote their causes.

The only expenditure listed on the mayor’s PAC so far is a $26,000 payment to his attorney Bruce Rogow, who is providing counsel on defeating the recall effort.

Alvarez formed the PAC, Citizens for Truth, three weeks ago in a quick response to Braman’s campaign.

Alvarez has been making his case in public appearances and on local TV and radio programs. His top aide, County Manager George Burgess, continuing efforts to explain the administration’s view, is slated to speak to the Beacon Council Thursday morning.

Braman’s luncheon talk Wednesday — which drew about 90 business people, union members and other residents — turned into a heated exchange when Martha Baker, president of the SEIU Local 1991, which represents 5,000 Jackson Health System employees, shouted from a luncheon table of healthcare workers that Braman wasn’t providing the full picture of the employee concessions that preceded their 3 percent raises.

Baker said union members are getting a 3 percent raise in the third-year of three-year contracts — in which the first two years included no increases. County employees also agreed to contribute 5 percent of their pay toward health insurance and to forgo additional compensation, such as flex and longevity pay, for one year.

“Are you aware that poor people on Social Security have had no increase?” shot back Braman, saying the protracted economic downturn was no time to raise the property tax rate. “Are you aware of that?”

Braman said the recall drive should be part of a larger overhaul of county government, including charter changes that would limit the terms of county commissioners and provide several at-large commissioners to complement the district seats.

Amid Braman’s presentation, several unidentified people crashed the luncheon, passing out color printed fliers attacking him, until the forum’s president, Annette Eisenberg, ordered them to leave.

Standing at the lectern, Braman held up a flier to the audience, saying “When you can’t argue the issues, this is what you do.”

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(Source: Miami Herald)