Why did Miami-Dade legislative delegation roll over in Tallahassee?

The Miami Herald’s May 3 story “Legislative maneuvers over tax referendum money for teacher pay targeted MiamiDade,” confirms the poor performance of the Miami-Dade delegation during the 2019 legislative session, which ended on Saturday.

The delegation’s surrender of local control to the state on multiple issues is shameful.

I don’t like MDX, but local control always trumps a less-responsive, Tallahassee-based state authority.

A state takeover of local school revenue allocation does not remedy perceived unfairness in charter school funding.

Whatever happened to home rule?

I expect Democrats to cede local control to the state, but apparently, Republicans also prefer to be ruled by far-away bureaucrats who know nothing of, and care nothing about, local needs, interests and desires.

Tallahassee may as well be as far away as Washington, D.C.

All we can do is thank traitorous Miami-Dade natives — Republican House Speaker Jose Oliva and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez.

They could have insisted on continued local control.

Instead, they assented to a legislative coup d’état, and our delegation marched along in lockstep.

The closer government is to the governed, the more responsive it will be to the governed.

This delegation has either not effectively advocated for local interests or sacrificed us for a higher purpose.

The performance this year was abysmal, and I hope voters are paying attention.

I’m in Senate District 37 (Jose Javier Rodriguez) and House District 114 (Javier Fernandez), and I’m watching.

– Michael Galex,

Coral Gables