First budget moves the meter for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez

The 2011-12 Miami-Dade budget — which county commissioners signed off on early in the morning on Sept. 23, 2011 — includes fodder for several updates on the Carlos-O-Meter.

The meter, which launched in June, is tracking 18 promises made during the campaign by new Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

We rated Gimenez’s promise to cut the budget of the Office of the Mayor in order to back-fill a budget veto from Gov. Rick Scott a Compromise, noting that while the budget delivers the cost savings, it did not restore the vetoed dollars.

We also moved Gimenez’s pledge not to lay off police or firefighter to In the Works, realizing that a showdown with the unions could be coming soon.

The same showdown means that Gimenez’s promise to take back the raises handed out by ousted Mayor Carlos Alvarez could be in trouble. For now, we rate that promise In the Works, too.

Lastly, we handed Gimenez another Compromise for his promise to cut the number of county departments from 60 to 25. Turns out, he doesn’t have control over all 60.