City Manager William Alonso Retiring

Miami Springs City Manager, William Alonso, sent an email on Valentine’s Day announcing his plans to retire as the City Manager of the City of Miami Springs.  According to the email, he plans to resign his role in May of this year.

Alonso was selected as the City Manager for the City of Miami Springs back in April of 2016.  He had previously held the role as the City’s Assistant City Manager and Finance Director.  Alonso never relinquished his role as Finance Director when he became the City Manager.

City Manager / CEO

As we shared recently, the most powerful position in the City of Miami Springs is the City Manager.  The City Manager acts like a CEO or Chief Executive Officer.  He’s responsible for day to day operations in the City of Miami Springs.  The City Manager overseas all the various department heads including:

• Finance
• Police
• Building and Zoning
• Planning
• Public Works
• Parks and Recreation
• Golf Operations
• Elderly Services
• Human Resources

Residents don’t get to vote or choose the City Manager.  The idea is not to make it a popularity contest.  The goal is have the City Council choose a professional executive who can manage the day to day functions of the City of Miami Springs while also making progress on the goals set forth by the City Council.

Now, the current City Council will start this process.  What’s not clear is if the current City Council will finish the process or let the next City Council (after the April elections) choose the successor to Alonso.

The good thing is that Alonso gave plenty of time to allow the process to work itself out.  Again, his goal is to remain in the position through May of this year.  That gives the City Council plenty of time to solicit and vet candidates.

Controversy

There’s no sugar coating or hiding away from the fact that we have been critical of Alonso, especially over the last year or so.  We don’t have to get into the details of that now, but you can read about it in the links below:

• City loses over $1 Million by not establishing a parking fee for the downtown development
• Resident calls for resignation of City Manager and Planner
• Are you confident in the City Manager?
• Letter to the Editor:  Sometimes Change is Good
• City Manager attempts to repair self inflicted wounds
• Administration Needs to be Held Accountable
• Resident and City Manager Clash over Tree Removals
• Miami Springs Loses Tree City Designation

Thank you for your service

Working in the public eye is never easy.  A City Manager has to deal with resident complaints, business complaints, employee complaints, complaints from City Council members, and of course complaints from the press.  It’s not an easy job. 

We understand that William Alonso recently turned 70 and had been contemplating retiring at this age.  We thank him for his service to our community and wish him the best in his next adventures.  

More about Alonso

According to the City of Miami Springs:

Alonso holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Jersey City State College and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Government Finance Officer (CGFO). Before coming to Miami Springs, he was the audit manager for the accounting firm of Grau and Company for three years. His duties there included performing the City’s annual audit of the financial statements. Prior to that, he had also worked in the private sector as controller for a motorcycle and boat dealership, and in the banking industry as an auditor and accountant.

Alonso served in the US Army and was honorably discharged in 1980 with the rank of sergeant. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for his accounting work while in the service. He has been married to his wife Ida for over 40 years. They have two daughters, Susanna, who is a special education teacher in Broward County, and Jennifer, who is an emergency room doctor in Seattle, WA.