"Interim MIA Director Changes Mind, Not Interested in Top Job"

Friday, March 18, 2005

AVIATION DIRECTOR
Carlos Bonzon is ready to step down
Miami-Dade veteran Carlos Bonzon said he is not interested in being airport
director. The search for a new airport director could be completed as soon
as next month.
BY GREGG FIELDS
The Miami (FL) Herald


Carlos Bonzon, Miami-Dade's interim aviation director, said Thursday he was
no longer pursuing the permanent job.

Bonzon, who was named interim director last November following the forced
resignation of Angela Gittens, had said in January he would like to compete
for the position.

''Please be advised that I no longer wish to be considered for the permanent
aviation director position,'' Bonzon said in a memo to George M. Burgess,
the county manager.

''I have always enjoyed undertaking specially challenging assignments in
times of need,'' the memo added. ``It certainly has been an honor for me to
be interim aviation director, and I am very proud of my contributions to the
Miami-Dade Aviation Department.''

The aviation director is one of the most powerful positions in Miami-Dade
government. Duties include day-to-day operations of the airport,
negotiations with the various airlines that serve it, and oversight of
construction projects worth billions of dollars. In addition, the director
is frequently the mediator between the private sector firms that serve the
airport and the County Commission, which oversees it.

Bonzon couldn't be reached for comment Thursday evening, and a spokesman for
the airport said only that Bonzon had withdrawn from consideration ''for
personal reasons'' that weren't specified.

Burgess, in an interview, said he didn't know Bonzon's motivation. He said
that, so far as the search committee is concerned, Bonzon was a viable
candidate.

''Carlos has done a fine job,'' Burgess said. He expects Bonzon to stay with
the county. ``I'm a big fan of his. I think he's ready to do whatever he
needs to do.''

THE SEARCH BEGINS

Burgess said Thursday that the search for a new airport director could be
completed as soon as next month.

''Our plan is to zero in on a final candidate, and we're hoping to have a
selection by the end of April,'' he said.

Bonzon has been with Miami-Dade government more than 30 years and previously
spent three years as assistant aviation director.

He has won a series of promotions and developed a reputation for taking on
tough assignments. Before Gittens' resignation, for instance, then Assistant
County Manager Bonzon was given responsibility for the airport's
multibillion-dollar expansion program.

However, one black mark on his record was a controversy in the 1990s when,
as building director for Miami-Dade, he allowed some construction at the
Port of Miami to move forward without required permits and inspections.

Bonzon later surrendered his license to be a building official -- by that
time he was with another department -- after a civil suit was filed by the
state Department of Professional Regulation.

When he was tapped to fill in after Gittens resigned last November, Bonzon
initially indicated he wasn't interested in the aviation director's job but
soon had a change of heart.

''I'm having the time of my life,'' he told The Herald last December.
``There is no better place to work in Dade County than the airport. The
airport is such a vibrant place, a happy place, an exciting place. There are
so many different cultures. It never stops.''

CONTROVERSY

MIA has been racked by controversies and problems, however, including
massive cost overruns on a $4.8 billion expansion program. It also fell to
second place in passenger counts among Florida airports last year, behind
Orlando.

The governance of the airport has also been controversial with some civic
leaders pushing for an independent airport authority, although the county
commission has refused to cede its control.


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************