Hours after Mayor Carlos Alvarez was removed from office by a resounding recall vote, Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess has decided to call it quits.
Burgess announced during a Wednesday afternoon news conference with Alvarez that he was resigning as the county manager
"This is not a joyous day for me," Burgess said.
A vast majority of voters might disagree.
In what will be one of his last actions as mayor, Alvarez appointed Assistant County Manager Alina Tejeda Hudak as the new county manager.
Burgess has served as the county manager since June 2003, after spending a year as CFO for Miami-Dade Public Schools.
A whopping 88 percent of voters agreed that Alvarez should go during Tuesday's vote, the first successful recall vote in the county's history.
"It’s a sad day for me but I’m also relieved," Alvarez said. "It’s been very difficult the last couple of years for me and for my family.”
Alvarez was criticized for pushing to use public money to build a new stadium for the Florida Marlins, but sealed his fate when he voted to increase taxes to cover an $80 million budget hole.
Burgess was the architect of that budget.
In his first public appearance since the results, Alvarez appeared emotional, but said he harbored no ill feelings toward the voters or his critics who were successful and giving him the boot. He did say he was surprised at the wide margin in which he was ousted.
"There's a lot of frustration out there about everything. I've made mistakes," he said. "I want to wish the next mayor much success and all the luck in the world."
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Burgess was also one of the main supporters of the ballpark project and the tax increase.
Hudak has served as Assistant County Manager since 1998, and has worked for the county since 1984.
