Carlos Álvarez

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Carlos Álvarez is a Cuban-American politician who was Mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida.

On November 16, 2004, Carlos Álvarez was elected as the second Executive Mayor in the history of Miami-Dade County. After a distinguished and long career of 28 years as a public servant, Mr. Álvarez took on a new form of public service, from which he proposed a new era of integrity and responsibility for local governments. He was later reelected in 2008. His tenure as mayor ended in March 2011 due to a recall referendum by the electorate.

Mr. Álvarez's public career began in 1976 when he joined the Miami-Dade County Police Department. He was promoted through all higher ranks and on March 31, 1997 was appointed Director of the Miami-Dade County Police Department. For seven years he managed a department with 5,000 employees and a budget of almost five hundred million dollars.

His professional affiliations include the National Association of Counties, the FBI National Academy, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Police Chiefs Association of Florida. He has received numerous recognitions throughout his professional career from civil society and the community. Mr. Álvarez holds a bachelor's degree in Business from Florida International University.

He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy. Mayor Álvarez was born in Cuba and came to the United States with his family at the age of eight. He is the father of two boys and one girl.

For the first time in South Florida's history, Miami-Dade voters went to the polls to decide whether or not to remove their mayor. Álvarez began to experience popularity problems in 2010 when he supported the approval of a controversial spending budget that increased property taxes by almost 14 percent and, at the same time, increased the salaries of some public employees.