When Miami City Manager Johnny Martinez suffered a stroke during a critical time for the municipality amid a federal probe into its finances and top financial administrators’ abrupt departure, his assistant, Daniel J. Alfonso, stepped in and kept the city from a downward spiral.
Under his watch as acting city manager, Miami bolstered it dwindling reserves to $57.5 million, closer to the $96 million, which was required under the city’s financial-integrity ordinance.
And when Martinez decided to resign because of health problems, Mayor Tomas Regalado and city commissioners didn’t have to look far for his replacement.
Alfonso, a 45 year-old Miami Lakes resident, was tapped as the new city manager to manage the day-to-day operations of Miami-Dade’s largest city with 400,000 residents and 3,000 employees.
He started his new $199,000 a year job on March 4.
“I was honored and humbled to be picked as the new city manager,” Alfonso said during an interview. “When my family migrated from Cuba to the United States, the last thing on my mind was one day I would be representing 400,000 citizens and 3,000 employees. I am looking forward to the challenges to keep driving the finances in a good direction and improving municipal services for our residents.”
Alfonso, who earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Finance at Florida International University, said the biggest challenges Miami faces stem from the effects of the economic downturn.
During the financial depression, the city was forced to freeze some significant infrastructure enhancement projects, deal with employees’ compensations and preparing labor unions negotiations, with most of their contracts set to expire in September.
“The economy is getting better but many cities that suffered from the economic downturn are facing many challenges,” he said. “In Miami, our goal is to keep a stable tax rate, providing great services and meeting the needs of our community.”
Alfonso said he learned a lot from Martinez and cherished the time he spent working under him.
He said the former city manager was always a professional and listened to his employees and asked questions before making a decision on behalf of the city.
“At any time, you can come to him with a situation and offer a solution, he would give you a decision that’s very important to the organization to know where we have to go,” Alfonso said. “I learned a number of things from him. He once told me, ‘Danny, don’t ever take down a fence unless you know why you are changing it’.”
Alfonso said he’s so grateful for the opportunity the U.S. gave him and his family that he wanted to give back to his country.
He said his family arrived from Cuba when he was 11-years-old after his father was a political prisoner in the communist country.
Alfonso joined the military in 1986 when he was 18-years-old and fought in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
He first trained in Ft. Leonardwood and Ft. Lee, Quartermaster Corps, and was later promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 1988.
Alfonso reenlisted and changed his occupation to Cavalry Scout and trained in Fort Knox, where he was later assigned to 2/4 Cavalry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division at Ft. Stewart, Georgia. He was deployed to Saudi Arabia in August 1990 (Operation Desert Shield) as the Gunner of the Troop Commander's M2A1 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The unit crossed into Iraq in February 1991, as part of Operation Desert Storm.
Following his impressive military career, Alfonso graduated from Miami-Dade College and Florida International University.
He pursued a career in government to serve the community and continue giving back to the country that made it possible for him and his family to accomplish their dreams.
“This is an important job,” he said. “Giving back to the community and being city manager for Miami is a great challenge, but the U.S. military opened its doors to me and my family to give us opportunities otherwise we wouldn’t have.”
Alfonso was previously Miami’s chief financial and budget director and spent 17 years at Miami-Dade County, as an assistant director for GSA, operating budget coordinator, administrative officer and revenue collector and supervisor for Miami-Dade Transit’s finance division.
Alfonso and his wife, Claudia, have been living in Miami Lakes for the past 10 years.
“We love the town of Miami Lakes, it’s a nice community and has good place to go for fine entertainment,” he said. “It’s a safe community and a good place to live and raise a family.”
Alfonso quipped about his plans to turn Miami into another Miami Lakes.
“That would be great,” he said.
Alfonso and his wife have two young children, Juan Carlos and Patricia.
He is also a board member for Do the Right Thing, a program through the partnership with the Miami police department that recognizes and rewards Miami youths for exemplary behavior, accomplishments and good deeds.