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| Picture from the Miami Herald |
Harvey Ruvin, the Clerk of the Courts for Miami Dade County passed away at age 85 on New Year's Eve.
The Miami Herald article is here.
We did not want the first post of 2023 to be an obituary, but Harvey Ruvin has earned all of our attention and respect. His commitment to Miami, first serving as Mayor of North Bay Village in 1968, at age 30, was unprecedented. He was for all of his adult life, a public servant dedicated to bettering our City.
We were not always kind to his office on this blog. Such is the nature of the office he led. When clerks do their job, nobody notices. When they mess up, people react in frustration. And at times, we were frustrated. But we never wrote a word criticizing Harvey Ruvin. He had a tough job. He did it well and did it with bonhomie and a sense of humor and duty.
Several years ago, we had the occasion to give a presentation in public. Harvey Ruvin was in the audience. We knew each other, but not well. Afterward, he came up to us, effusive in his praise. which was genuine. At a cocktail service sometime later, he sidled up to us. "You know, I really like the blog" he said with a grin. We nodded. "Sometimes the blogger is hard on your office" we responded.
"Ah, he means well. And he does a good job."
"So do you" we said.
"Do you know who the blogger is?" he asked us.
Our eyes met for a moment. "He's a mystery" we responded. He gave us a big grin and walked away.
Harvey Ruvin was a class act. He was dedicated to making Miami a better place to live. He loved his job, he made his employees feel special, and he was just a great guy.
Miami has suffered a great loss, but we are all better for the life Harvey Ruvin led.
In our world today, it is hard to identify an individual who is always honest, extraordinarily intelligent, hard-working, responsive to his constituency, and who creates a backbone of sturdy dependability and ramrod honesty and dedication to duty to office. That assignment has become all the more difficult with the passing of Harvey Ruvin. My family came to Miami-Dade County in 1969. I registered as a Democrat because what else could one be if one wished to have any voice in politics. I read about all of the candidates and know that there is one person who I always voted for, and that was Harvey Ruvin. He took my calls when I was a young lawyer and has continued to do so as I have aged. He was always helpful, always concerned about me, my family, my causes and my business.
ReplyDeleteThe people of Miami-Dade County had a real pro working for them, a man as talented in the world of politics as he was in business, and a man who had a reverence for the judiciary, which rose above personality. Not having him there is almost inconceivable. On top of everything else, he probably could have had an honorary psychiatric degree because no matter how riled a called might be, Harvey was even-tempered and helpful. We surely did not deserve him, but I join with all my fellow citizens in this county in thanking his family and his staff for giving him to us.
While I do not know anything about the courthouse naming sweepstakes, having Harvey’s name on our new courthouse would be an honor for all of use who he served. Joe Klock
I KNEW HARVEY WELL. GOOD GUY. I WILL MISS HIM.
ReplyDeleteI join in on Joe Klock's comments. Harvey did not have a mean bone in his body. He was all about helping people navigate the perilous ways of our justice system. He will be missed for sure.
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