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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.