Miami commissioner to call for Carollo's removal from city agency caught up in lawsuit
At the next Miami City Commission meeting on Feb. 13, Gabela said he will ask his colleagues to vote on removing Carollo as chairman of the Trust — a post Carollo has held since 2017. The agency, which maintains downtown's Bayfront and Maurice Ferré parks, generates revenue from hosting large-scale events like the Ultra Music Festival. The chairperson role is held by one of Miami's five city commissioners.
READ MORE: Former employees sue Joe Carollo, say he used Miami city agency for personal gain
Gabela said that he is calling for a 'vote of no confidence' and that Carollo should 'relinquish' the chairmanship 'because of all the controversy that's been happening.'
'And if Carollo wants to go to battle with me because of that, we'll go to battle,' Gabela said.
Gabela said he would be open to becoming Trust chairman if Carollo is voted out. That would mark yet another major leadership change at the Bayfront Park Management Trust in the past two months. In December, the agency's executive director, Jose Suarez, and its finance director, Jose Canto, departed from the agency.
READ MORE: Joe Carollo taps former Doral city manager to lead downtown Miami city agency
The pair filed a federal lawsuit last month against the Trust, Carollo and a Trust board member who is also Carollo's personal accountant, alleging that they were pushed out of the agency after raising concerns when they made 'unsettling discoveries' and set out to fix 'accounting issues' in the agency.
Some of those alleged discoveries included the absence of an adequate accounting or auditing system; no policy or procedure to ensure vendors were selected through a competitive bidding process; and no requirement for expenses paid by the Trust to be supported by a contract or invoice. Carollo has denied the lawsuit's allegations, accusing the plaintiffs' attorney Jeff Gutchess of filing the lawsuit as leverage to force the city's hand to settle a different lawsuit involving the operators of the Ball & Chain nightclub, who are also represented by Gutchess.
Gabela's reason for wanting to remove Carollo as the agency's chairman extends beyond the lawsuit's allegations. He pointed to comments Carollo made at a City Commission meeting in June that, 'I think there should be a new chairman when we bring this up again in the first meeting of January.' Gabela said that if Carollo is 'a man of [his] word,' he should bow out.
Carollo is termed out of his District 3 seat at the end of the year. Gabela said it will ensure a smoother transition for whichever commissioner takes over the agency if they can step in months before Carollo's term ends rather than in late 2025.
'It wouldn't be fair to the new person coming in for Carollo to turn it over in November,' Gabela said. He also took umbrage at the fact that the city recently hired Shutts & Bowen, the law firm that employs former City Attorney Victoria Méndez, to defend Carollo in the lawsuit.
'Somebody has to hold his feet to the fire,' Gabela said of Carollo.
Meanwhile, Carollo has a competing proposal that he plans to introduce at the same meeting next week. His proposal would 'abolish' the Bayfront Park Management Trust altogether and instead create a unit within the Parks Department to oversee Maurice Ferré Park and Bayfront Park.
Carollo said his proposal is unrelated to the lawsuit.
Speaking about the lawsuit at Monday's Bayfront Park Management Trust meeting, Carollo said the plaintiffs are 'cowards' for making what he described as bogus claims.
'I am not a coward,' Carollo added. 'I might be accused of a lot of things. But one that I never have been, never will be, is a coward.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Our priority remain patients and staff' - hospital needs to £37M of savings
Bolton NHS Foundation needs to save a staggering £37 million to balance the books. Health bosses say they, like other trusts, are facing challenges - but their priority remains patients, staff and the community. The trust, which runs the Royal Bolton Hospital, reported a £2.4 million deficit in April, with board members told the figure was £900,000 worse than planned at a recent meeting. Schemes are being drawn up to make these savings, which include the roll-out of an electronic stock system and a Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS). Agency spending exceeded NHS England targets, accounting for 2.2 per cent of pay costs compared to the national benchmark of 1.5 per cent. A presentation from the Finance and Investment Committee said PwC had been approached to assist with evaluating the Trust's financial position. READ MORE: Royal Bolton Hospital in line for multi-million cash boost Bolton NHS waiting lists fall by more than 7000 people Bolton NHS Foundation Trust struggling to plug £29m funding gap It was noted that Public Dividend Capital funding cash has provided a temporary benefit of £2.0m and some other cash has been received in advance. Speaking at the board meeting, Bolton NHS FT Non-Executive Director Sean Harriss said: 'The Trust's issues around performance and quality are moving in the right direction, but we do have some challenges. 'It is something we need to keep an eye on as a board going forward, as we get back to targets there are questions as to where quality and delivery are put under strain. 'I think a collective refection from the executive team would be useful for understanding what's happening, with triangulation between those areas.' Chief Finance Officer Annette Walker also presented the annual accounts for 2024/25 to the Audit and Risk Committee, which showed a year-end deficit of £8.9 million before adjustments. After impairments and other technical items, the operational deficit stood at £5.9 million. The Trust's year-end cash balance was reported at just over £10.6 million, with £16.7 million in capital expenditure. The board was also told that the Trust is engaging collectively with other organisations in the system before seeking any additional cash support. Annette Walker, Chief Finance Officer at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust said: 'Along with other Trusts across Greater Manchester, we are currently facing financial challenges. A great deal of work needs to take place to deliver significant savings over the next twelve months and beyond, including really challenging ourselves on the choices we make and how our services operate. 'We have identified £37 million worth of cost improvement schemes, which is the amount we need to save, but know due to slippage and other pressures we are likely to experience, we need to aim to deliver even more to maintain a balanced budget. 'This will not be easy but we have structures in place to help us manage and stay on track with our financial recovery, and our priority will always be to do what's right for our patients, communities and staff.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Secure Trust Bank (LON:STB) Is Due To Pay A Dividend Of £0.118
The board of Secure Trust Bank PLC (LON:STB) has announced that it will pay a dividend of £0.118 per share on the 25th of September. Despite this raise, the dividend yield of 3.0% is only a modest boost to shareholder returns. While the dividend yield is important for income investors, it is also important to consider any large share price moves, as this will generally outweigh any gains from distributions. Investors will be pleased to see that Secure Trust Bank's stock price has increased by 81% in the last 3 months, which is good for shareholders and can also explain a decrease in the dividend yield. Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. Secure Trust Bank's Dividend Forecasted To Be Well Covered By Earnings It would be nice for the yield to be higher, but we should also check if higher levels of dividend payment would be sustainable. Secure Trust Bank has established itself as a dividend paying company with over 10 years history of distributing earnings to shareholders. Based on Secure Trust Bank's last earnings report, the payout ratio is at a decent 28%, meaning that the company is able to pay out its dividend with a bit of room to spare. Looking forward, EPS is forecast to rise by 194.3% over the next 3 years. The future payout ratio could be 11% over that time period, according to analyst estimates, which is a good look for the future of the dividend. View our latest analysis for Secure Trust Bank Dividend Volatility Although the company has a long dividend history, it has been cut at least once in the last 10 years. The dividend has gone from an annual total of £0.68 in 2015 to the most recent total annual payment of £0.338. This works out to be a decline of approximately 6.8% per year over that time. A company that decreases its dividend over time generally isn't what we are looking for. The Dividend's Growth Prospects Are Limited Given that the track record hasn't been stellar, we really want to see earnings per share growing over time. Earnings have grown at around 2.4% a year for the past five years, which isn't massive but still better than seeing them shrink. While EPS growth is quite low, Secure Trust Bank has the option to increase the payout ratio to return more cash to shareholders. In Summary In summary, it's great to see that the company can raise the dividend and keep it in a sustainable range. The dividend has been at reasonable levels historically, but that hasn't translated into a consistent payment. The dividend looks okay, but there have been some issues in the past, so we would be a little bit cautious. Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. For instance, we've picked out 2 warning signs for Secure Trust Bank that investors should take into consideration. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
£20k to invest? Consider these passive income stocks to target £2k a year
The first rule of income investing is to remember that dividends from stocks are never guaranteed. For this reason, it's important to build a diversified portfolio that can weather individual shocks and still pay a healthy passive income now and over the long term. Here's an example of what a well-diversified portfolio might look like: Dividend stock Forward dividend yield Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF 11% Chelverton UK Dividend Trust 9.4% iShares World Equity High Income ETF (LSE:WINC) 9.7% In total, these investment trusts and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) provide exposure to more than 450 different companies. These span a multitude of regions and sectors, reducing concentration risk and helping to provide a more stable return across the economic cycle. What's more, they have enormous dividend yields, as the table shows. To give you an example of the passive income they can throw off, a £20,000 lump sum invested across them could provide a £2,000 dividend income this year alone. I'm also confident they can grow dividends over time. Here's why I think they're worth considering today. Top fund Tech stocks aren't famed for their enormous dividend potential. But the Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF works by purchasing Nasdaq shares and selling covered calls on them, redistributing the income to the fund's shareholders. This fund provides an added bonus to its holders: it pays monthly distributions, giving investors access to their cash earlier. It can thus be a useful tool for accelerating compounding by shortening intervals between reinvestments. Monthly distributions here have been paid for the last 11 years. One downside is that there's limited price appreciation potential, because any price growth above strike prices is forfeited. This can put it at a disadvantage to standard Nasdaq tracker funds. But for dividend hunters, this may be a price worth paying. Dividend trust As its name implies, the Chelverton UK Dividend Trust is focused on generating income from British equities. This geographical strategy carries greater concentration risk than more global funds. But given the London stock market's strong dividend culture, it also has its advantages. It's also important to note that, on balance, this trust is still well diversified despite its UK focus. It invests in a range of industries like financial services, consumer goods, energy, and mining. Furthermore, its capital is evenly distributed, further reducing the threat of individual shocks on overall returns. Hargreaves Services is currently its single largest holding, at 3.5%. Global leader To my mind, the iShares World Equity High Income fund offers a brilliant blend of safety and exciting income potential. Unlike the other high-yield trusts and ETFs I've described, its holdings aren't confined to specific territories. In total, it holds shares in roughly 300 global equities spanning financial services, information technology, telecoms, healthcare, and consumer goods. This broad range protects investors from nasty localised shocks. But this is not all — its two largest single holdings are cash and US Treasuries, accounting for 6.3% and 5.7% of the portfolio respectively. This provides an added layer of robustness. The lion's share of its capital is stashed in the equity market, though. And so it is still highly exposed to stock market movements. But given the long-term resilience of global shares, I believe it's a top dividend stock to consider. The post £20k to invest? Consider these passive income stocks to target £2k a year appeared first on The Motley Fool UK. More reading 5 Stocks For Trying To Build Wealth After 50 One Top Growth Stock from the Motley Fool Royston Wild has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Motley Fool UK 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
