Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo loses control of Bayfront Park agency embroiled in lawsuit

Yahoo

14-02-2025

The Miami City Commission voted Thursday to remove Commissioner Joe Carollo as chairman of the Bayfront Park Management Trust, a city agency at the center of a federal lawsuit filed by two former Trust employees who accused the commissioner of using agency funds to benefit himself, his wife and friends.
Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela will replace him as the elected official overseeing the board, which manages downtown's Maurice Ferré Park and Bayfront Park. The agency generates revenue from hosting events like the Ultra Music Festival.
Commissioners Damian Pardo and Manolo Reyes joined Gabela in voting for Carollo's removal. Carollo and Commissioner Christine King voted against it.
The vote ends Carollo's eight-year reign as chairman of the Trust. In recent years, his chairmanship has fanned the flames of conflict between himself and downtown residents who say Carollo has used his power in the agency like a cudgel to clutter precious greenspace with tacky and unnecessary installations. But the commissioner and his supporters argue he's used it as a vehicle to greatly improve the two premier downtown parks.
On the eve of Carollo's removal, he held a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the newly renovated Mildred and Claude Pepper Fountain, which is equipped with lights and music.
But Carollo's final public appearance as chairman of the Trust on Wednesday night was tainted when a process server delivered court papers from the latest lawsuit to Carollo.
Shortly after that hiccup, the ceremony began. Carollo was flanked by his wife, Commissioner King, Mayor Francis Suarez and Trust board members. He touted the fountain's 'state of the art equipment' and said the water can shoot over 100 feet in the air and that videos can be displayed in it.
'With the amount of speakers that we have, we could have a party where everyone in Bayfront Park can hear it,' Carollo said. 'Don't worry, we would never do that. We're respectful of the neighbors.'
After cutting the ribbon, the fountain played its inaugural song: 'Time to Say Goodbye,' or 'Con te partirò,' made famous by Andrea Bocelli. The full moon hovered in the background over Biscayne Bay.
The whistleblower lawsuit was filed by Jose Suarez, the former executive director of the Bayfront Park Management Trust, and Jose Canto, the agency's former finance director. The employees accused Carollo of retaliation, saying they were forced out of the agency in December.
They alleged that Carollo, as well as Trust board member Javier Baños, who is also Carollo's personal accountant, 'set out to undermine and force the departures of Suarez and Canto after Suarez and Canto began questioning the Trust's lack of proper accounting practices.'
Carollo has denied the allegations, calling them 'outrageous.' Canto said he 'emphatically' denies the lawsuit's claims.
The lawsuit says Suarez and Canto made 'unsettling discoveries' as they set out to right the ship in an agency that they alleged lacked a proper accounting system, didn't have requirements for expenses to be supported by a contract or invoice policy, nor a policy or procedure to ensure vendors were selected through a competitive bidding process.
Specifically, the plaintiffs accused Carollo of paying a TV station owned by 'close personal friends' to broadcast the Trust's annual New Year's Eve event, storing cash parking payments in an easily accessible 'money room' that was prone to theft, and supporting the purchase of a 'suspicious' mobile veterinary truck.
Suarez and Canto said they believe Carollo should be removed as Trust chair. At a press conference the day after the lawsuit was filed, Suarez, who previously worked as Carollo's chief of staff, said the Bayfront Park Management Trust is in 'what I would call a state of turmoil.'