It’s been a little more than three months since Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo was accused of using the Bayfront Park Management Trust as a personal slush fund for himself and his political pals. But we’re about to find out that there’s been even more misuse of the public monies during some of the eight years that Carollo was chairman of the city agency.
Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela, who was made chairman of the Trust after Carollo was stripped of the title, has called for an emergency Trust meeting Tuesday to discuss “newly discovered items identified during the initial review of the organization and to advise the board that additional issues are pending,” according to a press statement sent over the weekend. City officials and trust members — including the new executive director, Raul Miro — will be there, starting at 1 p.m., to “address the findings and outline potential next steps regarding the park’s administration and future.”
Miro was named director last month, because the last director, Jose Suarez, was pressured to leave after confronting Carollo about questionable Trust transactions.
Read related: Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo and the Bayfront Fountain of corruption
Suarez, once Carollo’s chief of staff, and finance director Jose Canto say they were forced to resign after they questioned the 
“lack of proper accounting practices and procedures that enabled Carollo to use the Trust’s funds to pay for Carollo’s own political ventures, his District 3 political office, his political allies, his District 3 social media provider, a 2007 van to use as a veterinarian mobile that was never used and was likely overpriced, and the commissioner’s holiday party.
“Carollo has attempted to use the Trust to pay or provide premium benefits to Carollo’s personal friends, including paying $20,000 for a yacht party for Carollo, his friends and family, and District 3 Office,” their legal complaint, filed in January, says. Another $45,000 was diverted to the Little Havana Fridays events that Carollo’s started to compete with an already popular event organized by critics — which has nothing to do with Bayfront or Maurice Ferre Park, which is also overseen by the Trust.
“Together, these wrongful expenditures totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars of misused and wasted Trust funds in less than one year, and Carollo has chaired the Trust for the past eight years without any legitimate oversight.”
So, it is safe to assume that some of the other seven years have been looked at, and already there were problems found.
Gabela did not return several calls to his cellphone. He is still mad at Ladra for calling him out on the pensions he wanted to propose last year. But in a statement, Gabela said, “This is a critical moment to ensure transparency and accountability in how we manage one of our city’s most cherished public spaces.”
Ladra does not know why it is an “emergency” meeting. Couldn’t Gabela just bring these issues up at the commission meeting on Thursday, when everyone is going to be there? At least it is going to be at City Hall, not the bunker where the Trust usually meets, so that may encourage more participation. The press release says “all residents, community leaders, and members of the media are encouraged to attend.”
This comes on the heels of a couple of contentious choques entre Gabela y Carollo. They have really gone after each other in the 
last two meetings, with Gabela calling Carollo a Nicolas Maduro wannabe and Carollo addressing Gabela as Tony. Tony Soprano. Carollo tried to derail the establishment of the Allapattah Community Redevelopment Agency, which he had previously supported, and everyone knows it’s because Gabela is the new Bayfront Trust chair.
Ladra has heard whispers about what they may be ready to reveal Tuesday: More details about discrepancies with the cash receipts from parking — called the “money room,” which held tens of thousands of dollars at a time — and the safety issues that led to the fountain, which just completed a $5.5 million renovation, being closed down again after Carollo rushed to get it open and operating for his big New Year’s Eve bash, which ended up being a long, free commercial for the commissioner, who wants to run for mayor this year.
Read related: Bayfront Park board member resigns on Joe Carollo’s $1 mil no-bid giveaway
But there has to be more. Because Carollo was in charge over there for eight years. A lot of graft can happen in eight years.
Carollo’s control of the Trust has been shady for years. There was a petition to remove him as chair of the Trust in early 2024, before any of the recent allegations were even made. That would include drugs that reportedly disappeared from the vet mobile, which was purchased for $115,000, which seems hugely over inflated and could be one of the kickbacks that the complaint says are rampant in the agency.
Then there is the $1 million spent on the Dogs and Cats Walkway that never went through a competitive process because the sculptures were reportedly provided by a friend of the commissioner’s wife, Marjory Carollo. That led to the resignation of a board member in 2021.
Then there is the outdoor gym that was put in place last year without the proper permitting or process. Was that also a non-bid award? To one of his friends? For a kickback? That might explain why he fought so hard to keep it there.
So, there are likely some big revelations coming on Tuesday. But Ladra also hopes they say that there’s more digging to be done.
Commissioner Miguel Gabela set to expose more Bayfront Park Trust issues added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →
