Bayfront Park's new management looks a lot like the old management in Miami

Miguel Gabela won’t answer questions about spending

Right after he was elected as an outsider and government reformer, Miami Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela promised voters he would expose the questionable spending habits at the Bayfront Park Management Trust under former Commissioner Joe Carollo. Instead, he seems to be copying those tactics now that he’s in charge..

Public documents obtained by Political Cortadito now show that the same mysterious vendors already raising eyebrows over massive spending out of Gabela’s District 1 office — Atlantis Solutions and Elandor — have also been billing the Bayfront Trust itself for thousands upon thousands of dollars in vaguely described “branding,” media and logo-related services.

Yes. Logos. Plural.

Apparently, Bayfront Park now requires more logos than a NASCAR jumpsuit.

The invoices, which are about as informative as a hostage note written in crayon, show repeated charges connected to design work, communications and branding services tied to the two shadowy firms that Political Cortadito already reported were collecting substantial sums from Gabela’s office despite having little to no visible public footprint.

No meaningful websites. No obvious client history. No visible portfolio. No clear explanation for why taxpayers should be funding what increasingly looks like a permanently operating political image factory.

And now these same vendors are feeding at the Bayfront trough too.

Atlantis Solutions has billed Bayfront Park Trust more than $86,000 since June of last year. It looks like a monthly marketing and PR fee went from $4,5650 to $6,650 to $8,000 all within three months. But there are additional charges almost each month also, like $1,250 for a custom wax and seal stamp, $6,000 for content creation — which we guess is not included in the monthly fee? — $1,300 for branding, more than $10,000 for drone piloting and video footage, $420 for domain renewal and $2,000 four times for four months in a row for “web and logo design.”

Two of the invoices are dated on the same day, October 13, and amount to a total of $17,319 in that one month. November was good, too. Two invoices for $9,750 each dated on two consecutive days netted Atlantis Solutions $19,500. It was a good Christmas for Gaston Rico and Eva Manusia, who own the company, according to the Department of Florida Division of Corporation records.

Elandor, the one that provides the fishy app service to the District 1 office for $6,000 a month, has billed a total of $43,200 to the Bayfront Park Trust, mostly for signage, signage and more signage. Doesn’t Miami have an in-house sign shop? There is also a $4,789 invoice for 15 custom frames, $739 for letterhead, $796 for custom business cards for six staffers and a total of about $2,000 for floor mats on three different occasions.

It’s almost as if these invoices are completely made up. Or a money laundering operation. District 1 has a history, don’t it? Pick your fraud. Ladra has provided the invoices below so you can see for yourselves.

Remember when Gabela stormed into office talking about audits, accountability and exposing the spending excesses of the Carollo era? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

At the time, Gabela portrayed the Bayfront Trust as a bloated political playground in desperate need of reform. There were promises of transparency. Promises of oversight. Promises that taxpayers would finally learn where all the money had gone.

Instead, what taxpayers appear to have gotten is a new handpicked management team with fancier graphics packages.

The latest invoices raise a lot of uncomfortable questions.

How many logos does Bayfront Park actually need?
How many times can somebody redesign a palm tree before it becomes a public corruption metaphor?
What exactly are Atlantis Solutions and Elandor producing for all this money?
Who approved these expenditures?
Was there competitive bidding?
And why does everything connected to these companies feel like it was organized in the witness protection program?

Calls and text messages sent over the course of a week to the phone numbers listed on the invoices were not returned. Calls and messages to Gabela were not returned. Calls and messages to District 1 counsel Jose Sanchez-Gronlier were not returned. Calls and messages to Bayfront executive director Raul Miro — Gabela’s handpicked choice who later received that eye-popping 70% salary increase from $150,000 to $255K — were also not returned.

Which, at this point, almost answers the questions itself.

Because when public officials who once campaigned on transparency suddenly go radio silent over invoices, consultants and politically connected spending, people naturally start wondering why.

And the optics here are brutal.

Atlantis Solutions was already under scrutiny after reports that Gabela’s office paid the company nearly a quarter-million dollars for communications work. Elandor, another barely visible entity operating out of a townhouse complex in Doral, was already receiving thousands monthly for vague app-related services no one seems capable of fully explaining.

Now both firms appear deeply embedded inside Bayfront operations too.

What are the odds?

At some point, this stops looking like ordinary outsourcing and starts looking like a parallel communications ecosystem financed with public money.

And that’s where the comparisons to Carollo and former District 1 Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla — who was arrested while in office on bribery and money laundering charges that were eventually dropped — become politically dangerous for Gabela.

Because this is exactly how Miami’s reformers often evolve once they gain control of the machinery they once criticized. First comes the outrage over spending. Then comes the promise to clean house. Then comes the realization that government infrastructure can also be very useful when it’s promoting your own operation.

Suddenly the watchdog becomes the landlord.

To be clear, nobody is accusing Gabela, Miro or either vendor of criminal conduct.

But Ladra is absolutely accusing them of creating the kind of opaque, defensive and evasive environment that breeds public distrust faster than mold in an illegal efficiency just off the Miami River.

Maybe the most damning part of all this is not even the invoices themselves. It’s the silence. Because if these expenditures are legitimate, necessary and properly procured, then why does nobody want to explain them?

Why won’t anybody simply answer basic questions? What exactly was delivered? Who approved it? What measurable public benefit exists? And again — because it deserves repeating — how many damn logos does Bayfront Park need?

Remember, this is the same Bayfront Trust where Gabela promised the public a full accounting of alleged financial abuses under Carollo. That audit still has not produced the kind of sweeping public reckoning many expected.

Maybe that’s because once Gabela took control of the system, he discovered something very Miami: The machine works pretty well when you’re the one operating it.

This kind of independent, government watchdog reporting is crucial to transparency and democracy. And more so every day. Help shine a light on the darker corners of our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.

Atlantis Solutions Invoices by Political Cortadito

Elandor Creative Agency Invoices by Political Cortadito

Bayfront Park’s new management looks a lot like the old management in Miami added by Ladra on May 24, 2026
View all posts by Ladra →