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You heard it here. I congratulated Steven Abrams for doing the right thing and resigning. It was reported locally and carried in national publications that Tri-Rail’s executive director resigned. Apparently, we all got it wrong.
Following the reports, Abrams notified Tri-Rail board members that he didn’t really resign. The agency’s muddling attorney, Teressa Moore, confirmed that since Abrams didn’t put it in writing; it didn’t really happen.
What’s going on here is Abrams is trying to do a money grab. If he resigns, he gets nothing. If the board terminates him without cause, he gets 20 weeks’ pay. Luckily for the taxpayers, there’s a third option. The board can terminate him for cause and pay him nothing.
Does the board have reason to terminate Abrams for cause? Just look at Tri-Rail’s January board meeting and the answer is clearly yes.
- The delay of Tri-Rail’s $70 million MiamiCentral station opening is approaching five years. Abrams and the executive team of Diane Hernandez Del Calvo and Teresa Moore knew of problems for years, failed to act and failed to tell the board.
- Pedestrian bridges at Tri-Rail’s stations require emergency repairs due to Abrams and the executive team’s failure to act on inspection reports from 2019, and failed to tell the board.
- Tri-Rail’s locomotives are requiring repairs of up to three times more cost than if timely overhauls were performed. Abrams and the executive team knew for years, failed to act and failed to tell the board.
- Tri-Rail’s required train system safety software is out of date. Abrams and the executive team knew this since early last year, failed to act and failed to tell the board. Additionally, the team paid the company who provides the software over $1 million without board approval and without a contract.
Those failures are just what Abrams, Moore and Hernandez Del Calvo decided to tell the board in January. What else are they hiding? Until all three of them are gone, we may never know.
If Abrams says he didn’t resign, fire him now, but don’t stop there; fire Moore and Hernandez Del Calvo, too, and install an acting director until a permanent replacement can be found.
