TrueStar Group Reports on a Deposition Called by Miami Mayor as Lawsuit over Miami Airport Baggage Wrapping Contract Gears Up
MIAMI, August 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez was given Notice of Taking a Deposition in the lawsuit over the baggage wrapping contract at Miami International Airport. Luggage wrapping and protection services company TrueStar Group is alleging irregularities in the modification of the luggage wrapping contract and has sued Miami-Dade County and Safe Wrap of Florida in a bid to secure a new tender for America's twelfth busiest airport.
In its lawsuit, Truestar claims that, "the County and the Commissioners have engaged in improper favouritism" and "acted arbitrarily and capriciously and against the best interest of the County" when amending the contract, which was originally awarded to Safe Wrap in 2013.
Mayor Giménez is being asked to attend a deposition "for the purpose of discovery" to provide context and insights as to why he allegedly asked the Commission to by-pass its procedures and did not request that the County seek bids and proposals for the luggage wrapping contract after Safe Wrap requested a 65% reduction in the Minimum Annual Guarantee that it pays the County.
TrueStar originally lost its service contract at Miami International in 2013 to competitor Safe Wrap, a subsidiary of publicly traded and Milan-listed company Safe Bag, due to a last-minute action of the Miami-Dade commissioners.
"We received the most points by the Evaluation Committee and fairly won the tender as specified by the bidding rules," said TrueStar's CEO Fabio Talin. "However, the commissioners rejected the Mayor's recommendation and overrode his veto, awarding the contract directly to the losers (Safe Wrap)."
Since awarding that contract to Safe Wrap in 2013, Miami-Dade commissioners, at the request of the Mayor, have reduced the Minimum Annual Guarantee that TrueStar was paying to Miami International, by 65%, from $9.6 million to $3.5 million in an expedited legislative process that bypassed the normal committee hearing. The revenue-sharing requirement was further reduced from 52% to 35%. In addition, Miami International wrote-off $1.8 million in back rent that Safe Wrap owed the airport.
Judge Bailey will decide if the Mayor's objection to deposition testimony is justified.Thereafter the case is expected to go to trial before the end of the year.
SOURCE TrueStar Group
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