Citizens leader criticize media coverage of firm’s problems

TALLAHASSEE --
Beleaguered by allegations of corporate misconduct and exorbitant executive spending, leaders at Citizens Property Insurance Corp. expressed outrage — at the media.

During a special hearing on Tuesday to address several corporate improprieties first reported by the Times/Herald, Citizens CEO Barry Gilway reserved some of his harshest criticism for news outlets that uncovered the laundry list of scandals at the state-run company.

“I am committed to making sure the reputations of innocent employees are appropriately protected,” said Gilway, claiming that reporters had defamed former Citizens employees accused of wrongdoing.

Gilway used words like “preposterous,” “absurd,” “pathetic,” and “shameful,” when discussing media coverage of the company’s internal troubles.

He defended his top officials — who have been beset by a laundry list of scandalous allegations in recent months, including questionable severance packages, sexual impropriety, and falsified documents.

The board largely voiced support of Gilway — who took the helm of the state-run insurer in June — and saved criticism for the media, the former CEO and a few “bad apple” employees.

In recent months, at least two top executives at Citizens have resigned and Gov. Rick Scott has called for two separate investigations into its top management.

Gilway stood by a claim that Citizens terminated internal investigators who discovered the misconduct as part of a company restructuring effort – not as retaliation for exposing the company’s dirty laundry.

Scott’s chief inspector general is looking into the terminations.

Gilway and board members acknowledged that Citizens needed to make some changes, and said the company is beginning to take “corrective action” to address the various scandals.

“We have a new day in this company,” said board chairman Carlos Lacasa. “And we will win back the credibility of the company in the eyes of the public.”

Lacasa also lashed out at the media, referring specifically to a recent editorial in the Palm Beach Post that branded Citizens a “corruption-ridden scam artist that threatens Florida’s economic recovery.”

Such media criticism of Citizens is “shameful” and “designed to incite the public,” he said.

Homeowners covered by Citizens have expressed outrage this year over the company’s unpopular home re-inspection program, an 11-percent rate hike and news that executives were spending upwards of $600 per night for luxury hotel rooms across the globe.

Scott’s inspector general is investigating such expenditures.

“The state of Florida gave them this blanket ability to pull in money from homeowners,” said Sharon Goessel, a 65-year-old from Palmetto Bay whose Citizens insurance rates are skyrocketing. “I want to be one of those executives at Citizens and go spend the night in a $580 hotel room.”

Sean Shaw, a former insurance consumer advocate who works for a law firm that represents insurance policyholders, blasted the board at Citizens and called for the resignation of top executives.

“Instead of spending time talking about fixing abuses of the public trust, the board seems more interested in blaming the media for finding out about it,” he said.

Some board members attacked Shaw, whose employer regularly battles Citizens in court, as someone who “has a direct financial stake” in seeing the company tarnished.

The board had less criticism for former employees and executives whose actions sullied Citizens’ reputation, including the underwriting executive who resigned after a sex scandal blew up and the Chief Administration Officer who resigned after several allegations of misconduct occurred within her unit.

Both received lucrative agreements worth tens of thousands of dollars after resigning, and Citizens helped the underwriting executive apply for unemployment compensation.

Gilway stopped short of criticizing the hefty severance agreements, but said a new policy will be drafted to clean up the process.

Citizens’ board also spent much of Tuesday’s meeting discussing the company’s preliminary budget for next year.

The company expects to shrink from about 1.5 million policies to 1.2 million policies by the end of 2013, advancing Gov. Rick Scott’s push to downsize the state-backed insurer.

“Unlike the private sector, that’s a good thing if we’re shrinking,” said Chief Financial Officer Sharon Binnun.

Toluse Olorunnipa can be reached at tolorunnipa@MiamiHerald.com or on Twitter at @ToluseO.

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Dennis Quaid Runs Vegas

Dennis Quaid stars as Sheriff Ralph Lamb on the CBS drama Vegas and the actor dished to ET Canada about the romances and rivalries of the show.

PICS: What Happened in Vegas This Weekend

Inspired by the story of the real-life former Sheriff of Las Vegas, the show is set in the 1960s and follows Lamb as he battles notorious gangster Vincent Savino (Michael Chiklis), who's planning a Sin City take over.

In the midst of all the blood sport and gun play, there's also a budding love story between Lamb and Katherine O'Connell (Carrie-Anne Moss).

"The two characters have known each other all their lives," said Quaid. "There's already a relationship there, but where it's going to wind up ... Who knows?"

VIDEO: Vegas Hearkens Back to Sin City in the '60s

Watch the video for more. Vegas airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on CBS.

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Iran sitting prettier

John Bolton

Iran, unfortunately, has grown stronger from the recent Israel-Hamas hostilities.

Despite media concentration on last week’s cease-fire, the real focal point is still the invisible Middle Eastern struggle for strategic advantage. There, Iran was already gaining ground, as the International Atomic Energy Agency reported on Nov. 16: Tehran’s extensive nuclear program continues its rapid progress, and it is still stonewalling IAEA inspectors. There is no doubt where Iran is headed.

The mullahs’ priority isn’t the Israel-Palestinian relationship, but whether Israel has the will and the capability to attack Iran’s nuclear-weapons program. Thus, despite Hamas’ terrorist aggression, launching over 1,500 rockets against Israel’s civilian population, Tehran’s central concern was the small number of Fajr-5 missiles targeted on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

EPA

Getting set to shoot at Israeli jets: Iranian soldiers prep a new surface-to-air missile for launch in week-long war games this month.

These launches confirm what has long been suspected, namely that Iran had armed Hamas (as it has armed Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon) with longer-range missiles. And the November clashes provided a combat environment for Iran to test-fire the Fajr-5s from Gaza.

True, Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system performed extremely well, a palpable reminder to Americans (especially to President Obama, a long-term opponent of national missile defense for the United States) of the importance of this capability. But Iran also learned a good deal about Iron Dome — and in the never-ceasing struggle between offense and defense, will be better prepared for having had this “dry run” against Israeli defenses.

How will Iran retaliate if its nuclear-weapons facilities are struck pre-emptively? It has several options, including closing the Strait of Hormuz or directly attacking Israel, but its most likely response is indirect. With terrorist allies in place in both Lebanon and Gaza, Tehran is in effect positioned behind Israeli lines, encircling the tiny country and making it much harder to defend.

The Israeli air force can’t be in three places at once, attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities while also trying to suppress missile attacks from both Lebanon’s Bekaa valley and Gaza. And given the inevitable losses Israel will suffer over Iran, Israel’s air assets could be stretched beyond their limits.

Thus, Iran’s ability to inflict unacceptable casualties on Israeli civilians via its terror proxies, all the while maintaining at least a shred of deniability for such attacks, is a powerful element in any Israeli government’s calculation whether to strike Iran pre-emptively.

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Shareholders approve sale of U.S. Century Bank

A majority of U.S. Century Bank’s shareholders approved the Doral bank’s proposed sale to C1 Bank of St. Petersburg late Tuesday during a meeting at Florida International University despite dissension from some stockholders, including those who have filed suit against the bank and some of its directors and officers.

According to the terms of the deal, the bank’s 441 shareholders will receive $2.5 million from the sale, or about 1.7 cents on the dollar, from $150.1 million U.S. Century raised from multiple offerings since it was founded 10 years ago.

The sale agreement, which required approval from holders of 51 percent of the shares, still requires approval from federal banking regulators. Seventy-four shareholders attended Tuesday evening’s meeting.

The deal to sell U.S. Century to C1, reached Aug. 30, includes a proposed, renegotiated $6.27 million repayment to the federal government of $50.2 million in TARP funds. The U.S. Treasury Department must approve the proposed TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) repayment. According to documents, the deal also includes up to $400,000 to be paid by C1 to regulators should U.S. Century be fined over Bank Secrecy Act violations found in its recent regulatory examination.

The bank has said the sale is expected to be completed by year-end.

A group of shareholders has filed a “derivative action” suit, which seeks to recover money from the bank that allegedly resulted from the wrongdoing of the bank’s directors and officers.

The suit was filed Nov. 13 in Miami-Dade Circuit Court by brothers Carlos R. Silva and Jorge E. Silva, both Coral Gables attorneys and founding shareholders, and last week was amended to include several additional shareholders — including Shoma Group head Masoud Shojaee — totaling more than $10 million in original investments, said Coral Gables attorney Gonzalo Dorta who represents the shareholders who filed the suit against the bank and some of its current and former officers and directors. Among the defendants are Telemundo executive Jose Cancela, homebuilder Sergio Pino — who formerly owned U.S. Century’s headquarters building, and public affairs businessman and lobbyist Rodney Barreto.

“I feel terrible,” Carlos Silva said after the meeting. He estimated the losses that he and his brother sustained at $400,000. “We all lost a lot of money.”

“This bank was basically run by a group of individuals like it was their personal bank to finance their speculative real estate construction activity at the expense of others,” Dorta said before Tuesday’s meeting.

U.S. Century said in a statement that the bank is in the process of reviewing the suit and is “not at liberty to discuss it further until we have completed the review process and consulted with our legal counsel.”

U.S. Century was founded by a group of prominent, largely Cuban-American investors, many of whom are local business leaders, real estate developers and attorneys.

Among the issues raised in the lawsuit, the bank acknowledges that it has made loans to current and former directors, and a third of its 24 branches are leased from current or former directors.

Current and former directors of the bank hold a significant portion of the bank’s shares, several sources said.

U.S. Century has been struggling since the real estate downturn and recession. Founded in 2002, U.S. Century is operating under a June 2011 regulatory consent order mandating it to boost capital, reduce its bad loans and return to profitability, among other requirements. Last year, it hired Japanese investment bank Nomura Securities to try to raise at least $150 million in private equity funds.

C1, privately owned by four investors, including two Brazilians, is proposing to inject $100 million of fresh capital into the combined bank.

The deal would give the growing C1 Bank 24 branches in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and nearly $1.2 billion in assets.

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Survivor of flea-market police shooting is charged

Two Miami men shot Sunday by Miami-Dade police outside a flea market were identified Monday, and the survivor was charged with battery.

Michael Nathaniel Parks, 21, faces charges of battery on a law-enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence. The second man, who had been driving the van the pair had been in, and who died at the scene, was identified as LeBron Warren, 23.

The shooting took place shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday at Flea Market USA, near Northwest 79th Street and 30th Avenue. Police said the victim of a nearby home-invasion robbery followed the robbers’ vehicle to the flea market and told police about it.

Officers found a van matching the description there, with Parks and Warren inside.

When officers approached, Warren put the van in reverse and accelerated toward them, hitting a police vehicle. Officers fired, and the van tried to get away, hitting other parked cars before it came to a stop, police said.

No officers were hurt.

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Dancing with the Stars All Stars Finale Week Recap

Nine weeks of competition have led to this! 

Tonight, three competitors gave it their all during Monday's Dancing with the Stars finals, but only one will triumph tomorrow. Here's how the night went down:

Kelly Monaco and partner Val Chmerkovskiy hit the stage first to reprise their Paso Doble from week three, earning an impressive 29.5/30 points (9.5, 10, 10), 2.5 points higher than their previous go-around. Later the pair debuted a super-sized freestyle choreographed to Time of My Life, complete with Dirty Dancing's iconic lift, earning them 29.5 (10, 9.5, 10).

Video: Cheryl Burke Breaks Down the 'DWTS: All Stars' Finale

Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani tackled their week-three Samba with gusto, improving their previous score of 27 by three points, earning a perfect thirty from the judges. Melissa and Tony followed up the dance with a risky, acrobatic freestyle which earned much praise from the panel as well as another unanimous round of tens.

Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough brought back their Quickstep from Iconic Dances Night to the displeasure of the judges, who believed the routine continued to break the rules as it did in week three, however they were ultimately awarded a half of a point more (27/30) in their cumulative score this time around. The US Olympic gymnastics team's Fierce Five took the stage with the duo as a surprise edition to Monday's final dance. Shawn and her pals closed the night with a spectacular show, earning the twosome a perfect thirty for their routine.

Tune in tomorrow night at 9/8c on ABC as the three perform one more dance during the two-hour extravaganza where one lucky couple will be awarded the blinged-out All-Stars mirror ball trophy.

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The ‘Demon’ guarding GOP principles

Rich Lowry

Listening to Democrats and the media, you could be forgiven for thinking the point of a deal over the looming “fiscal cliff” wouldn’t be to reduce the deficit so much as to reduce the influence of one man — Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform.

Known to one and all simply as Grover, he is the keeper of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge signed by almost all Republicans committing themselves not to raise taxes. For this offense, Grover is deemed the enemy of all that is right and just.

The pollster and ABC News commentator Matthew Dowd said on “This Week,” “Norquist is an impediment to good governing. The only good thing about Grover Norquist is that he was named after a character from Sesame Street.” Not everyone has been as juvenile, but Dowd captured the gleeful spirit of the anti-Norquist pile-on.

The idea that we’d have “good governing” only if more tax increases were thrown on top of poorly designed, out-of-control entitlements, wasteful subsidies, rotten schools and an ever-growing mess of regulation is fanciful. ObamaCare increased taxes by more than $500 billion, and our governing did not noticeably become better as a result.

Grover has three insights that are absolutely correct: 1) Revenues from tax increases will almost invariably be spent. Does anyone believe that if George W. Bush had not cut taxes early in his first term that the Tom DeLay and Nancy Pelosi Congresses wouldn’t have, in their collective wisdom, found ways to spend the additional revenues? 2) The typical structure of the Washington budget deal is tax increases now in exchange for promised spending cuts over time that don’t materialize. 3) The Republican brand is dependent on its status as the anti-tax party.

These aren’t alien beliefs foisted on the Republican Party, but represent GOP orthodoxy. Nonetheless, everyone acts as if Grover is the instrument of the party’s Babylonian captivity. If only the dastardly Norquist didn’t make Republicans say they won’t raise taxes — and put it in writing — the party could fulfill its role in the “good governing” of Washington, namely joining Democrats to raise taxes.

The proof of the supposed perversity of Grover’s influence is the widely cited hypothetical example of a Democratic offer to cut $10 in spending for every $1 in new tax dollars. In one presidential-primary debate, every Republican candidate indicated that he or she would oppose such a deal. Of course, it’s all academic because such a deal will never, ever be on offer.

Hypotheticals work both ways, or they should. What would Democrats be willing to accept in exchange for signing off on a premium-support plan for Medicare? Nothing.

The press isn’t scandalized by this particular intransigence. It isn’t a favorite topic on the Sunday shows whether the influence of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who opposes all meaningful spending cuts, will be broken in the Democratic Party. No one is outraged that the left is mustering a lobbying campaign to keep President Obama from giving anything on entitlements in the talks over the fiscal cliff.

But whenever a Republican says he won’t abide by Grover’s pledge, the media act like a choir of angels celebrating another saved soul. So far, it’s only the usual suspects in the party, although House Speaker John Boehner has signaled a willingness to raise more revenue if the president will cut entitlement spending.

What makes this time different than prior budget showdowns is that Republicans can remain technically compliant with the pledge by doing nothing, and taxes would still go up on everyone automatically at the end of the year. A deal, then, could make sense, depending on the parameters.

As the cliff approaches, all the pressure within Washington and within the media will be for Republicans simply to cave to the president. Grover will make it as painful as possible for them to do it, and should wear the resulting elite obloquy as a badge of honor.

comments.lowr@)nationalreview.com

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Shoppers welcome holiday sales by buying early, often — and online

Shoppers swooped into stores in droves on Thanksgiving weekend, topping last year’s sales, as more retailers opened their doors earlier than ever on Thursday, luring bargain hunters away from eating another plate of turkey.

And now Cyber Monday is expected to set a record for online shopping this year, for those who prefer the Internet to the mall.

Spending per shopper nationwide averaged $423 — $25 more than last year — from Thursday to Sunday, while total spending increased nearly 13 percent, to an estimated $59.1 billion, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.

“I think the only way to describe the Thanksgiving openings is to call it a huge win,” said Matthew Shay, the trade group’s president and chief executive. Shopping, he said, “has really become an extension of the day’s festivities.”

South Florida was no exception, as a flurry of stores, as well as several malls, opened on Thanksgiving. Thursday has seemingly become the new Black Thursday, taking a bite out of the old-fashioned kickoff day of the holiday, Black Friday.

“We had an excellent weekend,” said Humberto Maldonado, director of marketing for Dadeland Mall, which opened at midnight on Thursday. Sales figures are not yet in, but the overall trend was up from last year, he said Monday.

“It was really busy from midnight to 5 a.m., then it slowed, and picked up again at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m., and stayed busy all day on Friday,” Maldonado said.

Nationwide, about 35 million people visited stores and shopping websites Thursday, up from 29 million last year. More than double that number — 89 million, up from 86 million — shopped on Black Friday.

“There were more people shopping every single day of the weekend,” Shay said.

Topping off the weekend, Cyber Monday’s early results, tabulated at 3 p.m. Monday, showed that online shopping was up a whopping 25.6 percent compared with the same time period a year ago, according to figures by IBM Benchmark.

Nationwide, most of the weekend’s shoppers — roughly 58 percent — bought clothing and accessories. Another 38 percent bought electronics and 35 percent shelled out for toys, National Retail Federation figures show.

Retailers made an effort to lure people in, with updated mobile shopping applications for smartphones and tablets, and expanded shipping and layaway options.

Still, it remains to be seen whether increased sales over the Thanksgiving weekend will translate to higher sales throughout the holiday shopping season. Analysts have been predicting mediocre sales this year, nationwide, as shoppers remain uncertain about the broader economy. Overall holiday sales are expected to increase 4.1 percent from 2011, compared with sales growth of 5.6 percent last year, the National Retail Federation said.

However, Florida is expected to beat those figures. Buoyed in large part by tourists and snowbirds, the Florida Retail Federation is forecasting a 5.3 percent gain this year over last, to $58 billion, marking the highest percentage growth predicted since the recession. Pre-recession, retail sales peaked at $54.3 billion in 2006.

Christian Cutillo, 26, of Weston, hit Walmart, then Sears, Target and Old Navy after eating Thanksgiving dinner.

She began at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and by 3 a.m. Friday she had finished shopping for all 15 people on her list, mostly buying clothing and toys.

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Legislative leaders are ready to shelve a $5 million budget-tracking program

TALLAHASSEE --
Florida’s new legislative leadership team and the 44 new legislators who took the oath of office in Tallahassee last Tuesday pledged to keep close tabs on the state budget and weed out waste in government contracts.

"Let’s make sure we’re getting value received and the best price," said Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, shortly after being sworn in as the Senate’s new president.

But if history is a guide, few will master the task because access to budget information across numerous agency platforms is notoriously complicated and difficult to access.

That could change if a software program quietly developed by a former House budget staffer, licensed by the state Senate under former Senate president Mike Haridopolos, and financed with $5 million of taxpayer dollars, is launched instead of allowed to expire at the end of the year.

Knowledge is power in Tallahassee and the software program, Transparency 2.0, developed and patented by Spider Data Systems, has the power to level the budgetary knowledge game. It also packs another powerful punch: the potential to expose the secrets of government officials and lobbyists who trade in these transactions.

With the click of a mouse, legislators can track how much money lobbyists’ clients pull in from state business, and which items are tucked into the budget by legislative leaders behind closed doors. They can see in real time where every vacant job is kept, where 496 sole source contracts exist, and which contracts are automatically renewed.

The program easily cross-references budgetary, accounting, contracting and personnel data in real time. It shows how much the state and its contractors spend on travel, and on office supplies and which companies received favorable terms with one agency and less favorable terms with another. And, if the governor’s office puts it online as part of the requirements of a new transparency law, the public could access the information too.

But the state contract with Spider Data Systems is scheduled to expire Dec. 31 without the program ever being launched. The deadline comes even though $4.5 million of taxpayer money was spent on it, and Haridopolos, Gov. Rick Scott and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater each promised a more open budgeting and contracting process.

“It sounds like an orphan nobody wants,’’ Gaetz told the Herald/Times. He and three other senators were given a 40-minute demonstration of a beta tested version of Transparency 2.0 in September 2011, before all the Florida data was loaded into the system. Gaetz concluded: “the price was extraordinary and the product was underwhelming.”

Dan Krassner, director of Integrity Florida, a consumer watchdog organization, believes state officials owe it to the public to launch the web-based program.

“If $5 million of taxpayer money has been invested in a budget-tracking website, then it should see the light of day,’’ said Krassner, who has not seen the program in operation. “Budget tracking tools like this should be used by policy makers to eliminate wasteful spending. Disclosure is the key to accountability.”

Turf battles and distrust over the way Spider Data’s no-bid contract was handled by Steve MacNamara, the former chief of staff to Scott and Haridopolos, have muddied its acceptance by current legislative leaders.

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Oprah Winfrey Interviews Justin Bieber

Oprah Winfrey sat down with 18-year-old superstar Justin Bieber who, among other things, opened up about his two-year romance with actress/singer Selena Gomez.

Video: Oprah Cautions Bieber Against Marrying Young

While the interview had been pre-taped before Justin and Selena's relationship reportedly hit the rocks, the Biebs told Oprah he has all he could ever ask for in his former Disney star girlfriend.

"I am all about really genuine people and I feel like she's one of the most genuine people," he beamed on Sunday's episode of Oprah's Next Chapter." She has a good heart and I can talk to her about anything."

When grilled about the couple's frequent moments of PDA caught by the paparazzi, Justin shrugged with a smile, admitting they can't help it; they're "always just touching each other."

Video: Justin Bieber Stops Traffic to Confront Paparazzi

In keeping with the topic of his favorite things, Oprah asked the teen sensation what he couldn't live without.

Ever the techie, Bieber said his laptop and iPhone were among his most cherished possessions. His favorite shows are Smallville and Friends, his preferred cereals are Crunch Berries and frosted Mini-Wheats, and (Selena aside) his biggest girl crush remains fellow superstar Beyonce.

Oprah's Next Chapter airs Sundays on OWN.

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