Finance
New Interim Finance Director Deal in the Works | South Pasadena Finance Dept. Pushing Through | The South Pasadenan | South Pasadena News
Scott Miller, a retired municipal finance official with four decades in the field, is being considered to serve as South Pasadena’s new finance director on an interim basis, the South Pasadenan News has learned.
Although an agreement has not been signed or finalized, “we are working on it,” said Luis Frausto, Acting Deputy City Manager.
Miller would become the tenth person to manage the city’s volatile finance department since the departure of David Batt in March of 2018.
CITY OF SOUTH PASADENA FINANCE DEPARTMENT PAST DIRECTORS
The news comes shortly after the city confirmed outgoing Finance Director John Downs, who told the city last month he would retire May 2, has been persuaded to stay on “in a limited term capacity to assist with finalizing the fiscal year 2024-2025 budget,” Frausto said. Downs’ “role will transition from managing daily finance operations to focusing on specific projects, with the budget being his primary responsibility. We expect his contributions to extend at least through June.”
The city is currently scheduled to adopt the new budget June 5—a target that is looking increasingly less certain.
According to press reports, Miller was chief financial officer at the city of Beverly Hills for seven years through 2015, where he was credited with helping secure high ratings for the city from the three major credit rating agencies.
Miller then worked briefly as chief finance officer for Broward County, Florida and then with Urban Futures Inc., a local government service agency in California. In March 2016, he became interim chief financial officer for the city of Riverside, initially under a short term contract. Although he became a Riverside employee in early 2017, he left several months later. At the time, a Riverside city spokesman told a local publication he could not say if Miller’s departure from Riverside was a mutual decision.
Prior to joining Beverly Hills, Miller was employed by the city of Palm Desert, the city and county of San Francisco, the University of California–Berkeley and Turner Broadcasting System. He graduated from San Diego State University with a BA in psychology and minor in business administration and he holds a PhD in public administration from Arizona State University.
Harmonization of the procedural framework for discussions
relating to the adaptation and strengthening
of the Casino Group’s financial structure
Paris, 15 May 2026
Further to the Group’s previous communications regarding the project to strengthen and adapt its financial structure, discussions are continuing with financial creditors across various entities within the Group.
As the formalization of a comprehensive agreement is facilitated by the existence of a uniform framework, the Group has applied to the President of the Paris Economic Activities Court for the opening of conciliation proceedings for the benefit of several of its companies1 for an initial period of four months, potentially extendable by one month. In this context, the appointment of SCP BTSG (Maître Marc Sénéchal) as conciliator is being considered for certain of these entities, while the appointment of SCP CBF Associés (Maître Lou Fréchard) is being sought as conciliator for Quatrim.
The Group will seek the consent of Quatrim’s high-yield bondholders for the opening of conciliation proceedings concerning Quatrim and Monoprix SAS, being respectively borrower and guarantor of these bonds.
These conciliation proceedings, which are consistent with those initiated early March2, only concern the financial debt of the companies involved and will have no impact on the Group’s relationships with its operating partners (in particular its suppliers) and employees. Operational activities will continue as normal, in line with the Group’s strategic priorities.
***
ANALYSTS AND INVESTORS CONTACTS
Charlotte IZABEL – cizabel@groupe-casino.fr – Tél: +33 (0)6 89 19 88 33
IR_Casino@groupe-casino.fr – Tél : +33 (0)1 53 65 24 17
PRESS CONTACTS
Casino Group – Communications Department
Stéphanie ABADIE – sabadie@groupe-casino.fr – Tél : +33 (0)6 26 27 37 05
directiondelacommunication@groupe-casino.fr – Tél : + 33(0)1 53 65 24 29
1 Casino Guichard Perrachon, Naturalia France, Monoprix SAS, Monop’ SAS, Samada, Aux Galeries de la Croisette, Monop’Station, O’Monoprix, OLogistique, C- Logistics, C-Technology, CLR, CLV, CShield, Cnova France, IGC Services, Cnova Pay, Casino Finance, Franprix Leader Price Holding and Quatrim
2 Press release dated 9 March 2026 : conciliation proceedings initiated for the benefit of Maas, Sédifrais, ExtenC, Monoprix Holding, Monoprix Exploitation, Distribution Franprix, Franprix-Leader Price Finances, Achats Marchandises Casino and Cdiscount
Attachment
Texas restaurant operators are continuing to face mounting financial pressure as rising food and fuel costs impact businesses across the state, according to the latest quarterly economic report from the Texas Restaurant Association.
The association’s 2026 first-quarter report shows that many restaurant owners are struggling to keep up with increased operating expenses while trying to avoid passing those full costs on to customers.
“You know, what we’re seeing a lot of in Texas from these quarterly economic reports that we do is that food costs continue to rise,” said Texas Restaurant Association Chief Marketing Officer Tony Abroscato. “We all know that it’s up 35% since the pandemic. And so that’s an impact on our restaurant.”
According to the report, 77% of restaurant operators reported increased costs of goods, while 66% said suppliers have added fuel surcharges as gas prices continue to climb.
“We’re seeing that 90% of consumers start to adjust their habits based upon rising gas prices,” said Tony Abroscato. “Then also those gas prices impact the cost of food because everything is trucked and shipped and a variety of different things.”
In addition to rising costs, labor shortages remain a major concern for restaurant owners. More than half of association members reported difficulties finding enough workers.
“You know, immigration is difficult and has had an impact on the restaurant industry, the farming industry, which again, then raises prices along the way,” said Abroscato.
Despite the financial challenges, the Texas Restaurant Association’s 2026 first-quarter report shows that Texas restaurants are only passing a portion of those increased costs on to customers while absorbing the rest through reduced profits.
Some restaurant owners have been making changes to adjust, like limiting menu items or even turning to QR code ordering, Abroscato said.
Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.
Finance
Household savings, income and finances in Spain: how did they fare in 2025 and what can we expect for 2026?
In 2025, GDI grew above the rate of average annual inflation (2.7%) and the growth in the number of households (1.3% according to the LFS), which allowed for a recovery in purchasing power. In this context, real household income has grown by 4.5% since before the pandemic, highlighting that households have continued to gain purchasing power in real terms.
The strong financial position of households is reflected not only in the high savings rate but also in their financial accounts. In this regard, households’ financial wealth continued to increase in 2025: their financial assets amounted to 3.4 trillion euros at the end of the year, versus 3.1 trillion at the end of 2024. This increase of 292 billion euros is broken down into a net acquisition of financial assets amounting to 95 billion, higher than the 21.5-billion average in the period 2015-2019, when interest rates were very low, and a revaluation effect of 194 billion. When breaking down the net acquisition of assets, we note that households invested 42 billion euros in equities and investment funds, just under 9.6 billion less than in deposits, while they disposed of debt securities worth 6 billion following the fall in interest rates.
On the other hand, households continued to deleverage in 2025, and by the end of the year their financial liabilities stood at 46.9% of GDP, compared to 47.8% in 2024, the lowest level since the end of 1998. This decline reflects the fact that, in 2025, households took advantage of the interest rate drop to prudently incur debt: net new borrowing amounted to 35 billion euros, representing an increase of 3.8%, which is lower than the nominal GDP growth of 5.8% and the GDI growth of 5.3%.
As a result of the increase in financial assets and the decrease in liabilities as a percentage of GDP, the net financial wealth of households recorded a notable increase of 7.3 points compared to 2024, reaching 156.8% of GDP.
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