Miami commissioner resigns a few days early, leaving District 2 seat open in New Year

Miami Commissioner Ken Russell resigned his District 2 seat Thursday afternoon, leaving City Hall a few days before he had originally planned under a state law that requires elected officials to step down when they run for another office.

Russell, 49, unsuccessfully ran for Congress earlier in the year, forcing him to leave office before completing his second four-year term on the City Commission after being reelected in 2019. His term was set to end in November 2023. He made his resignation effective Jan. 3, the day new members of Congress are sworn in. On Thursday, he submitted a new letter making his resignation effective at 5 p.m.

“My experience as a Miami City Commissioner has been a rich and rewarding one,” Russell wrote. “It has been the highest honor to serve and lead the citizens of this great city, and I will be forever grateful to my constituents, colleagues and supporters for allowing me the privilege to do so.”

The resignation leaves a vacancy on the commission for the seat representing District 2, which includes most of Miami’s coastal neighborhoods from Coconut Grove north through Brickell, downtown, Edgewater and Morningside. Under Miami’s city charter, the remaining four commissioners have 10 days to decide if they want to appoint someone to complete Russell’s term or call a special election.

Commissioners are expected to meet before Jan. 8 to make a decision. If they cannot make a decision, according to the charter, a special election must be held.

A special election could be likely. Commissioner Joe Carollo recently told Miami Herald news partner WLRN that a special election would be too costly for someone who would serve little more than 10 months. City officials estimate a special election, which could be held in late February or early March, would cost around $330,000.

But two other commissioners are thinking differently.

“I am undecided, but I’m leaning toward letting the people decide,” Commissioner Manolo Reyes told the Miami Herald on Thursday.

Commission Chairwoman Christine King said her thinking has not changed since 2020, when the the District 5 seat was vacated by Keon Hardemon after he won election to the Miami-Dade County Commission. The commission asked for applicants and asked them if they would run in 2021 for the same seat, because a majority of commissioners wanted a caretaker who would pledge to stay out of the race. King refused to make that commitment and advocated for a special election.

“My position is I do not feel like it is my place to determine who is best to serve the residents of District 2,” King said. “They should be allowed to determine who their representative is. That has been my position from when it was me, and it hasn’t changed.”

In that case, the commission appointed Jeffrey Watson to fill out the remainder of Hardemon’s term after he pledged not to run. A year later, he broke his promise and campaigned against King unsuccessfully.

Reyes echoed King’s comments about a special election, saying “democracy has no price.”

Rocky exit

Russell’s departure is marked by a contentious ending to the Nov. 17 commission meeting. There was supposed to be one more meeting in December, which would’ve been Russell’s final time on the dais and a chance for him to advocate for multiple zoning items related to affordable housing projects in Coconut Grove. In December, the commission could have approved zoning changes and funding.

Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla moved to cancel the December meeting, and Carollo supported it. Rankled and predicting he would be outvoted, Russell declared he would resign that night and stormed out of the meeting.

Eventually commissioners voted 3-1 to cancel the last meeting of the year, with Reyes the lone no vote. Russell tried to call a special meeting before Thanksgiving to undo the vote and take up only his initiatives, but only Reyes would agree to meet.

“The deferral was a petty and unnecessary political move that undermined Little Bahamas of Coconut Grove,” Russell recently told the Herald. “Too many important issues for the community were pushed to a later date when I would not be around to support them. We will see if the commission honors their word to take these items up in January and do what is right for the community.”

On Thursday, Russell said he was able to steer $47,800 in grants to a number of Grove organizations to help them with local projects. About $638,000 in local and federal funding for groups in Little Bahamas remains on the agenda for the commission’s first regular meeting of 2023, on Jan. 12.

What’s next for Ken Russell?

Russell, who owns a wholesale watersports equipment company, was recently hired by London-based consultancy firm Longevity Partners, which advises governments and private real estate interests on environmental sustainability issues.

His early resignation allows him to return to lobby city officials earlier than if he had left office in January. On New Year’s Day, a new state law takes effect prohibiting former elected officials from lobbying their former governments for six years. Because he resigned before the end of the year, Russell could come back to City Hall to lobby in two years.

The new law also prevents current elected officials from lobbying other government agencies. Russell’s early resignation also prevents any potential issues with this law, though governments are largely dormant during the holiday season.

Russell said the lobbying laws did not factor into his decision to leave office early.