Complaints filed against mayor, ex-city attorney over Inter Miami stadium vote
Former Miami City Commissioner Ken Russell has filed Florida Bar complaints against Mayor Francis Suarez and former City Attorney Victoria Méndez, accusing them of “misconduct” relating to legislation that the city passed in 2022 finalizing the billion-dollar Miami Freedom Park soccer stadium deal.
In order to get permission to build the Inter Miami soccer stadium on city-owned land, the developers needed four-fifths approval from the City Commission. Russell was the swing vote in favor of the deal in April 2022, when the city awarded a 99-year lease to David Beckham and businessmen Jorge and Jose Mas to develop Miami Freedom Park on the site of the former Melreese golf course.
Russell only agreed to support the deal, however, after the mayor and city commissioners agreed to a condition: that half of the $20 million the developers had agreed to contribute toward parks be spent on green space throughout the city. More specifically, under Russell’s proposal, $10 million would be spent on the creation of public parks at four city-owned sites.
“The spirit of it was, when you cut the ribbon at the stadium, nobody can say that we gave away green space,” Russell said in an interview.
Yet the final version of the legislation that the mayor signed days after the vote did not include Russell’s amendment.
Now, nearly three years later, that omission is the focus of a pair of Florida Bar complaints that Russell filed this week against Suarez, who is an attorney, and Méndez, who was the city attorney at the time of the 2022 vote. The City Attorney’s Office oversees City Commission legislation. Russell provided the Miami Herald with copies of the complaints.
“The mayor and the current commission are underestimating the city of Miami’s memory when it comes to stadium deals and our willingness to make sure that the city follows through on its promises,” Russell said.
In a statement to the Herald, Suarez said Russell’s claims are “baseless and appear to be yet another attempt to draw attention to himself.” Méndez did not respond to a request for comment on Russell’s allegations.
In the Bar complaint against Suarez, Russell also alleges that, prior to the April 2022 vote, Suarez invited Russell to his home for a meeting where the developers were present, then yelled at Russell to “get the f--- out of my house” after Russell made it clear that he would not vote for the deal unless half of the developers’ $20 million parks contribution was spread across the city.
Russell was previously the District 2 commissioner. He left office early after an unsuccessful run for Congress in 2022.
“I was very sure when leaving office that I had created a watertight agreement that could not be undone,” Russell said of the parks amendment to the stadium deal. “Otherwise I would have never voted for it.”
The issue of how the $20 million contribution from the developers should be spent came to a head earlier this month when Suarez introduced legislation that ensured the entire contribution would be spent exclusively on a 58-acre public park attached to the Miami Freedom Park site, rather than a portion of those funds going to parks elsewhere in the city.
Russell said that without his vote, “this entire project would not exist. So when I saw the mayor actively undoing that promise of $10 million for four new parks paid for by the developer, I couldn’t stay away from City Hall, and I absolutely can’t back down from doing everything I can to fix it.”
Suarez said in his statement that as mayor, he was not involved in the preparation of the 2022 legislation or related amendments. “If [Russell] truly had an issue with the legislation as drafted, why did he wait two years to bring it up?” the mayor added.
“This seems to be a recurring pattern for Mr. Russell, who’s clearly desperate to stay relevant after abandoning his constituents a year early,” Suarez said. “One has to wonder what office he plans to unsuccessfully run for next.”
A spokesperson for the Florida Bar confirmed that the organization received Russell’s complaints. If the complaints pass an initial review, Méndez and Suarez will be given 15 days to respond. The Bar would then decide whether to dismiss the complaint or proceed with investigations.
Disputes over how to divide $20 million
Earlier this month, Suarez introduced legislation that ensured the $20 million from the developers would be spent entirely on the park attached to the stadium site.
In doing so, Suarez said that the $20 million was always intended to be spent on the stadium park. He pointed to the 2018 ballot question passed by 60% of Miami voters that stipulated the developers would spend $20 million of their own money on a large public park attached to the site, “or other green space.”
On Feb. 13, the City Commission voted 4-1 in-favor of Suarez’s legislation after the mayor promised that the four voting districts outside of District 1, where the stadium site is located, will receive $2.5 million each for parks. Suarez did not specify the source of that funding, but it will likely come from taxpayer dollars.
Russell says that vote undid what was promised during the pivotal April 2022 vote. Meeting minutes from 2022 show that after Russell outlined his conditions for how to divide the $20 million parks contribution throughout the city, Suarez affirmed that the legislation should be amended “to include the additional conditions by Commissioner Russell.”
The version of the legislation that the mayor signed days later, however, states that the $20 million is “to be utilized by the city for the adjacent public park” on the stadium site. It’s worth noting that an unsigned version of the legislation on the city’s website states that the $20 million will be spent on “improvements to public parks or acquisition of public parks” rather than exclusively on the public park attached to the Miami Freedom Park site. It is unclear why that language differs from the document the mayor signed.
Russell said neither version captures his amendment, as both fail to specify that half of the $20 million was to be spent on the creation of four parks.
“Something happened,” Russell told the Herald. “Whether it was careless or on purpose, something happened.”
In his Bar complaint against Méndez, Russell wrote that as the city attorney at the time, she “was responsible for ensuring that the final legislation submitted for the Mayor’s signature correctly reflected the Commission’s actions.”
Russell said in the complaint that the approval of Suarez’s legislation earlier this month “further exposed the consequences of the 2022 omission by permanently restricting the $10 million in public benefits funds to the Miami Freedom Park site — something that could not have happened had the 2022 resolution accurately reflected the City Commission’s vote.”
Russell wrote that Méndez’s “failure” to ensure the legislation reflected the commission vote “constitutes a serious breach of legal and ethical responsibilities.”
Méndez, who was fired by the City Commission last year, is now partner at the law firm Shutts & Bowen, where she is a member of the Land Use & Zoning Practice Group, according to her online bio.
Public records show that from 2019 to 2023, Shutts invoiced nearly $2 million to the city of Miami for legal work relating to Miami Freedom Park.
Alleged meeting at mayor’s home
In Russell’s Bar complaint against Suarez, he said a meeting that took place at the mayor’s home shortly before the April 28, 2022, vote “reinforce[d] the deliberate nature” of Suarez later signing the legislation that omitted Russell’s amendment. The meeting happened a few days before the vote, Russell told the Herald.
Russell alleged in his complaint that Suarez “invited me to his home, where unbeknownst to me, developers Jorge and Jose Mas were present.” According to Russell, Suarez made it clear during the meeting that the entire $20 million would stay “under the control” of then-Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla, whose District 1 included the stadium development site. Russell was opposed to that, believing a portion of it should be distributed for public parks throughout the city.
“When I refused to change my position,” Russell alleged, “Mayor Suarez abruptly ended the meeting yelling, ‘Get the f--- out of my house.’”
Neither a representative for Miami Freedom Park nor the Mas brothers responded to a request for comment about the alleged meeting.
The mayor did not directly respond to Russell’s allegations about the meeting. But his office provided screenshots of text messages between Suarez and Russell that they say demonstrate the two have had a friendly relationship in the past and as recently as last month.
Russell told the Florida Bar that his complaint is not motivated by “political disagreements.” Russell said that Suarez, “as a licensed attorney, knew or should have known that his signature on an altered resolution carried significant legal consequences.”
“It concerns a clear ethical and legal violation by an attorney who knowingly signed an inaccurate resolution, effectively nullifying a key legislative provision,” Russell wrote in the complaint.
“Mayor Suarez’s actions as an attorney in this matter constitute serious ethical misconduct,” Russell concluded. “By knowingly signing a resolution that omitted a duly passed amendment, he misrepresented the legislative will of the City Commission, altered the terms of a major public agreement, and facilitated the misallocation of millions in public benefit funds. His continued efforts to mislead the public and the Commission regarding this issue further underscore the need for disciplinary action.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 4:49 PM.
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