In an ugly, backstabbing move, Miami Commissioners Alex Diaz de la Portilla and Joe Carollo, at the very last minute last week, snatched the last commission meeting from outgoing Commissioner Ken Russell by postponing the Dec. 8 agenda to January.
This would be after Russell’s resignation is effective on Jan. 3.
Russell, who resigned to run and then lost the Democratic congressional primary to Annette Taddeo, explained that he had important things on the December agenda. Things he’s been working on for months, if not years. Affordable housing items, the rezoning of a church.
Diaz de la Portilla made the motion to cancel the meeting so commissioners — who are paid $106,000 a year — could have the month off. “And we come back relaxed at the beginning of the year,” he said.
“There’s nothing on the agenda.” Seems like a targeted dig. And perhaps he forgot that he even deferred items Thursday to the Dec. 8 meeting. That’s when Russell told him he had worked with the administration and the planning department to get his items on that agenda.
Carollo, who seconded the motion so he could visit his grandchildren before he has to hand out paletas and gift baskets, didn’t care.
“You had a commitment to your constituents for for years and you seem every year to run for something else,” Carollo said.
Said DLP: “You took eight years off.”
Russell wondered out loud if the purpose was to snatch the last meeting from him. And of course that is what it was.
“If I had known… I would have brought those items to this meeting.”
Maybe he should have. These guys have never liked Russell and always voted to undermine him every step of the way. ADLP has been retaliating against Russell — who supported another candidate in that race — since he was elected. Did Riussell really expect them to give him the dignity of a goodbye meeting? No way.
Crazy Joe also said that “we have shown time and time again that we have done right by Coconut Grove,” which should have made everyone choke on their cafecito. Because he has not. Coconut Grove residents repeatedly begged him not to divide the neighborhood into three commission districts, but he wanted to put his mansion house in his district, so that was more important.
Read related: Miami’s Joe Carollo attacks Ken Russell to deflect his conflict in redistricting
“There’s nothing out there that can’t wait until January,” he said.
The two were so adamant to kick Ken and take away his yo-yos that they ignored the warnings from attorneys and lobbyists that this could also affect a bunch of other items — plat decisions, right of way deeds, things that hold up permits.
“Every action you all take on this dais has an impact on businesses and people … trying to get things completed before the end of the year,” said lobbyist Eric Zichella, who added that he sympathized with Russell.
“If they had their last meeting and away, they would be upset,” he said about the two amigos. Commissioner Manolo Reyes took the high road arguing and voting against the postponement.
“We have a lot of things to do,” Reyes said.
“We haven’t always agreed to may things,” Russell said, and it almost sounded like begging. “But we get the work done.
“My ask is that we finish the work that I set out to do,” he added, saying that he had specifically set the items for his last meeting on Dec. 8.
“You all want to cancel this meeting so you can take December off? To me that’s disrespectful to our residents,” Russell said before someone started to interrupt him. “Please just let me finish because that is the last you are ever going to hear from me,” he said.
“I doubt it,” Carollo said.
He could always go and visit his grandchildren anyway and they can have the meeting without him.
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“The simple cordiality of this body to each other to respect each other’s abilities to work for our residents is being thrown in the garbage now,” Russell went on. “You can expect my resignation to be rewritten this afternoon and count it for today because I’m done. This is an absolute farce.”
He got up but went back to the mic once more before storming away: “Thank you,” he said, directing himself to the audience and city staff. “It’s been a pleasure working for all of you.”
He hasn’t adjusted his resignation yet, however. He wants Commission Chair Christine King to change her mind and reset the December meeting so he can finish his work. She said she would go with the will of the body, but she could have gone either way because there were two commissioners who wanted the meeting cancelled and two commissioners who didn’t.
It eventually passed 3-1, with only Reyes voting no, after Russell walked off.
“It was petty politics,” Russell told Ladra later. “And the shame is it’s going to hurt real people.”
Read related: Coconut Grove residents are ignored as Miami carves up D2 in redistricting
That’s one reason King should reconsider and have a meeting in December. King, who voted to split the Grove up into three districts, shouldn’t stab those residents in the back again.
“If I don’t have the votes, fair enough, it doesn’t pass,” Russell told Ladra. “But to not show up? To not give me the dignity of saying farewell properly after all these years?”
Again, perhaps it was naive for Russell to think the two mafioso commissioners would give a hoot about his dignity.
But King does have a real opportunity here to (1) speak for the people of the Grove, who have important items on the Dec. 8 agenda (2) show she is truly independent of the hoodlums who run that circus and (3) do the right thing by a colleague because they’re going to come for her eventually and she could use the karma.
Miami Commission cuts Ken Russell’s last meeting; he threatens to quit early added by Ladra on
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