Ken Russell leaves Miami early; commission gets ready to replace him

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Commission could be split between appointment and special election

Miami Commissioner Ken Russell has left the building.

Russell, who resigned to run for Congress then lost in the August Democratic primary, had made the effective date Jan. 3. But last week, he moved that up to 5 p.m. Dec. 30. Probably so he can lobby Miami commissioners in two years instead of six, as dictated by a new law that goes into effect Jan. 1.

Now, all eyes are on the vacancy and how the city commission is going to fill it. City rules say they have 10 days from the resignation to make a decision on whether they will appoint someone or have a special election. That’s why there’s a special city commission meeting scheduled for Jan. 7, just for that. It’s a Saturday.

Many political observers and City Hall insiders expect a special election, by default, because the vote will be split. Commissioners Manolo Reyes and Christine King have expressed their desire for an election. Commissioner Joe Carollo says it’s too expensive, but he and Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla really want to appoint someone they can control. After all, it’s not every day you get a chance to appoint a pocket vote to the dais.

Read related: Folks line up to fill Miami commission District 2 seat after Ken Russell is out

If it ends 2-2, then it goes to a special election.

King has said publicly and repeatedly that she has not changed her mind from 2020 when she called for a special election to fill Keon Hardemon‘s seat. Hardemon’s hand-picked replacement was very passionate and adamant about it then, so it would be very bad optics if she were to switch gears and say it’s okay to appoint someone now. Commissioners eventually appointed Jeffrey Watson, who said he would not run for office in the election and then did just that, losing to King.

But Reyes, who has gone on Spanish-language radio to say that he favors an election, could be convinced to bring back the Three Amigos. While he has recently taken steps to separated himself from the other two Cubans on the dais, Reyes is up for re-election this year and Carollo or Diaz de la Portilla could threaten to run someone against him if he doesn’t vote their way.

In fact, las malas lenguas say ADLP is already fielding possible candidates to run against Reyes.

There are at least 10 people interested in the commission vacancy, according to a list provided to Ladra by the city clerk earlier this month. But sources say that Carollo and ADLP are set on former (read: disgraced) judge Martin Zilber, who was forced to resign amid allegations he had unauthorized absences and had staff run personal errands on public time. Which makes him a perfect match for Miami, right?

The two amigos wouldn’t be the only ones wanting to have a friend on the commission. There are many developer interests who would be happy to help put a commissioner in office, even if only for 11 months.

Maybe that’s why there’s a new political action committee called Beautify Grove Miami with $72,000 of real estate and development interest money. That includes Ke$25,000 from MasTec, the company owned by Jorge Mas and brothers, who also own a share of the InterMiami soccer team and the Miami Freedom Park mega development that still needs a bunch of approvals from, yep, the Miami Commission.

That’s the largest contribution given to the PAC, which formed in September. Housing Trust Group, which builds affordable housing and senior affordable housing, also gave $10,000 and Louis Wolfson III and David Deutch each gave $7,500. Additive Strategies and Downtown Real Estate Investments each gave $5,000.

  Ken Russell, Miami politics