The Florida Bar has dismissed a pair of complaints that former City Commissioner Ken Russell filed against Miami 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.
The crux of Russell’s complaints involved a piece of legislation the mayor signed in 2022 after the City Commission voted to award 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. The stadium will become the home of the Inter Miami team.
The deal needed four-fifths approval from the City Commission, and Russell agreed to be the swing vote after his colleagues agreed to an amendment requiring half of the $20 million parks contribution from the Miami Freedom Park developers to be spent on parks throughout the city. The other half was to be spent on a 58-acre public park attached to the stadium site…