Ken Russell
Appearances
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
I'm to assume that the no net loss parks will get funded, but we have no guarantee here today that the no net loss parks will get funded.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla, if I had a nickel for every time I trusted your word, I could fund this baywalk myself. Oh, Lord almighty. Oh, Lord almighty. Guys, guys.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
No, that is a complete opposite version from the experience that I had up there. And let me walk you through it. Okay. Because I had a sheet of paper in front of me with all of my demands. And for those who are thinking during that moment where I'm saying I'm a no vote, They're like, aha, we've convinced Ken to be against this.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
That was my moment of leverage to say I will be a no, and they had to believe it unless this entire list of things gets done. It was theater, but that was your leverage. You squandered your political capital. No, but then they thought, they really thought that they were going to go through the vote, and then I would just go along for whatever reason.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And I don't know why they thought I was going to vote yes in that moment. Because they were going to lie to you. But they hadn't even agreed at that point to anything on my list. Okay, they hadn't lied to you yet. Yeah, they hadn't lied to me yet.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
So when they decided to break, I sat there because I didn't want the perception of what ended up happening that everyone goes back to their offices and deals are cut and everything. What I wanted and what I believe happened is once they realized that I'm a hard no and I don't give a shit, that I can walk away from this as it is, that they need to give me every one of those things.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And I believe the mayor went around to each office and whipped them and said, these votes have to happen for these amendments that Russell wants. I understand DLP likes to get whipped. I can't speak to that, but I could tell you his breath was whipping me on that day just then when he was yelling at me.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
But the only moment I stepped off the dais was when Francis kept saying, bro, talk to me for a second. I need to talk to you. And I hadn't talked to him in that moment. Since the time I was at his house and he kicked me out of it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
So for at that point, what was it, four years that they had been working on this thing? No, I would only meet with them in my office with my staff. And we had long, hard meetings on in terms of the negotiation. But I never went out for drinks, no cigars, no coffees, no breakfast. And it was important to me. So when the mayor said to me one day, hey, this is just a few days before the vote.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Meet me in my house. I never expected I would see the Moss brothers sitting in his living room. And that really pissed me off.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
So, theoretically, all of them are getting met until I find out this last month they are voting to undo them at the City Commission through an illegal vote. And that's what brought me back to City Hall.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And it was with whom and where and when. So we have a thing called government in the sunshine that says no two people that vote on anything together can meet and discuss those votes outside of the public light, right? The sunshine. The mayor is not subject to that because he doesn't have a vote. So when he invited me over to his house that weekend, which doesn't happen.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
I'd been to his house one time before. I said, OK, I pretty much knew what it was about because it was the weekend before the vote. But when I got there and the Moss brothers are there and they started leaning on me hard about the public benefits I was trying to require. The mayor had not told you that the Moss brothers were there? No. OK. No. And that was a surprise.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And I wouldn't have gone because that's what I was able to say up to that point. You were sandbagged. I have not met with them outside my office without my staff present and all of that. But when I got there, it wasn't. So this was on purpose. The mayor obviously invited you there. Of course. And they were doing the rounds.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And I believe I was the last stop because I from what Alex had said on the day as he had had private meetings in living rooms with the masses and with the mayor and during which he was promised certain things. And then they wanted to see that I would agree to those things. That's a sunshine violation.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
He's allowed to whip votes. He's allowed to call up a commissioner and say, vote this way if this is what I really care about. He's allowed to do that. But he's not allowed to say, Alex is going to vote this way, and you need to vote this way, too. And what they said to me was, well, this has already been promised to Alex.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
The full $20 million public benefit for green space has already been given to that commissioner, so you can't demand that it be taken away. The votes aren't there for it. And they thought Alex wouldn't budge. And so I already knew at that point I'm on a collision course with the public benefits I'm demanding and what Alex wanted with that money. But I already knew where I stood.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
So when he said at that point, get the fuck out of my house because I wouldn't agree. Who said that? Francis did. I happily got up and the Moss's faces went white because they knew they needed my vote. Francis couldn't control his anger because he was losing grip on it. They had really said, Francis, I need you to help go around and whip these votes. And when they got to me, I wasn't agreeing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And so he kicks me out of his house. But inside, I was happy because now I realize he had given me the ability to send a message to him that I don't care. I will walk out of your house. I'll walk out of this vote and I'll vote no on the dais. And I thought that that was enough for them to then realize that I need to get these benefits for the public or I'm a no vote.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
But you didn't get the benefit. But I did get the vote. I got the vote. I got the vote. And here's where we get to the reality where you're right and I'm wrong. Because I really stood my ground. And what happens after that tape is not Ken waves the white flag. It's that Ken got every single one to a letter of that list of public benefits.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And Francis stops the meeting because they were about to vote. He says, I want to know that the mover. And the seconder, Joe Carollo and Alex Díaz-Bordilla, agree with Russell's amendments. I want it captured on the record. He said it twice. They did it. We voted. And so those things must happen, and they're not. Here's where you are right.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Yes, the mayor signs the legislation after we make it. But they took out— Those amendments, yes.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Right. But it doesn't matter because the vote happened and it's memorialized in the minutes and the That is what prevails over whatever he signed. I mean, that was a bad document. And I filed a bar complaint against the city attorney and him.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Well, they didn't literally violate it until this last month. They were keeping, as far as I know, with the spirit of those public benefits until this month when they, for some reason, brought legislation to undo what I had forced them to promise.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Let's not go there yet because I was effective in my role and job in getting those amendments passed. It's not my job then to see that the attorney doesn't write illegal legislation, that the mayor doesn't sign illegal legislation.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
That's because if we can rely on our system of justice, they should not be able to undo the votes of a commission. So is that not a concern for people? They are violating. Right now, they are in violation. They're putting the entire lease itself in jeopardy.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
If you want to really have your fun, you can say, anyone can bring a lawsuit right now to say that the lease that is being enacted right now, what they are doing right now, and the votes that the commission are doing are completely in violation of the ballot that brought that lease, of the vote of the commission. And they are. So they're putting themselves in jeopardy.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
The question is, who's willing to enforce it beyond? I did my job as a commissioner to get the votes where they should be and get the public benefits where they should be. But at some point, we should be able to trust that the legal process happens correctly, that the administrative process happens correctly.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Even I never expected them simply to violate the vote of the commission. It wasn't a promise. It wasn't a handshake. It was it was a vote of the commission. So it's not something they can just undo. But they are. And it's illegal.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
At this very lectern seven years ago, David Beckham stood and made the promise to us and the city. He said, I am doing this for your children and your children's children. And his development partners made the promise to us, which resulted in legislation, which was our promise to the city. And the mayor signed that legislation, which created a lease.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And part of that promise is for the land that was going to be taken up. the green space that would disappear for the stadium, we would find, rezone, and fund new parks throughout the city. We identified those four parks, and they are in districts throughout. And we rezoned those parks and we funded it with half of the $20 million contribution.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
This is an additional $10 million to the Moss family and their development group because this actually defunds one of the new parks that would be going into District 1. And the money that they are going to use to build up that park is already meant to be spent by them. Miami has a history.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
of recalling mayors who make bad decisions on sporting deals mayor suarez has been a friend of mine for over 10 years but if the promise of this deal is broken i will be the first signature on any recall effort for any elected official who tries to break the promises of this deal because it is my integrity is your integrity because you carry the promises of commission's past
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Yeah, I hadn't decided myself at that point. But was that it? So, no. I mean, I'm looking at what are the possible remedies for this issue. A recall won't fix the issue, but it'll try to hold punitive those who are voting for it that day. And four out of five of them voted for it that day based on the lies Francis told them and the money that he handed out.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
He literally handed out taxpayer money to them to get them to vote for this issue, which now violates the ballot language as well. Because this project of those new parks are part of this project are now being taxpayer funded. Well, the mayor argued that the ballot language was deliberately...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
very difficult order to be but it was big nobody but that part the ballot language was very specific and those were words i put in there to make sure the new green space would get funded listen we can go back and forth all day basically they are lying now to undo the benefits that were gained back then because it's making it more expensive for the moss family and that's the that's the disservice being done
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
That's not the only reason I'm running for office as mayor. That's literally what pissed me off enough to put on a jacket and walk back to City Hall where I hadn't been for two years to say the corruption level has gotten so low. The other things they're undoing or even other ordinances that I passed having to do with protections of trees and they're undoing recycling in the city of Miami.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
They're trying to write themselves lifetime pensions. These are all things that... need to be addressed in a systemic way. It's not about putting one person in to replace the other. It's about breaking the entire wheel of what's going on right now there.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
The first time I explored it, and I didn't run. I actually did not resign to run, and I didn't file at the end. So, no, I didn't.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Manolo Reyes now voted in favor of defunding these parks, the public benefit parks. He voted for Mel Reese this last month.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
No, he didn't have nothing to gain. He has no idea what he voted for last month. He really believes that he voted for it. He said, we never even voted on those public benefits. We just talked about it. Oh, that's bullshit. That's a lie. We voted hard. And so he just took an extra $2.5 million for his district, which a commissioner can assign themselves anyway. That's not for the mayor to dole out.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
So he gained nothing, but he actually solidified the bad decision of Mel Reese now in the end after 10 years of voting against it. I voted for it after getting the concessions that I needed in 2018. I was reelected overwhelmingly in 2019. No runoff, multiple candidates, double-digit win. My first race— Promised you wouldn't run for higher office and then ran for higher office.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And so in the last 10 months of my second term, after eight years in office, yeah, I decided to run for Congress. Seven years. I was quite frustrated. No, yeah, out of the full eight years, I left in the last 10 months. So, yes, I did run for Congress. If that's a sin for someone to go for higher office, then I'm guilty. But as far as the Mel Rees curse, that has yet to be written yet.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
We're going to see how voters feel about that, because whether you believe they understood it or not, voters wanted soccer to come. There's a stadium that's halfway built now. Messi's in town. Beckham's here. There is an excitement about that. Messi will never play in that stadium. Probably right. But it's supposed to be done by next year.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And they're not allowed to get their CO until they finish those new parks. Over 100 acres of new parks. Do you think that's going to happen? First of all, they're slapping this thing up.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
No, I think voters will decide. No, not about the administration, but I think voters will decide how important this is to them. I think it should be very important if they cheat on the deal. But as far as the original deal goes that was struck and memorialized, that's for the voters to decide whether that was correct or not. And personally...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
I didn't give a shit that a government subsidized country club golf course was going to disappear and something better come of it. And I don't, you know, you may love golf, but the kids that played there weren't even allowed to sit down. It was so contaminated.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
This wasn't golf versus soccer. This was how I wanted it to be a fair deal. The voters had to approve it. They did overwhelmingly. And then I had to make sure the deal had teeth. They are violating those teeth.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
You tried to fire them. And now the lease is in violation of the vote we took. And if they still follow it in practice, great. But they're not. And they're undoing it. And they should be held liable for that. They should be held accountable for that. And those hundred acres of new park should still be built and finished.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
I voted to fire him because he wanted to leave. I was against what was done to him, and I'm not part of the lawsuit he's brought. He's brought the lawsuit against three commissioners in the city, and in fact, I expect to be subpoenaed very soon on that case that's ongoing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
I was with that chief, but when I realized he no longer wanted to be here, the manager didn't want him to be here, the mayor didn't want him to be here, and of course, the commissioners that were trying to oust him, he wants to leave, I'll vote for him to leave. But I didn't agree, and I stated very clearly at that time, I did not agree with what was done to him.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Voting against every single thing that was being done to to to violate their First Amendment rights and to create this fictitious crackdown on code that was happening all over the city just to whitewash what they were doing to ball and chain. Did you go to the FBI?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Well, that's what I've been doing. I've literally been testifying. I've literally been subpoenaed. I've literally been in depositions.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
But that was years later, after all the damage had been done. I'm not the state attorney. I did talk with the state attorney's office on public corruption. And what they interestingly say is a lot of what the city of Miami does is illegal until they vote on it. And once they vote, that makes it legal. And that's a shame.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
But they won't go after elected officials unless there's some smoking gun in their hand. So my duty was to vote against bad things, vote for good things, try to make things better. And I'm very proud over eight years of the legislation I was able to pass.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Well, first of all, thanks for having me here. You're welcome. I can't imagine there's a lot of politicians that come rolling through, and I don't know why. But when I heard that you wanted me on to endorse my mayoral campaign live on the show, I couldn't resist, and so I'm here, and I really appreciate that. So thank you for this time.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Most of the environmental legislation we have in Miami now is legislation that I wrote around everything from emissions to water quality to development standards and seawalls and everything. Creating the Miami Forever Bond, $400 million to help us with storm surge and sea level rise. I had to play the game with these guys to get these things done. I don't have to play that game anymore.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
I don't have to be there. It's not my goal to be a career politician in the city of Miami. I was gone. If I'm coming back as mayor, it's with bombs. I am sick of watching what they're doing, and I don't need to pass minor legislation and horse trade with these commissioners anymore. I can come in on a complete mission to revamp the system. The charter needs to be changed.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
We need more commissioners. We need even your voting. We need so many things that can make the system better and attract better people to run for office.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
100 percent. When we came to the I brought it two times when we came to the redistricting portion of increasing the district and the votes weren't there. There was nobody there willing to support that motion. And so I started working together with groups like Engage Miami and others to see if there's a petition that could be brought to change the charter to increase.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And that's the main way that needs to be done unless it can be done through the body. Right now they're trying to bring in real term limits. Lifetime Joe was there when I was seven years old. He's still there now after I'm gone. We don't have real term limits, and there's a commissioner now, Damian Pardo, who's trying to bring that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
If he's got the votes for it, which I doubt, the commission will pass it. It'll go on the ballot, and the voters can choose. I think he's got the votes. I hope he does, because it's the right thing. I mean, if Knockwood Manolo returns. It's the right thing for Miami, as well as all of these amendments. And so if we can blow up the city, and not in the literal way that you would like to.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
But literally break the... I would not like to blow up the city.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
No, if we could break the wheel that keeps turning and these same families over and over keep getting elected, we can make a system that's attractive to better candidates, to better people who would otherwise never want to be a part of this corrupt system, who would rather be entrepreneurs or artists or whatever they want to do successfully in life that doesn't involve politics.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
It's not meant to be a lifetime career. Come in, do your service, make the city better, and go back to what you're doing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
To be honest, he thought this would also be the last day of his campaign, potentially.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
To undo it and actually won that vote. We were willing to actually force them to tear down those new buildings that they have finished constructing. You didn't have the votes for that. I did. I passed it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Yes. They undid it the next meeting. Right, so you didn't have the... No, it actually passed, and then whoever got to them and undid it. Are you saying it passed before it didn't pass?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
That will be what remains to be seen at the ballot box, because I don't believe that, and that's not what I'm hearing from constituents. And you pick these few things that make you a single-issue voter that you really care about that you disagree with me on.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Because Vicki Bendis gave the city administration a separate set of lawyers to represent them and work against the commission. We got sandbagged. I actually got the commission together, and we voted unanimously to knock out that Watson Island developer because they were in violation.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
But then when all of the administration, who was worried about their own jobs, they would realize they'd have to admit that they were complicit in allowing these permits to go beyond. They all got their own lawyers. This was another Tricky Vicky.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
What you keep saying over and over again is, wow, you were right on that thing that you did. But then they undid it. Or then they violate it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
What would you rather have me do? Just not come in? Because what do you expect someone to do if you're working with an untrustworthy bunch of people? You try to be on the right side of your votes. You push to get the votes you need. And then you try to hold them accountable. But there's only so much you can do as a commissioner. I'm not the state attorney.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And if the state attorney is not willing to enforce the law, there's nothing I can do. But I did my job as a commissioner. I voted my conscience on everything. I created new laws that improved the city. But you're on these issues. I'm glad I brought that lawsuit against Watson Island because they should have been kicked out.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And we've got to be able to stand up to developers when they're breaking the law. If they're not following the words of the referendum, 15 years have gone and they hadn't put a shovel in the ground. They needed to lose that lease. And so, you know, there's only so much you can do.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
But if you're on the side of right and for the right reasons, and you can learn the lessons of the past, I know what's needed now, which is a total disruption. It's not about coming in and I'll do more of what I did back then, just being a good guy trying to pass good legislation. I'm here to actually break the system. And if that can't be done, I'm not here to do it. I wouldn't do it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
This really has to happen to where we get more commissioners and more engagement from the public, more accountability, and better candidates. The ones that are in there have to go. And if I'm successful in what I'm working on doing, every single one of them will be out by 2026. So, Billy, your endorsement. Are you giving it away?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
He's got to run. He's got to pay his legal bills, and the city's doing it. We, as taxpayers, have paid tens of millions of dollars already in Joe's legal fees and his settlements. Yes, and he's got to stay there. Otherwise, he's going to have to start paying.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Got it. So we haven't had a non-Hispanic mayor since I was in high school in the 90s. But I don't believe it's because... Do you speak Spanish? Yes. Okay. I would say not fluently.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Perhaps. But no, I was the president of my Spanish club in high school. That doesn't qualify you. What high school? Martin County High School. And I sold yo-yos in Venezuela.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
No, it's not true. But no, I didn't vote for myself for president of the Spanish club. All right.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
but but no yes i do speak spanish i speak portuguese i speak japanese i am half japanese uh... but i don't believe that we've only had hispanic mayors by choice of the electorate they haven't had choices we haven't had a competitive race here in decades and this one is going to be a competitive race with or without me in it because you will have several people running who will have the means and name recognition but it's going to be a whole list
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
of the dynasties of Miami. The legacy names who are either brothers, fathers, sons, or themselves, been in office before. And everyone's going to decide whether they want someone there that's for tomorrow or from yesterday.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
It's on and on and on. Right. And so, you know, I was on Radio Actualidad for 30 minutes in Spanish. And literally when I left the studio, workers were coming out from their coffee break talking about, yes, this is our fault for voting for the people over and over again. And they stay and we need something different. They haven't been presented with something different.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
the possibility of public or elected life? It's not the reason, but it's definitely one of the straws that's breaking the back of me deciding to come back to the city of Miami, because I was very happy having left and enjoying private life. But I would say our relationship was super solid up until that vote. And we had a drink right around then in 2018.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
It's a reference to Game of Thrones, everything except the last season.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
That's one way to look at it. I mean, if you think that's a bad thing, that's one way to look at it. I look at it as someone who's looking to break the wheel of the families that keep rolling over their citizens. It's a metaphor. Whether it's the Targaryens or whether it's the Suarez's, we need to break the wheel. There's no working with the system.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
You need to break the system in order to fix what's wrong with Miami.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Yes. And that's done by voter referendum of a change of the charter. But this one's going to be a square. A triangle.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Number five. Let's see. Miami District 2 voters complain for seven years about Commissioner Ken Russell's rotten representation, then elect Ken Russell 2.0. As my late great friend Al Crespo said, don't ever help people in Coconut Grove. You can't help those who can't help themselves.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Billy Corbin tweeted, Breaking. Before Ken for Florida's congressional campaign kickoff party got rained out tonight, it was crashed by chickens undermining con man Ken, Cuck, and a mariachi band reminding the crowd what a corrupt clown he is and how he sold out his constituents. That was one of your classier moments, Billy. That was first class.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Number three, part one. Hey, Ken for Florida, did University of Miami endorse you? The logo on your campaign flyer certainly implies that. Using it without permission is trademark infringement and a campaign violation. But only a con man, grifter, would do a thing like that because... Number three, part two. Con man Ken for Florida just posted another draft sans logo.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
I wonder if he got a cease and desist letter from University of Miami. This narcissist who can't whip two votes on the city commission thinks he should be in Congress. That's a narcissist clown. I forgot how much we love each other, Billy. That's a clown emoji, by the way.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And you said over that drink that if I voted for that, our relationship would be over, basically. Because you were very passionate about this. Sounds like something I'd say. I don't think you were trying to leverage me for the sake of, please let me keep this friendship. No, I didn't think you gave a shit about that. But you did keep to your word. I'm a man of my word. So, in my...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Right. Here we go. Point Billy Corbin. I received this cease and desist letter from the University of Miami. The logo has been blurred to avoid any further action.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Billy Corbin tweeted, if selfies equals good governance, Ken Russell Miami would be the greatest commissioner in the history of Miami. Yeah.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Commissioner Selfie, is that what Crespo called you? He did. After I went to the Democratic National Convention and took about 100 selfies. With balloons. So you earned it. Oh, yes. No, no, no. It's called networking, Ken. God, I miss him.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Number one, Billy tweeted, God, I love you, Billy. Ken Russell is a con man who would sell out any community white black LGBTQIA plus if it meant a nickel in his pocket and or the promise of more power.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
The best thing is to actually leave, and it should be mandatory for anyone who's in office to not stay in office continuously. Because when you leave, people stop answering your calls, stop laughing at your jokes, stop telling you you're right. And it's healthy. Like my wife get me grounded this entire time. But you do, people, everyone around you needs something from you.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And so they're willing to show you how great you are in order to keep your ego built up. And that's not a healthy place. But everyone who does get in office or runs for office has an element of susceptibility to that. Otherwise, they would just stay as an activist in the background, for example. If you don't mind being on camera and giving those speeches, and that gets addictive.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
first term in office, let's say I had some naivete that wanted to believe that we could make a good deal out of a bad deal, and that if the right contractual terms were put in place and the right public benefits were there, this could be a good deal.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Because you feel like, oh, they like me. They like what I'm doing. And I pass legislation that's good. And I remember because I was a parks activist to start. It was a contaminated park in front of my house. I fought City Hall. I was successful at that effort. And then I said, what do I do now? There's five other contaminated parks. I called Bruce Matheson for advice.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And he said, whatever you do, don't run for office. And then I went. Good advice. Yeah.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Right. And so, because he remained as a parks activist ready at the push of a button to bring a lawsuit against bad behavior. Both a man and a hammock. And I've sat with him in a park since this last month, actually, since watching the commission do what they're doing to see if there's room for a lawsuit at this point. And, of course, I'm not listening to him again because I am running for office.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Yeah. And so, yes, I'm guilty of a lot of those things, but it's certainly not trying to do the wrong thing, and it's certainly not coming in for the wrong reasons. Was I naive in what happened with this Mel Rhys deal? I'll say yes, because I really believed in my vote and everything I fought for, and now I have to look back on it and regret that vote.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And I'm not saying that now because I want to gain everyone's sympathy after being wrong on that vote as I try to run for a new office. It's literally contrition and realization that they need to be held accountable. I still believe they can be held accountable, but I have no idea what else they're violating in that lease. And I'd love to get into that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
So once on the inside, again, I'm ready to blow up the system, hold them to account on everything that was intended in that lease, and move forward from there on trying to make Miami better. What's the website? KenRussellForMayor.com Come on, get your website. So many races I can't even remember. Back to my original question.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
KenRussellForMayor.com Back to my original question.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And I was torn, because a lot of the folks that supported me, a lot of the activist crowd, a lot of the green space environmental crowd, they weren't crazy about this. And so I struggled a lot leading up to 2018, but I thought I'd solved it. And the reason I'm here with you today is to really
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
but this is really hard i'm i'm not willing to say that you were all right i can't i can't do it i can't say billy corvin was right well billy could do it for you he says it every day but he always says wait a few years and i always say that if you think if when it comes to politics if you think i'm wrong just wait two years sometimes you only have to wait two days or two weeks but in this case i'm almost like almost spot on and i'm not trying to be funny you were right because
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
I put all of the legal teeth into a vote that would hold the public benefits that kept this from being a bad deal, in my opinion. You may still disagree with even what I was able to extract being the swing vote and having that leverage, but it was everything from living wages for every single person that worked there, from the ticket takers to the person at McDonald's.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
It was full cost for remediation of all the contamination, and this is a very contaminated site. And a big part for you was that since it was a no-bid deal, that there was no competition in the pricing. Correct.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
amending the charter to say these guys could get right no way when it came down to the lease I was able to use my leverage to take the highest possible assessment of that land valuing it not on the contaminated value but after they cleaned it and paid for it what was the true value of that land and people could argue whether or not the three appraisals were impartial or correct but we took the highest of the highest one
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
But the big thing for me was about the green space that was going to be lost there. Even though this is an artifact, it's a golf course, really. And the pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers that are put right there on the Miami River aren't great. The actual landfill that's under it was never properly remediated, and that's not great. But I was okay with this deal if it made sense financially.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
And then any green space lost there, we'd make it up in new green space around the city. You were hearing yourself, right? Yeah. Yes, I'm taking you back to that time.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Thank you for that benefit of the doubt. But Even in hindsight, I don't look at my intention as ludicrous. And I believe if we're scared of corruption, we'll never do anything big and we'll never get anything done. Good. But wouldn't that save the taxpayers a whole lot of money and heartache? I really believe that if they had held to the public benefit tenets that I was able to negotiate.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
and they were honoring those today, and we'll get to that because you haven't gotten there yet, what's happening now to it, that it would have been a good deal. And I could leave that vote sleeping well at night and watching it come to fruition.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
He's just a hater, bro. No, I thought you were very passionate on your position that Miami shouldn't get involved in stadium deals and that this was another Marlins Park deal. But I believed it wasn't Marlins Park, and in its form as it was heading to ballot and then heading to lease, it wasn't what it should be.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
But I knew I had the leverage to demand not promises or handshakes or bro slaps, but actual amendments to legislation that would result in a better deal through public benefits. And I was able to get it. And so even for this last two years, and this is where we're gonna come to the present. Able to get it? You weren't able to get it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
Well, you weren't reading the moment right. I'm going to walk you through it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
How clear do I have to be? It's going to be a 3-2. It's going to be a 3-2.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
I've been trying to be heard for the last hour and I continually get cut off. And deny. And I'd like to speak. The mayor said everything that Commissioner Russell asked for is not in here. If you think I'm going to let this whole project go just because I'm getting $5 million for a baywalk, I can find other ways to get $5 million for a baywalk. Of course.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: A Miracle Has Happened
You spoke earlier about congeniality on this dais. There is no congeniality on this dais. You spoke about trust on this dais. There is no trust on this dais. There is transaction. There's power, there's ego. I believe this project has a chance to be good for the city, but I won't let it go until I believe it is correct.