MIAMI – A last-minute agenda item for Thursday’s Miami City Commission meeting is raising concerns over a proposed shift in public benefit funds tied to the controversial Freedom Park development deal.
The agenda item includes a resolution directing and authorizing the city manager to establish a new special review account titled “Park Fund for Miami Freedom Park,” appropriating and allocating $20 million to be used exclusively for improvements and maintenance of the 58-acre public park to be developed by Miami Freedom Park.
6 p.m. report:
Former Miami City Commissioner Ken Russell, who was in office when the $20 million deal was approved, said the funds were initially meant to be split between the 58-acre Freedom Park and new public parks across the city.
Russell says he isn’t surprised that a parcel of land behind the Kaseya Center, known as “Parcel B,” remains inaccessible to the public —despite long-standing promises that it would be turned into a waterfront park.
“Miami has a long history of violating its promises around green space,” Russell said. “We are right here in front of what is supposed to be a Miami-Dade County public park, Dan Paul Plaza, and there is a fence here right now.”
Russell was scheduled to meet with Local 10 News at the site, but the area was fenced off and patrolled by arena security.
One security staff member, wearing a Kaseya-branded polo shirt, didn’t appear to know the land was public, despite a county sign identifying it as Dan Paul Plaza.
The issue is at the heart of a debate ahead of Thursday’s Miami City Commission meeting, where commissioners will consider an item —sponsored by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez — to allocate $20 million exclusively for improvements and maintenance of the 58-acre public park being developed by Miami Freedom Park LLC.
Russell, who was on the commission when the Miami Freedom Park deal was approved, says diverting funds away from other parks violates the original agreement.
“Taking this money away from the parks from the rest of the city is absolutely the opposite of what the Miami Freedom Park agreement was all about,” Russell said.
Russell was the swing vote when commissioners approved the lease for the proposed Inter Miami stadium and entertainment complex in April 2022. At the time, he says, the city was assured that the developer’s $20 million contribution would go toward acquiring and improving parks citywide.
“We have a thing called ‘no net loss,’ meaning we cannot give away our green space without finding new green space,” Russell said. “So we wrote it into the lease with an amendment on the vote that night, and it was so crucial that that amendment was agreed to by the mayor and everybody. It meant that half of that money needed to be spent on new parks throughout the city.”
Tensions ran high during the 2022 commission meeting, with heated exchanges between commissioners before the lease was approved.
“The end vote, the end amendment specified where that money was meant to go, and they cannot go back on that promise,” Russell said.
“As of yesterday, we still had the country’s best sports deal with a government anywhere in history,” he added. “But as of tomorrow, it could be the worst ‘bait and switch’ we have ever seen.”
Russell says he isn’t surprised that a parcel of land behind the Kaseya Center, known as “Parcel B,” remains inaccessible to the public —despite long-standing promises that it would be turned into a waterfront park raised concerns that Inter Miami CF has yet to deliver on a promised community park at DRV PNK Stadium.
However, the new proposal would direct the full amount to the developer for use exclusively at Freedom Park.
“You can read the minutes from page 72 just before the final vote. They all agreed to the split of $10 million for Freedom Park and $10 million for new parks,” Russell said.
Some officials and residents are raising red flags about the legality of the proposed shift, citing the ballot language from the 2018 referendum, which stated the funds should be allocated for the 58-acre park or other green space.
“This is the term sheet on which the lease was based. This was given to us before the April 28, 2022, meeting where the supermajority vote changed and specified that it be split $10 million for Freedom Park, and $10 million for the development of four specifically identified new parks,” Russell said.
Critics fear the change could lead to a situation similar to the underutilized park behind the Kaseya Center, which is mostly used as overflow parking for Miami Heat events and is not widely recognized as public space.
Russell pointed to discrepancies between the resolution signed in 2022 and the amendment voted on at the dais.
“This is the lease item that was passed on April 28, 2022. Something is fishy here. It does not reflect the very specific amendment that was voted on the dais,” he said.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez sponsored the item.
Local 10 News’ Cody Weddle asked the mayor for his response to the item being called a bait and switch.
“My response is that is inaccurate,” said Suarez. “Because it’s going to a city park.”
“But a park that is associated with this developer,” said Weddle.
“That’s the way it was intended from the beginning and that’s the way the voters voted on it,” replied Suarez.
The mayor said those $20 million were always intended to be used for the park and Thursday’s item restores the full amount to that purpose.
“So what we’re asking the commission to do is to restore that money back to the $20 million dollars that was intended,” said Suarez.
The commission’s discussion on the issue in 2022 was marked by heated debate, underscoring the controversy surrounding the project.
The city commission is expected to take up the matter at its meeting Thursday.
Miami Commissioner Damian Pardo released a statement to Local 10 News on the proposed plan for the park:
“I understand the desire and need to invest in a signature park at Miami Freedom Park, and I am supportive of that effort. However, an agreement was reached after contentious negotiations and a vote in 2022 that is not reflected in tomorrow’s item. Unless there are assurances to secure or replace the funding for our city parks, per the previous Commission directive, I cannot support a vote for this action at tomorrow’s meeting.”
City of Miami officials also confirmed that while some construction can move forward, the project cannot fully proceed until the required payment is made.
“While construction can partially continue under the Phase Permit, the City of Miami will not issue the Master Permit until this Public Benefit section payment has been received and this section complied with,” a city spokesperson said in a statement to Local 10 News on Wednesday.
Local 10 viewers can take a look back at the Miami City Commission meeting from April 2022 in the video below.