Commissioner Ken Russell - District 2

District 2 Staff

Commissioner Ken Russell
3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, FL 33133
Ph: 305-250-5333
krussell@miamigov.com

Rebecca Wakefield
Chief of Staff
Ph: 305-250-5335
rwakefield@miamigov.com

Daniel Prats
District Liaison
Ph: 305-250-5336 
dprats@miamigov.com

Daniel Hernandez
District Liaison / Policy Advisor
Ph: 305-250-5333 
dhernandez@miamigov.com

James Jackson
District Director
Ph: 305-250-5332
jamesjackson@miamigov.com

Cynthia Seymour
Project Manager
Ph: 305-250-5342
cseymour@miamigov.com

Allison Arias
Office Manager
Ph: 305-250-5333
Aarias@miamigov.com

Sarah Smith
Staff Services Assistant
Ph: 305-250-5333
ssmith@miamigov.com

Commissioner Russell took action to bolster the community as the global pandemic hit Miami. Working with local churches, food banks and businesses, he created programs to ensure thousands of homebound seniors, out-of-work residents and their families received food during the crisis and its aftermath. He identified resources to help residents with rent and utilities, as well as small business grants. He also convinced large companies to donate millions in food, temporary housing and medical supplies to healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 fight. 

Commissioner Russell has sponsored legislation to invest more than $200 million into the city’s affordable housing funds from the Miami Forever Bond and the Omni CRA. He has also invested more than $1.5 million in partnerships with Rebuilding Together to rehabilitate the homes of low-income residents and rehabbed a 44-unit apartment building that will remain affordable for 30 years. He sponsored an inclusionary zoning ordinance that mandates developers seeking entitlements within a certain area north of downtown include a percentage of affordable housing in their projects, as well as a citywide “attainable housing” ordinance to add incentives for developers to build more affordable housing projects. He also sponsored a rule change that strengthened enforcement of the City’s affordable/workforce housing requirements and covenants.

Commissioner Russell has advocated for the expansion of trolley routes throughout the city, including in Brickell, Downtown and Coconut Grove. He brought the Freebee service to the Coconut Grove BID, a Complete Streets pilot program downtown, sponsored legislation to tackle predatory car-booting practices and advocated to change lock down times on the Brickell Bridge to ease congestion. He also sponsored a pilot program to allow motorized scooters in District 2, giving residents a last-mile mobility option, while also directing the money generated from the program to build new bike lanes in downtown and other parts of the district.

Commissioner Russell has made resilience a priority, particularly for flood protection and water quality. He sponsored a successful ban of the herbicide glyphosate in all City-owned properties, fought for funding for more water quality testing, and passed guidelines for environmentally friendly landscape practices to reduce the harmful chemicals flowing from our streets into our waterways. Russell also has worked – through funding and advocacy -- to complete the missing links of the city’s Baywalk and Riverwalk, not only as a waterfront linear park, but as the front line in our battle against sea level rise.

In an effort to keep constituents informed, we’ll send you a monthly update on the initiatives and activities that our office is involved with. Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not subscribe to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.

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