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Monroe County faces whistleblower lawsuit over tourist agency debacle

The Monroe County Courthouse on Fleming Street in Key West.
Julia Cooper
The Monroe County Courthouse on Fleming Street in Key West.

The dust has yet to settle on Monroe County’s tourist agency woes.

Months after the Florida Keys’ top tourism director was fired following several audits of the Tourist Development Council (TDC), the county now faces a whistleblower lawsuit by the agency's former marketing director.

Stacey Mitchell was placed on administrative leave with pay, then subsequently fired after serving as the TDC’s marketing director since 2017. A series of audits of the TDC revealed “repeated noncompliance with the county’s purchasing policy,” “a significant lack of internal controls and management oversight” and “serious ethical concerns” among leadership.

But the lawsuit filed last week states that those audits, and Mitchell’s subsequent firing, were part of a “campaign of retaliation” after the TDC denied the county government about $150,000 in funding for a concert and drone show in 2023.

READ MORE: “Monroe County grapples with scathing audit of Keys Tourist Council”

The 12-page complaint chronicles a period of time when local officials were planning for the Florida Keys’ bicentennial celebration and were seeking funding for a drone light show and concert to be held at the Key West Amphitheater.

The complaint alleges that during an “informal meeting” in May of 2022, Mitchell provided county spokesperson Kristen Livengood with the necessary information to complete the TDC application for funding. Despite this, county staff failed to meet the early June application deadline, according to the document.

Then, county commissioner Craig Cates pressed Mitchell to “find a way to support the event” during a July budget meeting.

What allegedly followed was a “hastily organized second round of event funding” that came together because of “backroom dealings, meetings, and other informal communications hidden from the public.”

The advisory board that oversees Key West TDC funded events, the Key West District Advisory Committee (DAC), ultimately rejected the request because they’d been previously directed to shoot down high tourist season events. Then, the decision was appealed to the TDC board in October 2022 but the proposal was tabled indefinitely, according to the complaint.

The complaint then alleges that through more “backroom dealings,” the $150,000 was pulled out of DAC resources through an internal budget transfer and into the county’s budget, which would be violating the county’s own guidelines.

When Mitchell attempted to discuss what happened with a “chief executive officer” and “other appropriate local officials” to try and comply with the rules, the complaint alleged that the “campaign of retaliation” came in the form of audits, her suspension and firing.

County Attorney Bob Shillinger told WLRN via email ment that the county is currently “reviewing the complaint, noting its defects, and will be vigorously defending the suit in court.”

Julia Cooper reports on all things Florida Keys and South Dade for WLRN.
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