Director of embattled downtown Miami agency agrees to part ways, gets 5 months’ pay

The head of Miami’s Downtown Development Authority has agreed to part ways with the public agency after its board placed her on leave and issued a final settlement offer following several acrimonious public meetings this summer described as a “kangaroo court.”

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DDA Executive Director Christina Crespi has accepted an offer that includes 20 weeks’ pay with continued insurance coverage during that time in exchange for her departure and an agreement not to sue. With a salary of $275,000, Crespi’s payout amounts to about $100,000 before taxes, paid in biweekly installments during the five-month period. Crespi will not accrue vacation or sick pay during that time.

Crespi’s attorney emailed the signed agreement to the City Attorney’s Office on Monday, bringing a resolution to a turbulent era for the agency that found itself in the spotlight after its board chairman, Miami City Commissioner Ralph Rosado, pushed for Crespi’s removal and leveled allegations against her that included frequent absences, repeatedly accruing negative vacation time and potentially committing “time theft.”

Crespi, whom the board placed on paid leave in June, has denied the allegations, saying they are “without merit and are false.” Crespi said a bookkeeping error led to misrepresentations about her hours and vacation time.

The agreement falls short of what Crespi had sought during earlier negotiations. Her attorney previously sent the city a counter-offer that entailed Crespi going on paid administrative leave through the end of the year, followed by a five-month consulting contract at her current pay rate, plus a lump sum payment that included a 10% “completion bonus” of $27,500, and $21,000 for a loan she received from her retirement account, according to an internal memo.

During meetings in June and July, some of the 15-member board backed Crespi, pushing to give her nine months’ severance and taking issue with Rosado’s decision to publicly criticize her. Others were less sympathetic, balking at Crespi’s counter-offer and stating that Crespi’s employment must be discussed publicly because the DDA is a public agency beholden to the state’s Sunshine Law.

“We made a very generous offer to have consensus, and she has dragged it on for another month,” board member Melissa Tapanes, a prominent land-use attorney and lobbyist, said at last month’s meeting. Tapanes also said she believed there was sufficient evidence to terminate Crespi with cause.

Speaking at the July meeting, Deputy City Attorney Kevin Jones advised board members that “it’s time that we move forward, and we move forward as quickly as possible.”

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“We’re stewards of public monies, and this is dragging on way too long,” Jones said.

Rosado, the DDA chairman, said in a statement Tuesday that, “Leadership may change, but the mission doesn’t.”

“Our responsibility is to keep Downtown Miami moving forward by improving quality of life, supporting economic opportunity, and making our urban core a place where people want to live, work, and invest,” Rosado said.

Crespi had led the DDA since 2020. She first joined the agency in 2015.

“After 11 years of dedicated service, Christina Crespi and the Miami DDA have mutually agreed to part ways,” the DDA said in a statement Tuesday. “We sincerely thank Christina for her contributions to the organization and Downtown Miami throughout her tenure.”

After placing her on leave this summer, the board appointed DDA Chief of Economic Development and Strategy Michaeljohn Green as acting director and approved upward of $50,000 to conduct a search for Crespi’s replacement.

“As the Miami DDA moves forward, we are approaching this next chapter with clarity, purpose, and a deep commitment to the work ahead,” the DDA statement said.

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