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...

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