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Unless you live under a rock, you are aware that the City of Miami is a flaming hot, dumpster fire of a mess. Therefore, we don’t need to recap the bad behavior, drama and corruption allegations surrounding the City Commission and the former police chief. Here is what we know: the current structure of the City of Miami government fosters dysfunction. The Mayor is largely ceremonial and the city commission has all the power.
Francis Suarez tried to fix this before it melted down. Francis asked voters to make the office of the Mayor more accountable to the residents. The same people sowing chaos at city hall today are the ones who fought against the effort to modernize and update this unaccountable form of government.
Francis Suarez, with his limited powers, has served our community well. Francis, the first native Miamian Mayor, has been a relentless advocate and cheerleader for the City of Miami. A lot of attention has been given to his efforts to recruit high-tech companies to come to Miami. In large part this has been successful and is bearing fruit.
Mayor Suarez has used his bully pulpit to highlight the dire need for affordable housing. Under his leadership the City of Miami is building 2,300 units of affordable housing. Francis lead the effort to subsidize rental payments for thousands of needy seniors in the city. He has called the growing affordability crises “a pandemic level threat“. We applaud his leadership to recognize and tackle this challenge and we encourage him to do more on this front.
Moreover, we admire Francis Suarez’s demeanor and willingness to put Miami’s needs first. He has deftly avoided the traps of partisan politics. Francis, a registered Republican, has disagreed with Governor DeSantis when he thought it was in the best interest of Miamians and he has done so politely. He has worked with the Biden administration when it was beneficial to City of Miami. Francis’s even temperament and his ability to work with diverse groups for the greater good is a characteristic largely absent from many in public office today.
The Mayor’s critics say he is too focused on his image and Twitter account. Even some of his supporters say that he should have gotten into the trenches and helped prevent Joe Carollo from serving on the city commission in the first place. While some of these criticisms may have merit, we are reminded again that Mayor Suarez gave the voters an off-ramp to make real changes to the structure of the city’s government that would have avoided the current chaos that has dominated as of late.
The Community Newspapers of Miami has participated in dozens of meetings and community events alongside Mayor Francis Suarez over the years. We know his leadership in the City of Miami is needed now more than ever and we wholeheartedly support his re-election for Mayor.
