8th Annual Miami State of the Market

Francis X. Suarez is the 33rd Mayor of the City of Miami. As the first Miami-born mayor, he is committed to working diligently to serve the residents of the community where he was born and raised. Prior to being elected with 86 percent support from Miami residents, Mayor Suarez served as Miami Commissioner for District 4 during eight years. Mayor Suarez had many legislative accomplishments as Commissioner, including implementing ShotSpotter technology in the City, a state-­‐of-­‐the-­‐art gunshot detection system, setting up a transportation trust fund, which allocates funds for current and future transit projects, and passing the Reverse Redline legislation, authorizing lawsuits against several major banks for discriminatory mortgage lending practices. As a result, the City’s lawsuit reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that cities have standing to sue banks under the Fair Housing Act for such discriminatory practices. Mayor Suarez also serves as Vice-­‐Chair of the Miami-­‐Dade Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) and is the former President of the Miami-­‐Dade County League of Cities. In his role at the TPO, Mayor Suarez championed the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) Plan, which was unanimously approved. The SMART Plan expands mass transit options in Miami-­‐Dade County through six main corridors and new bus routes to ease traffic congestion and support future population growth. Mayor Suarez helped negotiate the Tri-­‐Rail connection to Downtown, offering free ridership to Overtown residents for life. He also ushered in the free trolley system in Miami, which carries an average of 450,000 passengers per month. Mayor Suarez is dedicated to elevating the quality of life of the residents he serves by focusing on transportation and connectivity, resiliency, and job creation by nurturing the growth of technology and innovation. He is also committed to expanding affordable housing, tackling the poverty pandemic and, as a corollary, reducing crime. The oldest of four siblings, Mayor Suarez was born into a family where, as he describes, “being socially conscious was a kind of requirement.” As the son of former City of Miami Mayor, Xavier Suarez, he was also exposed to public service since he was a child, growing up around his father’s office at City Hall, the same one he works out of today. Mayor Suarez earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Florida International University, graduating in the top ten percent of his class. He went on to receive his law degree from the University of Florida Frederic G. Levin College of Law, where he graduated cum laude. He is currently an attorney with the law firm Carlton Fields, specializing in corporate and real-­‐estate transactions. Mayor Suarez is married to Gloria Fonts Suarez. They have a son, Andrew Xavier, and are expecting their first daughter this year. They consider themselves honored and blessed to be raising their family in the City of Miami.