Miami Mayor Francis Suarez canceled a public appearance in Overtown on Wednesday night amid controversy about the mayor’s paid consulting work for a developer who needed help with permit approvals at City Hall.
Suarez was to host a panel discussion on public safety as part of a 10-city national tour by a coalition of nonprofits and criminal justice experts headed by Ja’Ron Smith, a former adviser to former President Donald Trump. The mayor, who serves as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, has traveled to other cities for the tour, and he was expected to discuss policing with Smith and Miami Police Chief Manny Morales at Wednesday night’s gathering.
Read more: Developer paid Miami’s mayor $170K to push his project, company records state
When the event began, Suarez spokesperson Soledad Cedro told people who’d gathered on the second floor of the Red Rooster restaurant that the mayor would not make it due to “personal reasons,” without offering specifics.
Cedro later told the Herald that Suarez’s absence was due to a “last-minute personal issue.” When she was asked by the Herald if the issue had anything to do with news reports about his work, Cedro said one of Suarez’s children was sick.
“Mayor could not make it because he was attending to one of his children who fell ill,” Cedro said, in a text message.
The event was scheduled about 24 hours after the Miami Herald published a report on the mayor’s private work for Rishi Kapoor, a developer who sought approvals from Miami City Hall while employing Suarez as a $10,000-a-month consultant. The arrangement and corporate internal documents that indicate Kapoor pushed Suarez to help with securing permit approvals raised questions about Suarez’s role as mayor and his job as a developer’s consultant.
This story was originally published May 24, 2023 8:55 PM.
