You’ve won, Mayor Suarez. But you have to be more than Miami’s chief marketing officer | Editorial

OK, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, game on.

You cruised to reelection Tuesday night. Now you have four years to prove to your critics, including us, that we’re wrong and that you, indeed, are up to the task. We hope you do it. We’re worried — for all of us — that you won’t.

Miami deserves a mayor who devotes the majority of his attention to the city — not to his own national profile, not to promoting cryptocurrency or the latest tech obsession, not to flash at the expense of substance.

We’re happy more tech companies are coming to town. You’ve changed the conversation about Miami beyond our borders, and that has mostly been a good thing. But it’s what happens here that matters most, and that tech wave isn’t doing much for the regular people in the city — other than helping to drive up housing prices. Here’s how to fix that: Work on getting these companies to hire people from Miami. We need good, long-term jobs, not vague promises about the future.

We also need a mayor who can concentrate on the tough problems. Affordable housing. Transportation. Sea-level rise and climate change. Homelessness. Economic inequities (which are only being exacerbated by the influx of new residents from higher-priced areas). Could you champion those needs with the same zeal you bring to engaging with Elon Musk on Twitter?

The public debacle last month when your hand-picked Miami police chief was fired six months into the job embarrassed the city live on the internet and reinforced that old image of dysfunction you want so much to leave behind. You got us into that mess. You need to lead the way out of it now. Exert your influence — limited though it may be — on the commission, rather than leaving it to Commissioner Joe Carollo to ram through his agenda.

Marketing Miami to the rest of the country shouldn’t be the bulk of your job. The needs here are serious, and we need a serious person to address them. You got a second chance as mayor. Now you have to do something with it.

This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 8:18 PM.