From Congress to City Hall: Francis Suarez hires Carlos Curbelo as policy adviser

Carlos Curbelo has a new gig on Dinner Key: The former congressman will act as a part-time adviser to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez at a time when the city is rife with political division and controversy.

Suarez confirmed the hire Wednesday afternoon, telling the Miami Herald that Curbelo will advise him on policy and political matters, from hiring decisions in his office to relations with the city’s five district commissioners, which have been rocky.

Under Miami’s government system, the mayor does not have a vote on the commission. Some of the only real power the mayor has is in his ability to lobby commissioners to push his agenda.

“Anything I can do to strengthen my office and bridge any divides that may exist is something I have to take a look at,” Suarez said.

The decision to bring in Curbelo, which turned heads in local political circles on Wednesday, is an effort by the mayor to introduce an outside mediator to a divided government going through transition. The first few months of 2020 have been marked by tension and leadership changes at City Hall. The drama climaxed when the first commission meeting of the year ended abruptly during a quarrel over the order agenda items would be voted on.

Weeks later, former city manager Emilio González resigned amid scrutiny from commissioners over allegations he falsified documents to obtain a backyard deck permit. Suarez is expected to name a new city manager Monday morning, before commissioners meet to discuss the appointment.

Controversy emerged from the mayor’s second floor office at Dinner Key in early February when the mayor’s spokesman and trusted adviser, former television reporter Rene Pedrosa, was arrested and charged with luring a minor to City Hall and groping the 16-year-old in a conference room.

As Suarez prepares to name the government’s new top administrator, he approached Curbelo for guidance.

“He’s been seen as a unifier with a high political IQ,” Suarez said.

Curbelo, a Republican and former school board member, noted the instability and the “acrimony” in Miami’s government, saying he will focus on assessing practices and policies in the mayor’s office and the mayor’s relationships with commissioners.

“I”m just trying to create an environment where they can reach consensus,” Curbelo said.

Curbelo said he will not have an office at City Hall, and will work part-time. The mayor’s office will contract with law firm Jones Walker, which has a partnership with Curbelo’s public affairs company, and will receive a consultant’s fee of no more than $25,000 from the mayor’s office budget.

The mayor said the agreement has not been finalized. Both men said the arrangement would be temporary.

“I certainly don’t intend for this to be a long-term project,” Curbelo said.

Among Curbelo’s priorities: vetting Suarez’s pick for city manager. Curbelo said he intends to meet with a shortlist of candidates in the coming days. He will also help Suarez hire a new communications director, a position left open after Pedrosa’s arrest.

Curbelo’s history

Curbelo’s career in elected office began when he was elected to the Miami-Dade County School Board in 2010. He served until 2014. Curbelo represented Florida’s 26th Congressional District from 2015 to 2019.

He lost reelection by just over 4,000 votes in 2019 to Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in one of the most expensive races in the country — a loss that drew ridicule from President Donald Trump.

Since leaving office in January 2019, Curbelo has become a television political analyst on MSNBC. In late January, WTVJ-NBC6 announced he was joining the channel’s political news team, contributing to coverage of the 2020 election. For a time, Curbelo hinted at a possible run for Miami-Dade mayor.

In early 2019, Curbelo founded a public affairs startup called Vocero, LLC, with childhood friend JP Chavez. The business’s mailing address is the address for a townhouse owned by Chavez in southwest Miami-Dade County. In late 2019, Curbelo made headlines when it was revealed his campaign paid Chavez, who had no political experience, nearly $400,000 for political consulting.

At the time, both men said Vocero was not benefiting from dollars raised during Curbelo’s political campaigns.

About the same time, Vocero formed a partnership with the Jones Walker law firm.

Curbelo also sits on the board of directors of the Energy Foundation. In 2019, Curbelo joined the Cannabis Trade Federation, a nonprofit for cannabis education..

The former congressman has also worked as a lobbyist for several clients before entering Congress, though he has never fully disclosed his client list. Federal disclosure laws did not require him to make such disclosures when he first ran for Congress in 2014, though he faced questions about his secret client list from opponents and reporters.

Through the years, Curbelo has confirmed some of his clients when asked specifically about certain entities. In 2014, he acknowledged working for Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. As a Miami-Dade School Board member in 2011, he disclosed working for Malaysian gambling giant Genting East Coast USA.

Herald staff writers David Smiley and Alex Daugherty contributed to this report.