Conversations: June 12, 2020
Xavier L. Suarez has served the Miami community for over 30 years as a three-time mayor of the city of Miami in the 80s, current Miami-Dade County Commissioner for District 7 and mayoral candidate for Miami-Dade County. In this episode of Miami Corona Project Conversations, Suarez and artist Xavier Cortada discuss the coronavirus pandemic, Miami’s two weeks of protests in response to the death of George Floyd, and our community’s vulnerabilities that have been exposed in the last few months. He shares his experience in addressing the pandemic not only as commissioner but also as father of current City of Miami Mayor, Francis X. Suarez, who tested positive for coronavirus back in March.
About Xavier L. Suarez
Xavier L. Suarez was elected to serve on the Miami-Dade County Commission as District 7 Commissioner on May 24, 2011. He represents numerous municipalities including the City of Miami, the Village of Key Biscayne, the City of Coral Gables, the City of South Miami, the Village of Pinecrest, as well as areas of unincorporated Miami-Dade County.
Suarez was first elected Mayor of the city of Miami in 1985 and subsequently re-elected in 1987 and 1989. During his tenure, he worked diligently towards the construction of affordable housing, prioritized community neighborhood improvements and received national praise for his effective handling of civil disturbances. Since 1993, Suarez has focused on practicing law and writing six books, A Unified Theory of God, Mind and Matter, the first, was published in 2005 by AuthorHouse.
Commissioner Suarez attended Villanova University on a Presidential Scholarship where he earned a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, in Mechanical Engineering in 1971. Subsequently, in 1975, he received joint degrees: a Juris Doctor and a master’s degree in Public Policy, from Harvard Law School and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He published a law review article on congressional immunities and performed a consulting study for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the issue of performance standards for new sources of pollution.
Commissioner Suarez was born on May 21, 1949 in Las Villas, Cuba. He has lived in Miami since 1975. Married to Rita Suarez, he is the father of four children, Francis Xavier, Olga Marie, Anna Teresita, and Carolina.
Facebook: /xavier.suarez.9216
Twitter: @XavierLSuarez1
Instagram: @Xavier.Suarez07
About Xavier Cortada
Click here to read the artist’s bio.