Francis Suarez

So Ken Griffin recently was interviewed in a fireside chat like this and said, I'd rather have the problems of success than the problems of failure. And so there's no doubt that there are problems that stem from success, right? And housing prices, we had a tremendous amount of inflation in the last administration.

So Ken Griffin recently was interviewed in a fireside chat like this and said, I'd rather have the problems of success than the problems of failure. And so there's no doubt that there are problems that stem from success, right? And housing prices, we had a tremendous amount of inflation in the last administration.

And you sort of couple that with hyper demand here in Miami and you get hyperinflation, right? So housing costs have certainly gone up significantly and we do everything we can to leverage public dollars and public assets like land to try to build projects at a 15 to one or 20 to one leverage rate. So for a hundred million dollars invested, we'll get $2 billion worth of projects.

And you sort of couple that with hyper demand here in Miami and you get hyperinflation, right? So housing costs have certainly gone up significantly and we do everything we can to leverage public dollars and public assets like land to try to build projects at a 15 to one or 20 to one leverage rate. So for a hundred million dollars invested, we'll get $2 billion worth of projects.

There's a 5 million housing shortage across the country, and Miami has its fair share just like any other major city. Traffic, I know none of you guys have experienced any bad traffic this last few days, right?

There's a 5 million housing shortage across the country, and Miami has its fair share just like any other major city. Traffic, I know none of you guys have experienced any bad traffic this last few days, right?

I'm not going to tell you how far along we are with a boring company on trying to find underground boring systems or with some of the EV toll companies that we're working with. But I do think that transportation generally has to sort of turn the page from last generation's archaic solutions to the next generation.

I'm not going to tell you how far along we are with a boring company on trying to find underground boring systems or with some of the EV toll companies that we're working with. But I do think that transportation generally has to sort of turn the page from last generation's archaic solutions to the next generation.

How did you get that done so quick? And everybody says it's the greatest thing ever. That's a private sector project that was done by a company. We had a piece of it, which was we did a piece with TriRail to bring it into the station. And when we did that piece, we made it free for inner city residents to be able to use. So it was something that I was very proud of. It was part of my legacy.

How did you get that done so quick? And everybody says it's the greatest thing ever. That's a private sector project that was done by a company. We had a piece of it, which was we did a piece with TriRail to bring it into the station. And when we did that piece, we made it free for inner city residents to be able to use. So it was something that I was very proud of. It was part of my legacy.

So a private company built it.

So a private company built it.

No, they bought the right of way. So it was totally private. So look, we have micro mobility options that are private, like scooters and things like that.

No, they bought the right of way. So it was totally private. So look, we have micro mobility options that are private, like scooters and things like that.

Exactly. Shocking, by the way.

Exactly. Shocking, by the way.

Wow, what an idea.

Wow, what an idea.

We're not stuck. I think it's cultural at some level. You have to inculcate a culture where you empower your employees to innovate and to de-conflict. I think when people come to me with a problem, I say, look, first issue is if there's something that's blocking it that doesn't make any sense, why don't we just change it? We're legislators. That's what we do. We legislate so we can fix it.

We're not stuck. I think it's cultural at some level. You have to inculcate a culture where you empower your employees to innovate and to de-conflict. I think when people come to me with a problem, I say, look, first issue is if there's something that's blocking it that doesn't make any sense, why don't we just change it? We're legislators. That's what we do. We legislate so we can fix it.