Miami’s mayor attends pricey Heat playoff games and glam Grand Prix parties. Who pays?

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has expensive taste — Miami Heat playoff games, Formula One racing and $3,000-a-plate dining experiences to name a few of his favorite things. And all of those things are in town again this weekend.

But will Suarez join in the festivities again this year? And if he does, will he pay for it himself or will someone else foot the bill? Neither Suarez nor city spokespeople have responded to questions from Miami Herald reporters.

Last year, Suarez attended both the Heat playoffs and Formula One events but was cagey about who picked up the tab. While state ethics laws require elected officials to report any gifts over $100, and records show Suarez eventually disclosed his playoff ticket as a five-figure gift, thousands of dollars of F1-related entertainment remain unaccounted for as Miami-Dade — and the mayor of its signature city — prepare for another weekend of extravagance intended to paint the Magic City as a mecca of global luxury.

Suarez, a Republican who has kicked around the idea of running for president in 2024, has not responded to questions regarding payments for last year’s events.

He has always been a fan of Formula One. In an interview with The Drive, Suarez said bringing the Miami Grand Prix to the greater Miami area was part of a broader plan to bring in “premium experiences” and redefine the city as the “capital of capitals.”

“I think a race like Formula One just fits that brand,” Suarez said, comparing hosting the ultra-luxury annual event to ”having a Super Bowl every year.”

Last year, Miami’s inaugural three-day Grand Prix sponsored by Crypto.com drew A-listers like Serena and Venus Williams, LeBron James and David Beckham and spawned dozens of offshoot events, including a Miami Beach festival sponsored by the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

Suarez attended at least one such fête: Carbone Beach, an exclusive pop-up event in Miami Beach featuring a 1920s-themed cocktail hour, caviar bar and a seated dinner by chef Mario Carbone. The four-day event sponsored by Major Food Group and American Express was open to just 200 guests each night, and featured such musical headliners as Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and Norwegian DJ Kygo.

Suarez was photographed on the third night of the event brushing shoulders with Kansas City Chiefs’ MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Other guests throughout the weekend included Spike Lee, Ivanka Trump and Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.

The price tag: $3,000 per attendee, payable only with an American Express card, platinum membership or higher.

Suarez, a corporate attorney who serves as a part-time mayor reportedly paid in Bitcoin, did not respond to the Herald’s questions about whether he paid his own way.

Under Florida ethics code, city mayors are allowed to accept expensive gifts from non-family members so long as those gifts are reported and don’t come from prohibited donors like lobbyists or city vendors, according to Caroline Klancke, executive director of the Florida Ethics Institute.

“These individuals can absolutely accept these gifts, but what they are required to do is be transparent about what gifts were received, when they were received and who gave them to them,” Klancke said. “In order to protect impartiality, the public is due transparency.”

Even complimentary access to events is subject to disclosure requirements, she said.

Suarez did not include entrance to Carbone Beach on subsequent gift disclosures as would be required by the state ethics commission if his entrance was given to him by anyone other than an immediate family member. Nor did the gift disclosures include entrance to any official Formula One events where premium access would have cost thousands of dollars.

Major Food Group and Carbone Beach did not immediately respond to the Herald’s request for comments.

The one gift that Suarez reported from May 2022 came from tech entrepreneur Sean Wolfington, who treated Suarez to courtside seats when the Heat took on the Boston Celtics in the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals.

When the Herald asked him about the near-priceless ticket at the time, Suarez declined to answer questions about who paid. But a previously unreported quarterly gift disclosure, filed months after the Herald first chronicled the mayor’s courtside appearance, says Wolfington paid $20,000 for the mayor’s seat — the exact amount the Herald reported as the minimum cost of courtside tickets to that game.

As the Herald reported last year, Wolfington had previously gifted Suarez two $10,000 tickets for a regular-season game in March 2022. Courtside tickets for this weekend’s playoff game against the New York Knicks, arguably the team’s fiercest rivalry, range between $11,000 and $25,000.

The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust is tasked with investigating possible violations of disclosure regulations. Jose Arrojo, the ethic’s commissions executive director, said if a violation were discovered, the board would take actions such as letters of reprimand, fines, or assessing possible restitution.

Unlike Suarez, the mayors of Miami Beach, Miami Gardens, Coral Gables and the county all responded to Herald questions about attending this weekend’s roster of activities. None are expected to attend the Heat playoff game. And only Rodney Harris, mayor of the host city Miami Gardens, is expected to attend the F1 races, which will be held on a 19-turn track built specially for the event around Hard Rock Stadium.

“The mayor has been invited to participate in the community/elected official programming at the event,” said the city’s communications director, Tamara Wadley. Wadley did not respond to questions about who extended the invitation.

Miami Herald reporter Joey Flechas contributed to this report.