Francisco “Panchito” Petrirena is no stranger to power. Known as a behind-the-scenes player in Miami government, Petrirena now finds himself at the center of rising scrutiny over a nonprofit he leads — one that has quietly become a magnet for public funds with limited oversight or accountability.
Petrirena is no ordinary bureaucrat. He’s a powerful behind-the-scenes operator, simultaneously serving as City Manager Art Noriega’s chief of staff and a registered lobbyist for the City of Miami in Tallahassee. Yet, while on the public payroll, he also oversees a newly formed nonprofit that has raised eyebrows in both county and state political circles.
According to an explosive investigation by the Miami Herald that continues to shed light on how taxpayer money is being used, the A3 Foundation — headed by Petrirena — reported less than $25,000 in assets last year.
Despite having little to show publicly, the A3 Foundation astonishingly secured $250,000 a year from Loud and Live—a private events company awarded a 20-year contract to manage operations at Tropical Park by Miami Dade County. The payout was quietly added through a last-minute amendment and rushed onto the Miami-Dade County Commission agenda with virtually no public scrutiny or debate.
Petrirena’s reach extends far beyond City Hall. His name regularly surfaces in state and county political circles — and, according to multiple insiders, he was floated as an early frontrunner to fill the County Commission seat vacated by Kevin Cabrera earlier this year, a seat which ultimately went to former City of West Miami Vice Mayor Natalie Milan Orbis.
Sources familiar with his rise inside City Hall say Petrirena landed his current City of Miami role thanks to the backing of a still-unnamed high-profile political figure who vouched for him personally.
Critics say the A3 Foundation episode underscores a larger concern about the entanglement of city officials in outside ventures that benefit from taxpayer funding. In the City of Miami, it has become common for public employees to be involved in nonprofits or business ventures operating parallel to — and sometimes funded by — local government. What was once considered a potential conflict of interest is now often treated as routine.
Even more alarming, there’s no record of a registered lobbyist for A3 in the state’s official database. How did a nascent organization, seemingly without public history, scoop up nearly a million dollars in taxpayer money? Who was pulling the strings behind the scenes? Was Petrirena given special access or favorable treatment by lawmakers due to his political connections — something that would be unavailable to other, better-established nonprofits?
In fact, the original funding request submitted to the Florida House of Representatives by Sury Boutros — who attested to being a board member of A3 Foundation — asked for just $500,000. Yet the Legislature nearly doubled the request, awarding $950,000. That extraordinary outcome has only intensified scrutiny of how a little-known nonprofit — with even less publicly known information about its contributions to the Miami-Dade community — managed to secure such favorable treatment.
According to the Florida House appropriations request form, Boutros filed the application on A3’s behalf. However, the foundation’s website and public filings do not list or advertise any board of directors, raising further transparency concerns. The form also explicitly stated that no registered lobbyist was assigned to the request.
Francisco “Panchito” Petrirena isn’t just the head of a newly funded nonprofit. He’s a City Hall insider, a registered lobbyist, and a key player in multiple layers of Miami governance — now facing serious questions about influence, transparency, and whether public service is being quietly entangled with private gain.
