Audit into group tied to Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman delayed with no timeline in sight

More than six months after county officials promised to conduct an audit of the A3 Foundation, a controversial nonprofit group closely tied to Miami Dade Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez, the audit still has not been completed and the man responsible for conducting it said he has no timeline on when it will be finished.

In fact, Juan Fernandez-Barquin, Clerk of the Court and Comptroller for Miami Dade County, told CBS News Miami that part of the delay is that instead of focusing his efforts on reviewing A3, he is now auditing as many as fifteen other Community Based Organizations, known as CBOs.

"I believe in rigorous, a rigorous investigation, and I think it would be unfair to subject them [A3] to a rigorous investigation without subjecting everybody else to one," he told CBS Miami's Jim DeFede in an interview aired on Sunday's Facing South Florida.

However, unlike the other fifteen CBOs which are now part of Fernandez-Barquin's broader review, only A3 has faced serious questions about how it spent hundreds of thousands, and possibly millions of dollars.

CBS News Miami has confirmed from multiple sources that the Miami Dade State Attorney's office is investigating A3. Prosecutors have issued subpoenas and are conducting interviews with witnesses. No charges have been filed and those involved with A3 deny any wrongdoing.

A3 was created in 2023 and is responsible for CountryFest, a weekend long event that celebrates agriculture, animal husbandry, country music, and includes the county's annual rodeo. After A3 was established, millions of dollars were allocated to the group from by both the county and the state. In addition, the foundation also received money from firms and companies that do business with the county. Among those who have been interviewed by prosecutors and investigators are lobbyists who represent clients before the county commission.

Controversy began to swirl around A3 last year as questions were raised about how A3 was spending its money.

In December, for instance, the Miami Herald reported that in May 2024, A3 submitted a $421,000 invoice to pay for tents, vendors, food trucks and other expenses for that year's CountryFest. The county paid the full amount, but, according to the Herald, the foundation's federal tax return says it spent only $279,137 on CountryFest in 2024, leaving about $142,000 in tax dollars unaccounted for.

A3 also faced criticism when it was designated to receive millions of dollars from a county contract with Loud and Live over the next twenty years, a company the county selected to operate the equestrian center at Tropical Park. The decision to approve the annual transfer of funds from Loud and Live to A3 underwent no competitive process and was approved by commissioners with little discussion or debate.

After problems with A3 began to surface last year, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said she would order a review of how the A3 contract was handled and that an audit would be conducted to ensure taxpayer money was not misspent.

In an interview with CBS News Miami in March, Cava said her office changed some internal procedures but said the audit was being conducted by Fernandez-Barquin.

Fernandez-Barquin was first appointed to that position by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2023 and was formally elected in 2024. Prior to serving as clerk, he was a state representative who was elected in 2018, the same year Anthony Rodriguez was elected to the state house.

The two men served together in Tallahassee for four years before Rodriguez was elected to the county commission in August 2022.

Fernandez-Barquin said his friendship with Rodriguez will not keep him from eventually conducting a full audit of A3. He said he has not discussed the long pending audit with Rodriguez.

"I can assure you that my loyalty lies with the residents of this county," he said. "That is my number one concern and that is who I represent here. I can understand why someone could potentially see or view this as some sort of potential conflict of interest, but I can assure them that I do not have a conflict of interests on this."