http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/v-fullstory/story/1063088.htmlMiami-Dade commissioners have created a veritable reelection piggy bank on the public dime, dispensing nearly $9.5 million a year -- evenly divided among the 13 members -- with few restrictions and scant oversight.
Yet as budget cuts threaten to savage other county programs, commissioners show no signs of curbing the amount of their discretionary funds. Several want the kitty to grow, saying the money aids small businesses and civic groups while enriching the districts they represent.
Critics say it's political pork that helps keep commissioners in office by allowing them to engender such goodwill no one can oust them.
Rather than allocating money through a normal budget process, commissioners give themselves funds to hand out as they see fit -- from giveaways to Boy Scout troops to the Dorrin D. Rolle Annual Easter Egg Bash.
Filipe Campante, assistant professor of public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, said he's not aware of any parallel in the United States.
Can you say Banana Republic?
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