What happened to the checks and balances that the public expects to be in place and followed in the daily operation of Metropolitan Miami-Dade County government?

As County housing authority employees are terminated and put on administrative leave because of major misuse of funds recently exposed in a series of articles by investigative reporters at the Miami Herald, one has to wonder how much, how long and why has this gone undetected?

The Miami Herald article exposed so many instances of public dollars being spent without services or product being delivered that it is nothing short of mind-blowing. There should be internal and external controls that prevent this from occurring. Someone had to sign off on checks with either falsified supporting documentation or no documentation at all.

This is not pretty. Too many poor people have been displaced and destroyed because of this housing debacle. You mean to tell me that it took a newspaper article to tell the obvious? I’m not buying it.

So-called political leaders could see the stalled projects everyday in their neighborhoods. Someone has to wonder why and what was taking so long to complete the construction program?

This is a perfect example of why the public should raise holy hell when services are not provided for their area. More heads need to roll because of the housing article. I say, let the chips fall where they may.

NOTE: Check the Miami Herald series, House of Lies. Be sure to read all of the articles and check out the multimedia sections. This series is certain to be recognized for the investigative reporting. There are rumors in the community that the series was due to the information left in the backpack former City of Miami Commissioner Art Teele attempted to deleiver to then Miami Herald reporter Jim DeFede just before Teele committed suicide in the Miami Herald lobby a year ago.

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged