Klaskin says he was told. He checked with a friend in the mayor's office and got the same line. The company abandoned the idea. In Miami Beach, Dacra Construction uses zero lobbyists when looking for work, says company president Scott Robins. In Miami-Dade, it used five to win an airport job.
Lobbyists are virtually unheard of in Orlando and Tampa, airport officials say.
A classic example of the symbiotic relationship between Miami-Dade politicians and lobbyists came in February 1998 at Casa Juancho Spanish Restaurant on Southwest Eighth Street. It's owned by Felipe Valls, who runs La Carreta Restaurant in the airport and will soon take over a large share of MIA's restaurant space. Alex said he had committed to them. What followed was a series of hugely successful fund-raisers that helped propel each of the incumbents back into office. Valls and Reboso hosted a party for Sorenson.