If you go to the Miami-Dade ‘Taste of Haiti’ event today promoted by the county and 
Commission Chairman Jean Monestime, just know that it wouldn’t happen without the help of some of the very people who come to the county for millions of dollars in contracts.
Like the Easter Egg hunt and spring festival put on by Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz last month, the Taste of Haiti event — from 3 to 9 p.m. at MOCA Plaza, 770 NE 125 St. — is sponsored by community entities so that it doesn’t cost us taxpayers so much. Among those are the Consulate General of the Republic of Haiti, the Greater Miami Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Haitian Culinary Alliance and the city of North Miami.
Read related story: Belated Easter egg hunt, party paid for by Pepe Diaz’s donors
But also among the sponsors are Munilla Construction Management, GLF Construction, Pinaccle Housing Group and Jorge Perez’s Related Urban, Bercow, Radell & Fernandez, FP&L and the Miami Dolphins. 
These are companies that regularly go before the county commission for one thing or another. Pinaccle Housing and Related Urban get county housing dollars.
And it begs the question: Are sponsorships a pay for play sort of thing?
Campaign contributions are made public precisely because people need to know how much special interests invest in any particular campaign or candidate. But sponsorships could be another way of investing in a particular candidate or elected official through their pet projects.
The ‘Taste of Haiti’ event, in its third year, is likely as important to Monestime as the spring fling in District 12 was to Diaz.
Ladra requested the line by line expenses and sponsorship dollars from Spring Fling and will do the same with this event today and others in the other commission districts. It will be interesting to see how much money these companies invest in different county events — and what they get in return.
County’s ‘Taste of Haiti’ today paid for by special interests added by Ladra on
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