Spending your money, under no scrutiny

By: Mike Deeson

Tampa, Florida - They set off fireworks to lure the Republican National Convention here and committed public dollars and facilities. They put together super bowl bids.

They search as if they are on a safari to bring tourists here.

The head of the agency, Paul Catoe, has a salary and benefits worth $217,000, making more than both Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and Florida Governor Charlie Crist

Taxpayers like Juanita Boykin say they should be held accountable, or show where the money is going.

But what many don't realize -- including some who vote to approve the funds that allows the Visitors and Convention Bureau to bring events to the convention center and other tourists to Florida -- is that the agency is not subject to Florida's public records law, or "Government in the Sunshine" as other public agencies are.

Tampa City Council member Linda Saul Sena, who sits on the board that helps approve the funds, says she is surprised if they do get 80 percent of their money from the public and they are not subject to Sunshine.

In fact, $7.9 million of agency's $9.4 million dollar budget comes from public money, meaning it gets almost 85 percent of its total from public dollars, and in order to bring events here the agency promises public dollars. Saul Sena says that's a commitment by the public so I think the public should have those figures in advance before committing to spend those monies.

The agency sent us a fax defending it, saying:

"Much of the information we receive is and work with is highly confidential and if were made public it would jeopardize the business itself."

But that argument falls flat for some when you consider tourism areas like Las Vegas and Pinellas open their books to the public

Boykin says as a taxpayer she wants to have some accountability for that $8 million. But as it stands now, the agency wants your money, but not your scrutiny.