SPENDING IS DEFENDED Description of expenditures: general community support But the management company defends its overall spending as a legal and legitimate effort to spread goodwill. "We at DAC have always had a general community support program, " said Mark Massman, the firm's program manager. He and others say the spending came from the company's profits, not directly from the airport. They say the $3.4 million spent on lobbyists, political fundraisers, charitable contributions, sports tickets and other costs represents a fraction of DAC's spending. "It's not a lot of money, " Massman said. "Taken out of context, it might be seen as a big deal." While Massman made a point that much of the discretionary spending went to charity, the company's records show that it spent more than four times that amount on lobbyists. He called the lobbyists "an insurance policy, " explaining that in the event another company vies for its job, DAC would have ready support at County Hall. Penelas said his requests for money carried no threat to DAC's contract if the firm did not comply. Reboredo said the same thing. "I challenge anyone to say I told them, 'If you don't give to this, I'm going to pull your contract, ' " Penelas said. "That's not how I operate." Penelas' current authority over DAC's contract lies in his veto power and the influence he wields over commissioners. Self-described as a reformer, Penelas has pushed measures to take elected county commissioners out of the process of awarding contracts. But he said fundraising is simply something that modern politicians are required to do. "I think it all stinks, " he said. "I wish I didn't have to call for any contributions. But that's the way the system works." Critics say that the system needs an overhaul. They see a symbiotic relationship: The political machine drives a contract, the contract helps drive the machine, while the public pays the price. As airport expenses rise, so do landing fees paid by airlines, which pass costs to consumers. At the same time, lobbyists drive up the overall cost of government, experts say. They've beaten back county reformers pushing for disclosure of lobbying fees. The Herald's review of DAC's records provides a unique glimpse of how much they get from the system. "It drives up the cost of business in Miami-Dade, " said Robert Meyers, executive director of the county's Commission on Ethics & Public Trust. "Businesses submit higher bids because they have to pay for lobbyists." In Miami-Dade County, lobbying and fundraising have become interwoven, with the perception that businesses must hire these high-priced insiders to get government work. Meyers worries that politicians and regulators may be less apt to exercise oversight over contractors who pony up. DAC, its executives and corporate partners have disbursed about $150,000 in campaign contributions over the years. Penelas' chief fundraisers, Rodney Barreto and Christopher Korge, are DAC's principal lobbyists. And besides collecting - with their partner, Eli Feinberg - $1.3 million in fees, they often turned to DAC to bankroll causes. "The requests would come in, and they wanted an answer right on the spot, " said John Read, DAC's former program manager, now working at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York for one of the firm's partners. "I was constantly under the pressure, 'Give me an answer, give me an answer.' "