Did she hire Clark's firm for its political connections? "No."

"I hired a corporation for purposes of business development and assistance in acquiring financing to support my participation in DAC, " she wrote. While no longer working together, they remain connected through litigation. Clark's company, Airport Information, has sued Forrest to collect money he alleges is still owed to his firm.

Clark's arrangement with Forrest reveals one more way in which the giant airport contract - already worth more than $140 million - feeds the county's political machine. DAC has spent millions of its earnings hiring lobbyists to keep it in good standing at County Hall, and on political fundraisers and charity events hosted by politicos.

The job to oversee Miami's airport expansion was so lucrative that even before it was put to bid, companies and their lobbyists plotted to pick the right mix of partners to lock votes on the County Commission.

The Clarks' longtime family friend, lobbyist Rodney Barreto, helped pitch the eight companies that became the DAC team, and he has been a strategist for them since. Barreto has a long roster of county clients and raises big money for politicians, including Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas. DAC alone has paid his lobbying firm more than $1.3 million.

As DAC came together, Barreto introduced Forrest to Arthur Teele, the only black commissioner at the time.

"They were trying to get votes, " Teele said. "Rodney was clearly her advocate."

Forrest said Barreto was a lobbyist for the entire team and ushered her and others to meet commissioners. Barreto said he did not recall the meeting with Teele.

Teele thought that Forrest, who had received her contractor's license less than two years before, was the least qualified of the DAC minority partners, even as she was slated to get as big a share of profit as two others.

Forrest Construction had two employees at the time - she was one of them - and not enough money to pay health benefits, records show. According to her résumé, she did have some experience at MIA, as a project manager for a contractor, preparing bid documents and coordinating subcontractors.

She was joining a team, meanwhile, led by companies with international reach: Bechtel Corp., Day & Zimmermann and Spillis Candela & Partners. With its construction expertise, minority partners and lobbying muscle, DAC won the contract in December 1992, with Mayor Clark seconding then-Commissioner Penelas' motion. The commission debate that day centered heavily on the role minority vendors would play. A competitor contended that DAC was making a "cosmetic" commitment, but DAC said its minority participation was real. Penelas and Clark voiced support, and Teele ultimately joined the 7-2 majority.

It was a rich victory. The airport agreed to pay nearly two and a half times what it cost DAC to pay its employees. Because expenses were limited - the airport provided the consultant with office space, computers, phones, insurance - there were big profits.

The eight partners share these profits, with the three largest companies getting the bulk, and the five smaller ones splitting 19 percent. Each firm is paid based on the number of its people working for DAC.

The whole purpose of hiring a consultant like DAC - and paying it so much more than airport staff earned - was to bring the private firms' expertise to oversee the airport expansion.