Miami-Dade's Art in Public Places program is under scrutiny again -- just five months after county officials completed an extensive audit that revealed mismanagement and neglect of the county's public art collection.

County Commissioner Natacha Seijas has sponsored a resolution requesting a study of the program's operations and freezing all future Art in Public Places contracts until the study is complete.

Commissioners were scheduled to vote on the resolution on July 17, but the vote had not taken place by press time.

Seijas did not reply to an interview request from The Miami Herald, but her resolution expressed ``concerns about whether the Art in Public Places implementation procedures adequately address the current conditions in Miami-Dade County.''

According to the resolution, the study will consider the county's General Obligation Bond projects, new federally mandated security conditions at airports and seaports, and infrastructure improvements that do not provide shelter but are required to pay into the program.

The public art program -- funded by a 1.5 percent tax on construction of public buildings such as courthouses, airport terminals and libraries -- has 640 artworks valued at $28.2 million.

The county audit, completed in February, uncovered shoddy record-keeping that overcounted and undervalued the collection; missing works worth an estimated $95,000; and the improper removal and destruction and neglect of artworks.

The program's new administrator, Michael Spring, who also is director of the Department of Cultural Affairs, presented a recovery plan to address those issues.

Among the changes that Spring instituted since taking over the program in October were setting aside 15 percent of the annual budget for maintenance, and creating new safeguards and policies for tracking artworks.

It is not clear if or how the new study will affect those plans.

-- DANIEL CHANG

Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen's darkly comic view of Florida has made him a best-selling novelist, one who has seen his books Strip Tease and Hoot turned into movies. Now another Hiaasen novel, 1997's Lucky You, has inspired a play with music, one that will premiere at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland July 31-Aug. 25. Future plans, says British producer Katharine Doré, are to move it to the Oxford Playhouse Sept. 1-6, then to London's West End and, eventually, to a run in Hiaasen's home state.

Loudon Wainwright III has written the music for the show (including a song titled Florida), which tells the story of feuding Lotto winners in a Central Florida town famous for its ''miracles,'' however dubious. For more information on the production, visit www.seeluckyyou.com.

-- CHRISTINE DOLEN

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@