This was reported by the Miami Herald April 1:

BY STEVE BOUSQUET

TIMES/HERALD TALLAHASSEE BUREAU

TALLAHASSEE – The chief of the Florida Lottery waited eight months to follow legislative orders to seek new offers for the agency’s lucrative advertising work, then skirted a legislative order to seek competitive proposals.

All that time, Lottery Secretary Leo DiBenigno kept the existing advertising agency on the payroll on a month-to-month basis and paid the company more money for extra work.

A legislative committee grilled DiBenigno over his decisions for 90 minutes Tuesday. It was by far the most critical interrogation of any of Gov. Charlie Crist’s agency heads since he took office in 2007.

”This time, we did not get the results we wanted,” said Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, chairman of the House Government Operations Appropriations Committee.

Last year, the Legislature made clear it wanted the Lottery to find a new vendor for the $3.5 million set aside for advertising in place of Cooper DDB, a Miami firm hired in 2002 that employs former lottery secretary David Griffin as a lobbyist.

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