Lawmakers waste huge sum of taxpayer cash on three portraits of retired former colleague

Florida lawmakers have spent $4,500 in taxpayer money to fund three huge portraits of a retired former colleague, records show. 

Miami-Dade County commissioned three paintings of former Chairman Oliver Gilbert at the eye-watering sum, and two of the artworks were not even used, according to the Miami Herald. 

The painting which was used was unveiled to much pomp and ceremony by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and several commissioners on July 13. 

'It's a very special occasion today,' Commission Chair Anthony Rodriguez said during the grand reveal. 'The Chairman's portrait collection will serve as a lasting tribute.' 

Gilbert served as chair of the Miami-Dade County board from 2022 until 2024, and he is now a Congressional hopeful running in the upcoming Democratic primary.  

The portrait of a beaming Gilbert which was used cost only $280, according to an invoice seen by the Herald. 

Somehow, the two portraits commissioned which were never displayed cost the county $4,500. 

The Daily Mail has contacted Miami-Dade County and Gilbert's office for comment on why so much money was spent and why the first two portraits were not used. 

Rahiem Milton, the artist who created the first portrait, said he has no idea why his piece was discarded. 

Milton used acrylics to paint Gilbert grinning in a blue suit and stripy red necktie, based on a photograph a county staffer sent him. 

Records seen by the Herald show that the county paid him $2,000 for the piece, and Milton delivered it to County Hall in December. 

Milton said he sent a photograph of the work to the county while it was still on the easel, but once they received it, they informed him it would not be used.  

The painter said he was told that the piece was not what commissioners expected. 

'I honestly don't know what the issue was,' Milton told the Herald. 'I was dumbfounded.' 

Milton also paints cultural icons like Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls and Malcolm X.

A few weeks after Milton's portrait was rejected, a county staffer commissioned another artist, Sitki Dogan, to paint a second portrait for $2,500, according to invoices seen by the Herald. 

Dogan said he was sent the same photograph of Gilbert in the blue suit, and he set to work on a similar piece. Dogan added an American flag and the Miami-Dade County seal to the piece. 

He said he received the full payment, but his painting was never used. It is unclear who painted the portrait which was used.