Wednesday, January 30, 2002

By Kristin Summerford, PR Intern

WILMINGTON, N.C.- Dr. Milan Dluhy, a political science professor at UNC Wilmington, and co-author Howard Frank of Florida International University connect corrupt management and indifferent public administration of the Latin American culture to the Miami fiscal crisis in their book Miami’s Fiscal Insolvency: Can a Poor City Regain Its Prosperity.

The book discusses Miami’s unique ethnic composition of Latin American political majority and the role that the Latin majority played in the crisis. It includes analysis of government budgeting and financial practices of the city and the influence Latin leaders played in the city’s financial management. Findings were based on both cultural and ethnic factors that contributed to increased spending, an unwillingness to raise taxes and other revenues, and poor and corrupt financial procedures.

The book is a case study analysis that compares the financial situation in Miami to the earlier fiscal crises in New York City, Philadelphia, and Orange County, Calif. It also explains Miami’s slow financial recovery from 1996 to 2001.

Dluhy, who teaches classes in public administration and public policy, is chair of the Political Science Department. Before coming to UNCW in 2000, Dluhy taught at Florida International University in Miami and was also the director of the Institute of Government. In1997, he served as research director for the Blue Ribbon Task Force on city administration in Miami, which played a significant role in the city’s recovery effort.

Dr. Dluhy received his bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in public administration from Southern Illinois University. He received his Ph.D. in political science and public administration from the University of Michigan in 1975.

Dluhy has written and co-written nine books and more than 60 professional publications including the recent articles: “Alternative Economic Futures for Florida,” “The Private Management of Public Housing: The Cost and Benefits,” and “The Ghosts of Public Policies Past: Assessing the Impact of Transportation Projects on an African-American Community in Miami, Florida.”

Miami’s Fiscal Insolvency: Can a Poor City Regain Its Prosperity sells for $64 in hardback edition by Praeger Publishers in Westport, Conn. It is available in Wilmington at Barnes and Noble, Books A Million, Bristol Books, the UNCW campus bookstore, or can be purchased online at www.praeger.com. A photo of Dr. Dluhy is available to download from the web at www.uncwil.edu/news/releases/january02/miami_crisis.html.