fanfish

The stadium looks fantastic. The guy that wrote this critique is a total fool. He is much more concerned about his baseball collection (seven per game average!) than actually watching the game. They have a brand new gorgeous stadium instead of that dump called Shea. I can't believe the ungratefulness of this numb skull.

Wider seats and more space between the rows so the knees won't bump against the cup holders and the fans could remain seated while others go past you for a beer of hot dog run.

requires a nine-vote super-majority of the 13-member board. http://www.miamiherald.com/486/story/961948.html you guys sure it isnt 7 votes? the city passed with 3-2. i dont trust that article. this could be some more misleading information by the herald. could someone find out for sure... Simple majority needed for the stadium agreements (we need 7 of the 13) Super majority needed for "waving of the competitive bidding process" for the infrastructure construction ( 9 of the 13) Major Alvarez is sure we have the 9 votes because now Commissioner Souto is on our side, so he is trying to lump everything together in one vote to get it done swiftly. In my opinion, that may be dangerous, since it is much more important and easier to first pass the stadium agreements (that only need 7 votes), and then worry about the infrastructure vote.

We have waited so long for this day. It is finally here. I had difficulty getting to sleep last night due to the anticipation. My heart is pounding already and it is only 8:30 in the morning. I can't think of anything else today. I am very optimistic that it will finally happen! My champagne is ready!

Mandich is a football jock that hates baseball and all Marlins related topics. Now that his station doesn't broadcast the Marlins games he is even more anti-Marlins than before. I don't expect Mandich to be objective about the Marlins and their stadium quest. (I haven't listen to him in years......its football, football, football all the damn time....all year long. Hey, I'm a Dolphins fan, but please, enough is enough.)

Is Souto that puto that always goes off on tirades right before he votes? Where he spends 30 minutes saying that he watched Mickey Mantle play and blah blah blah...then he gets loud and annoying and FINALLY puts down his vote? That's the one. But for the next 48 hrs, let's be nice to him so he won't chance his mind again.

According to what I've heard from people close to the Miami-Dade County Commissioners, it is now very likely that Commissioner Javier Souto has changed his mind and is now leaning heavily toward voting in favor of the stadium. His main point is that the county and city need the economic stimuli that the construction of the stadium will supply. That changes things significantly. Against the stadium are 4 commissioners: Sorenson, Gimenez, Heyman, Martinez In favor of the stadium are the rest of the commissioners which total 9. This insures the passage of both the stadium agreements and the waving of the bidding for the construction of the infrastructure. This last one needs a 2/3 majority or super majority and 9 votes are exactly what we need for the super majority. If Mr. Souto indeed votes in favor of the stadium we will be celebrating on Monday! Finally! Are you sure that Martinez is against the Stadium? I know that he was against the Global thing, but I think he was in favor of the stadium. Martinez is against the manner by which the county will pay for the stadium. He is concerned that down the road, tourist tax dollars may not be enough to pay for the stadium and the county would have to dip into the general fund to fulfill the stadium obligations. He has stated in the past that he will probably vote in favor of the agreements except for the one that has to do with the county's share of the expenses. When I say that Martinez is against the stadium this is what I mean because this is the most controversial issue. Martinez may indeed vote for the stadium in 4 of the 5 agreements and may even vote in favor of waving the bidding for the infrastructure work, who knows. Either way, if Souto votes with us, we won't need Martinez.

According to what I've heard from people close to the Miami-Dade County Commissioners, it is now very likely that Commissioner Javier Souto has changed his mind and is now leaning heavily toward voting in favor of the stadium. His main point is that the county and city need the economic stimuli that the construction of the stadium will supply. That changes things significantly. Against the stadium are 4 commissioners: Sorenson, Gimenez, Heyman, Martinez In favor of the stadium are the rest of the commissioners which total 9. This insures the passage of both the stadium agreements and the waving of the bidding for the construction of the infrastructure. This last one needs a 2/3 majority or super majority and 9 votes are exactly what we need for the super majority. If Mr. Souto indeed votes in favor of the stadium we will be celebrating on Monday! Finally!

Commissioner Spence-Jones has been talking to the Marlins about the stadium for the last few weeks and now she springs this on everyone! She was able to get the Overtown/Park West CRA expansion passed recently. The Marlins signed an agreement with the NAACP but had to rescind it when legal questions surfaced. They still have a verbal agreement to try to give at least 15% of the stadium construction to companies owned by African-Americans. Now she wants more! You give in to her demands and she want more. This is a classic case of blackmail. I don't think it will ever end. If she should vote against the stadium on Thursday I wouldn't blame the Marlins if they gave up. Someone from the NAACP should talk some sense into this woman before a good deal for black owned companies disappears.

Late Monday, Marlins President David Samson said upcoming stadium votes in Miami Thursday and Miami-Dade Monday are not in jeopardy. ''We're addressing [the concerns] in a way that will give comfort to the county attorney,'' Samson said, choosing his words carefully and refusing to go into detail. ``We're all working together to amend the documents to what is acceptable to the attorney.'' The new version will be race and gender neutral, according a memo Assistant Miami City Attorney Veronica A. Xiques sent to city officials. It will be more of a ''recruitment and outreach program, wherein the Marlins will seek NAACP assistance in getting disadvantaged businesses to apply for stadium construction'' jobs, she wrote. --------------- I believe there is enough time to amend the agreement between the Marlins and the NAACP. After all, the agreement is between a private entity (Marlins) and an organization(NAACP), not a governmental body or agency. I am sure both parties can rework the agreement to reach their goals and be within the law. It would be wise to do so. I wish this were the only problem we had. This one is easy!

So when is the damn vote going to place? City Commission: March 19 County Commission: March 23

funny since this agreement i have not seen any negative articles about the stadium I've noticed it too! But they still have plenty of time before Thursday. However, now with the NAACP on-board, I doubt there will be an organized African-American community protest against the stadium like there was at the last City Commission meeting on Feb. 13. Hopefully there will be no more surprises.

Miami Herald, March 6, 2009 http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/baseball/story/935292.html MARLINS STADIUM Swing vote on Florida Marlins stadium is in play A Miami commissioner demanding money for the inner city said she believes her concerns are being addressed -- a potential boon to prospects for a new baseball stadium. BY CHARLES RABIN crabin@MiamiHerald.com Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones, Miami's potential swing vote on a Little Havana baseball stadium pitched for the Florida Marlins, said Thursday she met with key county leaders and her concerns over the hot-button deal are being addressed. Her main worry: that her inner-city Overtown district wouldn't receive a sizable share of revenue likely to come from a larger city revitalization that would also benefit a stadium. Last week, the commissioner said that unless Overtown got its fair share of community redevelopment money, the Marlins wouldn't get her vote. Soon after, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, one of the stadium's biggest backers, called a press conference and blasted elected officials for making demands that he said had ``nothing to do with baseball.'' Spence-Jones said she met with Alvarez on Thursday in a session she called ''very enlightening.'' She said the mayor assured her that he would push through the county's end of the redevelopment plan to benefit her district. Spence-Jones made the comments during a workshop meeting she called for Thursday evening to address how the expansion of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency would spur new tax dollars to aid the community. The city's five commissioners act as its CRA board, with Spence-Jones as chairwoman. Although only two commissioners -- Spence-Jones and Marc Sarnoff -- attended the workshop, the session provided a window into their differing views regarding the CRA. On March 12, the CRA will vote on expanding and extending the life of the Overtown/Park West CRA -- a key piece of the $3 billion Global Agreement reached in December 2007 to reinvigorate downtown Miami. Because of Spence-Jones' demand, the CRA vote could be an integral part of that larger plan -- which includes the Florida Marlins' long quest to build a $609 million ballpark and parking facility. Spence-Jones' comments do not ensure a ''yes'' vote on the stadium, which has encountered roadblocks since Miami commissioners deadlocked 2-2 while she was on maternity leave last month. But for supporters, it may offer promise amid a new legal challenge and questions over whether tourist tax dollars will be ample enough to help build the facility. Thursday's meeting at the Overtown Youth Center began innocently enough, with Spence-Jones explaining how CRAs were created to address slum and blight, then asking city officials to outline how the expansion of the special taxing district could benefit the community. But the meeting turned feisty when Sarnoff questioned Miami Chief Financial Officer Admin Spring's projection that growing the district could mean up to $500 million for Overtown. Sarnoff represents the Park West district. Spring admitted that the projections were created before the market collapse last year. ''You probably only have, at a maximum, $100 million in bonding capacity, not $500 million,'' Sarnoff said before Spence-Jones cut him off, asking that everyone focus on the workshop. Later, Sarnoff pressed Spring on how the county planned to bond out its lion's-share responsibility of the stadium cost of more than $450 million. When Spring said he wasn't privy to the county plan and Sarnoff pushed further, Spence-Jones again cut off the conversation. ''I just want to make sure the most needy people are not left behind,'' said Spence-Jones. ``If we can't bond $500 million and we know the market won't support it, we're not going to do it. But if we can bond $100 million -- guess what -- we'll take it.'' Sarnoff said it was more important to share his concerns than to give the people ``ear candy.'' He followed that with a statement that drew boos: ``When you're really, really poor, you really don't know there's a bad economy out there because it's pretty much the same. I get that.''

Everybody take a collective deep breath.... This delay to March 19 may be a good thing. The way I look at this.....if the vote were held on Friday, it would not pass. Regalado, Sarnoff and Spence-Jones would vote against it and the whole deal would die a sudden death. This delay does two things: 1) It allows for more time to continue negotiations with the commissioners to get them on board. I believe the Marlins will need to be more flexible and renegotiate major portions of the agreements. 2) It will permit all the City Commission voting to be done in one day. The votes for the 5 different agreements and the bid waiver vote. This last one needs a 2/3 majority ( 4 of 5) for approval, which are votes that we simply don't have at this time.

More bad news Monday, March 2, 2009, 5:23pm EST | Modified: Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 12:00am Miami-Dade mayor: Stadium deal 'hijacked'South Florida Business Journal - by Oscar Pedro Musibay Print Email Reprints RSS Feeds Add to Del.icio.us Digg This CommentsRelated News Super majority not needed for all stadium votes How long will San Antonio keep sitting on the sideline? Marlins face new demands on stadium Stadium finance concerns plague Marlins Plans to build a baseball stadium in Miami have become mired in competing ideas. On Monday, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez said he wanted to change the terms of the deal made with the Florida Marlins to make the team responsible for the bulk of the proposed $630 million baseball stadium. Gimenez?s planned amendments came on the same day that Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez said he instructed County Manager George Burgess to stop working on the plan. He said the process could not go forward until the city vets and votes on it. Alvarez declared that negotiations to the build the 37,000-seat stadium have been ?hijacked.? County commissioners were to vote on the deal next week. Gimenez?s comments came a few days after a Miami city commissioner made her own demands for changes in the agreements. One of five agreements negotiated between the team, the county and the city of Miami states the team would put up $155 million toward construction and its lease. The city would contribute $13 million, the land and build a $94 million parking facility, plus split $20 million in infrastructure costs with the county. Miami-Dade would cover the rest, or about $350 million. Gimenez, one of a handful of county commissioners who has expressed concerns about how the stadium would be financed, wants the county?s contribution to be capped at about $90 million. If county commissioners approve the current agreements, including the financing structure, Gimenez said he will offer amendments that would eliminate the ?death clause,? which would allow the Marlins to forgo paying local government a penny of the profit from the sale if team owner Jeffrey Loria dies. Additionally, Gimenez wants local government to get 10 percent of the profit on the team if it?s sold, instead of a sliding percentage, during the first seven years of the contract. He also wants county commissioners to be able to exert more control over the project; wants use of the general funds to require a two-thirds vote from commissioners; wants the Marlins to put up their money first; and require an auditor to look at the baseball team?s books. The stadium faces opposition from city commissioners as well. Last week, Miami City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones vowed that stadium supporters will ?strike out? if they don't include jobs and youth programs for her district. ?Overtown has waited long enough,? she wrote in a statement. Spence-Jones, on maternity leave during last month?s 2-2 tie, is the make-or-break vote on the commission. She wants job opportunities created by the project?s construction to come from her district, which includes some of the city?s poorest residents. If approved, the project would be built outside her district ? in Little Havana, on the former site of the Orange Bowl. Spence-Jones supported the Marlins stadium in late 2007 when it was part of the global agreement and packaged with a handful of big-ticket projects that included the Port of Miami tunnel. But, she said Friday that her community?s needs were not being met. Spence-Jones made three demands: Expediting the expansion of boundaries for the city's Overtown Community Redevelopment Agency, a key to making several big-ticket city and county projects work. Amending the global agreement to protect tax increment dollars the Overtown CRA generates. Issuing $500 million in bonds to fund the redevelopment of Overtown?s historic community. The Marlins vote and the entire deal have been in jeopardy since Feb. 13, when Miami commissioners met for the first time to vote. Commissioner Marc Sarnoff not only voted against the project, but made demands that he said would have to be met to guarantee his support. Sarnoff said the city and county should increase their share of revenue from the project, especially if the team was sold after the project?s approval. Marlins President David Samson did not agree to any of the conditions.

More details on Spencer-Jones demands in this article. After reading this I think the statement we are expecting from Samson will not be good news. Published by: South Florida Business Journal Published: February 27, 2009 Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones, on maternity leave during a recent 2-2 tie on the Florida Marlins stadium vote, vowed supporters of the plan will ?strike out? if they don't include jobs and youth programs for her district. ?Overtown has waited long enough,? she wrote in a statement released Friday ? a week before the city commission's scheduled vote. Spence-Jones, the make-or-break vote on the commission, wants job opportunities created by the $630 million project?s construction to come from her district, which includes some of the city?s poorest residents. If approved, the project would be built outside her district in Little Havana on the former site of the Orange Bowl. Spence-Jones had voted to approve the stadium late in 2007 as part of a "global agreement" that included the port tunnel. ?While I supported the Marlins deal as a part of the Global Agreement, the financial condition of the City and the County has changed dramatically since the first vote. Foreclosures are up, unemployment has doubled and bankruptcies are at record levels,? Spence-Jones said. ?Therefore any agreement to support the construction of a new stadium must also include concrete job opportunities and use of small businesses in my district with participation during both the construction and operations phase of the baseball stadium.? Spence-Jones makes three demands: ?Expedite the expansion of the boundaries and life of the Overtown Community Redevelopment Agency ?Amend the global agreement to prevent the city, county, and Marlins from taking any tax increment dollars generated in Overtown from the Overtown CRA. ?Authorize a $500 million bond issue to fund the redevelopment of the historic Overtown community. Spence-Jones is tying the CRA into the equation because money from the redevelopment agency that would have gone to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Overtown was returned to a tax pool, which would then be drawn on to help fund the Marlins stadium. The global agreement depended on funding tied to the expansion of the Omni CRA?s boundary and the extension of its lifespan. Although the city and county have spent a lot of energy, manpower, money and time on launching the port tunnel and Marlins stadium, little to none has been spent on transforming the long-neglected Overtown neighborhood. ?Finally, the Marlins organization and major league baseball have not addressed the needs of our inner city youth,? her statement says. ?They must fund a mini-baseball youth academy located in the inner city. They must offer additional support to the local optimist organizations operating in Overtown and in Liberty City or the Marlins will strike out. And as everyone knows in baseball three strikes and you?re out.? To make sure she was tapping into sentiment in her district, Spence-Jones sent out a questionnaire by email and fax to association presidents who circulated it among residents of District 5. The questionnaire asks if they support the stadium and if not, why not? ?What do you think of the idea of having the Marlins guarantee that a certain percentage of youth programs, jobs and small businesses must come from within the district?? the final question asks. The deadline listed on the document was today at noon, but district staffers are continuing to receive them, according to Jonelle Adderley, Spence-Jones? assistant. ?She's definitely taking into account her constituents,? Adderly said. ?That will definitely influence her vote in addition to what was in the statement that the stadium basically needs to benefit the community in which she serves.? Adderly would not say how Spence-Jones would vote, but made clear Spence-Jones? position. ?She cannot see how she can support this stadium unless it supports her community,? she said. The Marlins vote and the entire deal were in jeopardy of failing Feb. 13 when commissioners met for the first time to vote on five agreements that would build the stadium and govern the team?s role. Commissioner Marc Sarnoff not only voted against the project, but made demands that he said would have to be met to guarantee his support of the project. Sarnoff said the city and county should increase their share of revenue from the project, especially if the team were to be sold after the project?s approval.

Friday, CRA Chairwoman Michelle Spence-Jones demanded $500 million in CRA money for her Overtown district before she votes for a new $609 million ballpark and parking facility for the Marlins. That money would come from the expansion and extension by up to two decades of the Overtown/Park West CRA. ---------------- What are they voting on? Are they voting on the expansion and extensions of the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency)? I thought the CRA expansion was already agreed upon when the mega plan was approved. Anyway, if the expansion of the CRA is a logical one, meaning that the expansion will not claim other areas of the city not actually included in Overtown/Park West, there may not be significant opposition from the other commissioners. Spence-Jones will get her way and she may vote in favor of the Marlins stadium the next day together with Sanchez and Gonzalez. Of course, the other commissioners may argue that expanding the CRA would decrease the area from which the general fund collects its funds and therefore decrease the money available for their districts. Commissioners Sanchez and Gonzalez will probably vote for the CRA expansion if it means the Marlins will get their stadium. Who knows what Sarnoff will come up with this time! Regalado will probably get on his "high horse" and have some kind of reason to oppose it. However, if Spence-Jones can save face in her community by pointing to her victory on the CRA expansion, she will vote for the stadium and we will not need Sarnoff nor Regalado. The vote on Thursday is indeed critical!

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/breaking...ory/929091.html Sounds like Mayor Alvarez is as fustrated by the commissioners grandstanding and demands that are completely unrealted to the project. This is obviously his way of putting all of the responsibility on the city. If it fails now, it is all their fault. I couldn't agree with his stance more. Here is his memo: http://www.nbc6.net/download/2009/0302/188...l=headlineclick I don't think this changes anything. The Mayor is only stating the obvious. Without the city's approval of the stadium deals, there is no deal. The city's commission vote has to go first and if/when they approve the deals, then it will be the county's turn. So the statement he made says nothing new. I think he is just venting a bit about the tactics used by Sarnoff and Spencer-Jones.

In response to my e-mail, I received the following from Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez. Commissioner Martinez would like to explain where his concern lies with the Marlins agreement as it is currently stated. He is not against the Marlins; instead,he is against the way the financing has been structured. Commissioner Martinez is concerned that in the current economic conditions, the County will be unable to secure the bonds or loans as indicated. If Miami-Dade County is not able to secure these bonds, the contract states that County will use its non-ad valorem taxes. These taxes are what we use to fund our libraries, police, parks, senior programs, fire and many other services that we all depend on. It is unconscionable that these funds are so easily being pledged at this time.

This is all we needed right now!

Last time (Feb 13) it was Sarnoff who had the deciding vote and chose to shine the light on himself. Now is her turn. Did it surprise anyone? We have known that she was under pressure from some influential pastors in her community (who are probably not baseball fans) to vote against the stadium. Now that she has the chance to be the swing vote, did we really think she was going to let this extortion opportunity pass? No way! I don't know what negotiation room exists. I don't know if her demands are realistic at this point and what it will take to revisit those issues. After today's revelation, will it be easier to bring either Sarnoff or Regalado on board instead of Spencer-Jones? With all the constant negative publicity in the Herald and these commissioners changing their minds at the last minute, the whole stadium debate is becoming ridiculous and unpredictable. Only two weeks ago we thought the City of Miami Commission vote was in the bag and we were only worried about the county vote. We haven't even heard from them yet! I don't see this being positively resolved any time soon, certainly not in March. I hope I'm wrong.

From the Herald: Miami city commission's Florida Marlins stadium vote pushed back to March 6 A Miami city commission vote on a new Florida Marlins stadium, initially planned for March 4, has been moved to March 6, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz said Thursday. In a brief memo Thursday to commissioners and staff, Diaz didn't explain why he requested the change. The city and the county must approve five stadium-related contracts before ground can be broken on the ballpark in Little Havana. Miami-Dade commissioners will vote March 9. But even if the city and county approve those contracts, one more vote still would remain. That involves a no-bid waiver vote by Miami commissioners involving public-works repairs around a new ballpark, which had been scheduled to coincide with the other votes. Now, according to Diaz's memo, that bid waiver vote would come later. That's because state law requires a 15-day period between a publicly noticed advertisement and a waiver vote.The bid waiver is for stadium builder Hunt/Moss to complete $24 million worth of improvements to roads and utilities around the ballpark. The Marlins have agreed to pick up cost overruns if Hunt/Moss is hired. ----------------------- My comments: Mayor Diaz is separating the regular stadium agreement votes from the bid waiver vote. This is a smart move. The regular agreement votes will come first, on March 6. They only require a simple majority to pass. If Commissioner Spencer-Jones, who missed the last meeting, votes in favor of the agreements they will pass. Then, at a later date, the issue of the bid waiver vote that would require a 2/3 majority, will be addressed. At the city level this involves only the parking garages and the infrastructure construction. In a worse case scenario, if Commissioners Regalado and Sarnoff stick to their negative vote, it can always be opened up for bidding. If this can be similarly handled at the county level we can get the stadium agreements passed by a simple majority first and deal with the bid waiver vote for the infrastructure at a later date.

Not worried at all about this. Nothing new. I also predict a very short life for this lame attempt by a "law-suite-happy-activist-wanna-be".

IT GETS MORE INTERESTING (also posted this as new topic) In The Miami Herald today (Feb 21, 2009): On page 5B, the announcement appears for the special City of Miami Commission meeting scheduled for March 4, stating that it's purpose is to "deliberate on the proposed Definitive Agreements ...related to the Proposed Baseball Stadium and to consider amending the Interlocal Agreement related to the amount of Convention Development Tax Funds (CDT) payable by the County to the City in connection with the development of Parking Facilities for the Stadium at the former Orange Bowl Site." On page 16A there are two Miami Dade County announcements concerning the special County Commission meeting scheduled for March 9. 1) Announces that the purpose of the meeting is to "consider the conveyance of naming rights for the proposed Marlins Ballpark in considerations of other terms and conditions set forth in the Stadium Agreements. 2) Announces that the purpose of the meeting is to consider waving formal bid procedures for the infrastructure work. It goes on to mention the long list of items which composes the infrastructure work to be done. It states that the County manager will suggest the County to follow one of the two following solutions: a) The waiver of the bid proceedings authorizing the infrastructure work to Hunt/Moss, subject to the successful negotiation of terms and conditions of the construction management contract. Hunt/Moss has been competitively selected by the Marlins to construct the ballpark. b) The waiver of the bidding proceedings in order to authorize the County to contract with an appropriate contractor to construct the infrastructure work because the time it would take to competitively award the contract would increase the cost of the project. ------------------------------ My comments: Does the City want more money from the County? Has there been more negotiations since Friday 13 that would make the City ask for more from the County? There appears to have been some negotiations about the naming rights with the County. Are the Marlins now willing to give part of the naming rights money to the County? Is this the reason why the City wants more County money? It is obvious that voting separately on the waver of the bidding process favors the approval of the stadium, since only the waver vote would be subject to the super majority requirement and the stadium agreements would only need a simple majority. This would allow County Commissioners Sorenson, Gimenez, Heyman, Souto and Martinez to all vote against the stadium as long as one of them (Martinez? Souto?) votes in favor of the waver of the bidding process. This would let the commissioner go on the record as opposing the stadium while not being blamed for the failure to build it. At the city level, the waving of the bidding process for the infrastructure work is more of a problem because Commissioners Regalado and Sarnoff are against it. A supper majority would be required, meaning a vote of 4-1 would be needed for its approval. This will not be possible if neither of the mentioned commissioners change their minds. However, I have a feeling that if Regalado wants to have a chance at being the Mayor of Miami, he needs to find a way to look as if he is fighting for the "suffering taxpayers" while allowing the stadium to happen. Like I said at the beginig, it is getting more interesting!

IT GETS MORE INTERESTING In The Miami Herald today (Feb 21, 2009): On page 5B, the announcement appears for the special City of Miami Commission meeting scheduled for March 4, stating that it's purpose is to "deliberate on the proposed Definitive Agreements ...related to the Proposed Baseball Stadium and to consider amending the Interlocal Agreement related to the amount of Convention Development Tax Funds (CDT) payable by the County to the City in connection with the development of Parking Facilities for the Stadium at the former Orange Bowl Site." On page 16A there are two Miami Dade County announcements concerning the special County Commission meeting scheduled for March 9. 1) Announces that the purpose of the meeting is to "consider the conveyance of naming rights for the proposed Marlins Ballpark in considerations of other terms and conditions set forth in the Stadium Agreements. 2) Announces that the purpose of the meeting is to consider waving formal bid procedures for the infrastructure work. It goes on to mention the long list of items which composes the infrastructure work to be done. It states that the County Manager will suggest the County Commission to approve one of the two following solutions: a) The waiver of the bid proceedings authorizing the infrastructure work to Hunt/Moss, subject to the successful negotiation of terms and conditions of the construction management contract. Hunt/Moss has been competitively selected by the Marlins to construct the ballpark. b) The waiver of the bidding proceedings in order to authorize the County to contract with an appropriate contractor to construct the infrastructure work because the time it would take to competitively award the contract would increase the cost of the project. ------------------------------ Does the City want more money from the County? Has there been more negotiations since Friday 13 that would make the City ask for more from the County? There appears to have been some negotiations about the naming rights with the County. Are the Marlins now willing to give part of the naming rights money to the County? Is this the reason why the City wants more County money? It is obvious that voting separately on the waiver of the bidding process favors the approval of the stadium, since only the waiver vote would be subject to the super majority requirement and the stadium agreements would only need a simple majority. This would allow County Commissioners Sorenson, Gimenez, Heyman, Souto and Martinez to all vote against the stadium as long as one of them (Martinez? Souto?) votes in favor of the waiver of the bidding process. This would let the commissioner go on the record as opposing the stadium while not being blamed for the failure to build it. It seems that the plan is to vote on the stadium agreements first, pass it with, at least, a simple majority, followed by the waiver of bidding process vote for the infrastructure because it would be harder for this to fail if the stadium had already been approved. At the city level, the waiver of the bidding process for the infrastructure work is more of a problem because Commissioners Regalado and Sarnoff are against it. A super majority would be required, meaning a vote of 4-1 would be needed for its approval. This will not be possible if neither of the mentioned commissioners change their minds. However, I have a feeling that if Regalado wants to have a chance at being the Mayor of Miami, he needs to find a way to look as if he is fighting for the "suffering taxpayers" while allowing the stadium to happen. Like I said at the beginning, it is getting more interesting!