MLB official hopes Crist can pave way for Marlins stadium

 

 

By Mike Berardino and Juan C. Rodriguez

Sun-Sentinel.com

Posted November 14 2006, 4:09 PM EST

 

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NAPLES -- Charlie Crist has been Florida's governor-elect for only a week, but he already seems to have the approval of Major League Baseball.

 

Bob DuPuy, the sport's president and chief operating officer, said Tuesday at the general managers' meetings that he sent Crist a congratulatory note and hoped to meet with him soon regarding potential state funding for a new Marlins ballpark.

 

"Charlie Crist is a former lawyer for the minor leagues and a huge baseball fan," DuPuy said. "To the extent he can be helpful at the state level, we're anxious to meet with him as he takes office as well."

 

DuPuy said no meetings are scheduled with the Marlins or South Florida elected officials, but he planned to call Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess later Tuesday to set a date. A delegation from South Florida met with DuPuy in New York at the start of November.

 

The options to purchase land for a potential stadium in downtown Miami remain open, DuPuy said, although he again was uncertain of the expiration date. Hialeah remains an option, and DuPuy also seemed to give credence to the possibility of a stadium in Pompano Beach.

 

"Our goal is to get a facility in South Florida that meets the industry's needs, meets the team's needs and we'll look at every opportunity," DuPuy said. "I have personally not done any work in Pompano, but I know there have been some discussions of Pompano over the last couple of months."

Do it! You may have not gotten my vote but DO IT!

former lawyer for the minor leagues, eh? Hey, we'll take any help at this point.

 

Then again Jeb wasn't exactly against the idea either. It was Tom Lee, Jim King & their ilk who tended to squash things.

former lawyer for the minor leagues, eh? Hey, we'll take any help at this point.

 

Then again Jeb wasn't exactly against the idea either. It was Tom Lee, Jim King & their ilk who tended to squash things.

Charlie was also on Connie Mack's staff and Connie's grandfather was the owner of the A's. I think it was Mack who hired Crist after the MiLB stint or the MiLB stint came because of Mack....I forgot. I think MiLB leapfrogged him to Mack's Cape Coral-Tallahassee-DC staff.

 

When I asked for Crist to state his position, I got no comment.

We always had the govenor signing off on the staduim its the state senate that has always screwed us. Tom Lee is outta there so that is a huge step forward

thats awesome to hear, HELP US OUT CRIST!

:lol Maybe Christ.

former lawyer for the minor leagues, eh? Hey, we'll take any help at this point.

 

Then again Jeb wasn't exactly against the idea either. It was Tom Lee, Jim King & their ilk who tended to squash things.

Charlie was also on Connie Mack's staff and Connie's grandfather was the owner of the A's. I think it was Mack who hired Crist after the MiLB stint or the MiLB stint came because of Mack....I forgot. I think MiLB leapfrogged him to Mack's Cape Coral-Tallahassee-DC staff.

 

When I asked for Crist to state his position, I got no comment.

Did he fail to respond or what? :confused

former lawyer for the minor leagues, eh? Hey, we'll take any help at this point.

 

Then again Jeb wasn't exactly against the idea either. It was Tom Lee, Jim King & their ilk who tended to squash things.

Charlie was also on Connie Mack's staff and Connie's grandfather was the owner of the A's. I think it was Mack who hired Crist after the MiLB stint or the MiLB stint came because of Mack....I forgot. I think MiLB leapfrogged him to Mack's Cape Coral-Tallahassee-DC staff.

 

When I asked for Crist to state his position, I got no comment.

Did he fail to respond or what? :confused

Politicians dont run on the platform of giving tax dollars to billionaire owners. He never denied it he just ignored the issue. Now that he is governor elect he can openly say he plans on helping, hopefully he plans on helping.

former lawyer for the minor leagues, eh? Hey, we'll take any help at this point.

 

Then again Jeb wasn't exactly against the idea either. It was Tom Lee, Jim King & their ilk who tended to squash things.

Charlie was also on Connie Mack's staff and Connie's grandfather was the owner of the A's. I think it was Mack who hired Crist after the MiLB stint or the MiLB stint came because of Mack....I forgot. I think MiLB leapfrogged him to Mack's Cape Coral-Tallahassee-DC staff.

 

When I asked for Crist to state his position, I got no comment.

Did he fail to respond or what? :confused Politicians dont run on the platform of giving tax dollars to billionaire owners. He never denied it he just ignored the issue. Now that he is governor elect he can openly say he plans on helping, hopefully he plans on helping.

Yeah, but it's tough to ignore it when you are asked directly. I assume he just did not respond but I wanted to confirm that was the case and not that he gave some dance-around answer.

We always had the govenor signing off on the staduim its the state senate that has always screwed us. Tom Lee is outta there so that is a huge step forward

That's not really true. Jeb killed the cruise tax and rightfully so I might add.

The question was not responded to.

We always had the govenor signing off on the staduim its the state senate that has always screwed us. Tom Lee is outta there so that is a huge step forward

That's not really true. Jeb killed the cruise tax and rightfully so I might add.

 

I do not recall the exact amount of the cruise tax, but I do agree that is was necessarily the right thing to do. There are tourist taxes in all tourist destinations and cruise taxes everywhere they go. I do not remember that the tax would have been significant. I took my family on a cruise this summer and the total cost for 4 for the cruise part was over $5,000-I doubt I would have decided not to go if it cost an extra $50.

 

As far as Jeb doing it for the right reasons, well that would be based on your perspective. Maybe it had something to do with the following as reported by the St. Pete Times:

 

In June 2000, Cruise Industry Gave State GOP $500,000. In June 2002, the Cruise Industry Community Fund, a Virginia-based industry group, gave the Florida GOP $500,000. The campaign donations came in two checks and established the cruise industry trade group as the state party's largest single donor for this year's campaign. [st. Petersburg Times, 7/23/02]

 

We always had the govenor signing off on the staduim its the state senate that has always screwed us. Tom Lee is outta there so that is a huge step forward

That's not really true. Jeb killed the cruise tax and rightfully so I might add.

 

I do not recall the exact amount of the cruise tax, but I do agree that is was necessarily the right thing to do. There are tourist taxes in all tourist destinations and cruise taxes everywhere they go. I do not remember that the tax would have been significant. I took my family on a cruise this summer and the total cost for 4 for the cruise part was over $5,000-I doubt I would have decided not to go if it cost an extra $50.

 

As far as Jeb doing it for the right reasons, well that would be based on your perspective. Maybe it had something to do with the following as reported by the St. Pete Times:

 

In June 2000, Cruise Industry Gave State GOP $500,000. In June 2002, the Cruise Industry Community Fund, a Virginia-based industry group, gave the Florida GOP $500,000. The campaign donations came in two checks and established the cruise industry trade group as the state party's largest single donor for this year's campaign. [st. Petersburg Times, 7/23/02]

 

Oops, correction, first sentence, "I do not agree" that is was necessarily the right thing.

We need all the help we can get, maybe Crist can get his side done, but we still need everyone else to approve.

When I asked for Crist to state his position, I got no comment.

That's Crist's MO whenever he's asked to state his position on anything.

 

All that comes out of his political mouth is BS.

 

That said, you could help us out by not being so deliberately vague about how exactly you went about asking him your question. Did you send him an email? lol

Usually I'm all in favor of tourist taxes but that one was a tax per day per passenger and although I don't remember the amount per day I remember I found it excessive and thought it could be a detriment to the cruise industry and the local economy and also I didn't find it particularly fair to tax one industry to build another's stadium. When the gap was $30 million (after Loria's first K with the state) the city and the county wanted to tax stadium revenues to cover the $30 million gap but unfortunately Loria wouldn't allow it. In my opinion a tax on stadium revenues would have been a fair tax.

When I asked for Crist to state his position, I got no comment.

That's Crist's MO whenever he's asked to state his position on anything.

 

All that comes out of his political mouth is BS.

 

That said, you could help us out by not being so deliberately vague about how exactly you went about asking him your question. Did you send him an email? lol

I sent an e-mail to all the candidates during the primary season and none answered. I expected no answers as they all barely wanted to touch real issues, let alone this one. I'm not a member of the Press....just the average citizen.

Usually I'm all in favor of tourist taxes but that one was a tax per day per passenger and although I don't remember the amount per day I remember I found it excessive and thought it could be a detriment to the cruise industry and the local economy and also I didn't find it particularly fair to tax one industry to build another's stadium. When the gap was $30 million (after Loria's first K with the state) the city and the county wanted to tax stadium revenues to cover the $30 million gap but unfortunately Loria wouldn't allow it. In my opinion a tax on stadium revenues would have been a fair tax.

 

The proposed tax was $4 per day per passenger departing from Dodge Island.

 

Miami-Dade elected officials opposed it because it would drive cruise ships away from the Port of Miami towards Port Everglades. That is understandable.

Usually I'm all in favor of tourist taxes but that one was a tax per day per passenger and although I don't remember the amount per day I remember I found it excessive and thought it could be a detriment to the cruise industry and the local economy and also I didn't find it particularly fair to tax one industry to build another's stadium. When the gap was $30 million (after Loria's first K with the state) the city and the county wanted to tax stadium revenues to cover the $30 million gap but unfortunately Loria wouldn't allow it. In my opinion a tax on stadium revenues would have been a fair tax.

 

The proposed tax was $4 per day per passenger departing from Dodge Island.

 

Miami-Dade elected officials opposed it because it would drive cruise ships away from the Port of Miami towards Port Everglades. That is understandable.

Now I remember that was another of the arguments against the cruise tax. That was a bad deal for Miami-Dade.

Usually I'm all in favor of tourist taxes but that one was a tax per day per passenger and although I don't remember the amount per day I remember I found it excessive and thought it could be a detriment to the cruise industry and the local economy and also I didn't find it particularly fair to tax one industry to build another's stadium. When the gap was $30 million (after Loria's first K with the state) the city and the county wanted to tax stadium revenues to cover the $30 million gap but unfortunately Loria wouldn't allow it. In my opinion a tax on stadium revenues would have been a fair tax.

 

The proposed tax was $4 per day per passenger departing from Dodge Island.

 

Miami-Dade elected officials opposed it because it would drive cruise ships away from the Port of Miami towards Port Everglades. That is understandable.

There's a fairly big port (not as big as PE) adjacent to PETCO Park. The stadium has been there for a couple of years now and every time I went down there, I saw at least three ships there. The stadium hasn't driven ships away from the port whatsoever.

Usually I'm all in favor of tourist taxes but that one was a tax per day per passenger and although I don't remember the amount per day I remember I found it excessive and thought it could be a detriment to the cruise industry and the local economy and also I didn't find it particularly fair to tax one industry to build another's stadium. When the gap was $30 million (after Loria's first K with the state) the city and the county wanted to tax stadium revenues to cover the $30 million gap but unfortunately Loria wouldn't allow it. In my opinion a tax on stadium revenues would have been a fair tax.

 

The proposed tax was $4 per day per passenger departing from Dodge Island.

 

Miami-Dade elected officials opposed it because it would drive cruise ships away from the Port of Miami towards Port Everglades. That is understandable.

There's a fairly big port (not as big as PE) adjacent to PETCO Park. The stadium has been there for a couple of years now and every time I went down there, I saw at least three ships there. The stadium hasn't driven ships away from the port whatsoever.

 

He is talking about the tax, not the physical presence of the ballpark.

Usually I'm all in favor of tourist taxes but that one was a tax per day per passenger and although I don't remember the amount per day I remember I found it excessive and thought it could be a detriment to the cruise industry and the local economy and also I didn't find it particularly fair to tax one industry to build another's stadium. When the gap was $30 million (after Loria's first K with the state) the city and the county wanted to tax stadium revenues to cover the $30 million gap but unfortunately Loria wouldn't allow it. In my opinion a tax on stadium revenues would have been a fair tax.

 

The proposed tax was $4 per day per passenger departing from Dodge Island.

 

Miami-Dade elected officials opposed it because it would drive cruise ships away from the Port of Miami towards Port Everglades. That is understandable.

There's a fairly big port (not as big as PE) adjacent to PETCO Park. The stadium has been there for a couple of years now and every time I went down there, I saw at least three ships there. The stadium hasn't driven ships away from the port whatsoever.

 

He is talking about the tax, not the physical presence of the ballpark.

In either case, that port is just as busy now as it was before PETCO was built. That shouldn't be a concern.

Usually I'm all in favor of tourist taxes but that one was a tax per day per passenger and although I don't remember the amount per day I remember I found it excessive and thought it could be a detriment to the cruise industry and the local economy and also I didn't find it particularly fair to tax one industry to build another's stadium. When the gap was $30 million (after Loria's first K with the state) the city and the county wanted to tax stadium revenues to cover the $30 million gap but unfortunately Loria wouldn't allow it. In my opinion a tax on stadium revenues would have been a fair tax.

 

The proposed tax was $4 per day per passenger departing from Dodge Island.

 

Miami-Dade elected officials opposed it because it would drive cruise ships away from the Port of Miami towards Port Everglades. That is understandable.

There's a fairly big port (not as big as PE) adjacent to PETCO Park. The stadium has been there for a couple of years now and every time I went down there, I saw at least three ships there. The stadium hasn't driven ships away from the port whatsoever.

 

He is talking about the tax, not the physical presence of the ballpark.

In either case, that port is just as busy now as it was before PETCO was built. That shouldn't be a concern.

 

In addition to the $4 tax, remember that Dodge Island has one entry/exit, which is via the bridge right by Bayside. Trucks flow into/out of there 24/7. Having a ballpark nearby in Bicentenial (which was the plan back when Bush killed it) would impair trucks ability to get all that cargo in/out, due to game-day traffic.

 

The Port has a very strong lobby, and that's basically why a ballpark in Bicentennial didn't (and will never) happen.

Usually I'm all in favor of tourist taxes but that one was a tax per day per passenger and although I don't remember the amount per day I remember I found it excessive and thought it could be a detriment to the cruise industry and the local economy and also I didn't find it particularly fair to tax one industry to build another's stadium. When the gap was $30 million (after Loria's first K with the state) the city and the county wanted to tax stadium revenues to cover the $30 million gap but unfortunately Loria wouldn't allow it. In my opinion a tax on stadium revenues would have been a fair tax.

Agreed it was more Loria's lack of flexibility than Jeb's lack of support that killed negotiations that time. Jeb had been a strong supporter of Stadium funding endeavors...I say it and I can't stand the guy

Governor elect Crist was recently interviewed and this was published in a Gainsville paper:

 

He also said he supports the idea of a new baseball stadium for the Florida Marlins, who have threatened to move out of state if they can't get government help for a proposed stadium. The team now shares a stadium with football's Miami Dolphins.

 

''It's not a stretch at all to view it as economic development for our state,'' Crist said. ''I would be very unhappy if any of our teams would leave the state. And I'll do everything I can within reason to make sure that does not happen.''