September 11, 200817 yr http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/682578.html Florida Marlins stadium must still clear hurdles Posted on Thu, Sep. 11, 2008reprint print email Facebook Digg del.icio.us AIM BY CHARLES RABIN crabin@MiamiHerald.com Miami, Miami-Dade and Florida Marlins leaders boldly say they are moving ahead with construction of a baseball stadium in Little Havana following a crucial judicial victory this week. But are they rolling the dice? Though Circuit Court Judge Jeri Beth Cohen's finding that a stadium would serve the public good was a giant leap forward in the ballclub's decade-long attempt to secure a permanent home -- several obstacles remain. Chief among them: ? For the stadium to be built, a super majority of county commissioners -- 9 of 13 -- must approve construction and management contracts. The commission approved the stadium in a 9-3 vote in February, with one commissioner absent. But with the smaller contracts coming back for approval, some commissioners will likely seek concessions before voting yes. If one of the yes votes changes to a no and all other votes hold up, making an 8-5 tally, the issue would fail. Commissioner Dennis Moss -- a likely yes vote -- said he will fight for more affordable housing in the community before supporting once more. Moss said major cities need a mix of sports and culture. ''Those are the things that make those particular communities the great cities that they are,'' he said. ``I'm OK with the stadium.'' Yet ''the public's interest is waning on this baseball stadium,'' said Commissioner Katy Sorenson, a likely no vote. ``And in spite of the judge's decision, I don't necessarily think there's a will for a baseball stadium.'' ? Also pending: A ruling on the only remaining count of auto dealer Norman Braman's lawsuit aiming to derail the stadium plan. Braman contends the county plans to improperly use property tax money to pay off a $484 million bond debt at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. While that debt is not directly tied to the $515 million stadium, it is a key piece of the financing puzzle in the Megaplan for Miami that includes the new ballpark. If Cohen sides with Braman, the county faces the tricky question of how to pay off the debt -- and whether the domino effect could impact stadium financing. The Marlins facility is part of a $3 billion package that also includes building a port tunnel to the Port of Miami, a park next to the museums at Bicentennial Park, possibly a streetcar system in downtown, and the Arsht Center construction debt payoff. Braman has lost all six of his lawsuit counts so far, but the legality of the construction debt payoff still remains to be decided. County Manager George Burgess intends to pay off the debt using money created from expanding two Community Redevelopment Agency special taxing districts. Even if that final count goes against the team and government, they say such a ruling would not impact the stadium. The reason: The ballpark will be financed with an array of tourist and convention-development and sports-franchise taxes, private money from the Marlins, plus a $50 million bond voters approved in 2004 for Orange Bowl renovations -- but no CRA funds. Burgess, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and Marlins President David Samson say even with the PAC payoff method in limbo, it won't halt construction plans. Even if Cohen rules it illegal, the Marlins hope to break ground by year's end, and open the stadium in 2011. Before issuing her last ruling, Cohen is awaiting a state Supreme Court decision involving a potentially similar case in Escambia County. The PAC payments and a contractual link with the ballpark -- noted in an agreement signed by Samson -- are at the heart of Braman's contention the deal was a ''shell game.'' He argues a ballpark couldn't be built without the PAC using the CRA money. Burgess disagrees. He rightfully says no CRA money is being used to build the Marlins' stadium, and that with Tuesday's ruling it's full speed ahead. Burgess says the CRA money he plans to use to pay off the yearly PAC debt goes beyond what is required from the original bond deal, and that there is enough tourist tax money -- which he had hoped to use to strengthen reserves -- to help cover the PAC construction debt. ''It's still stable. Everything's fine,'' Burgess said of the PAC. The other hurdle involves concession, construction, nonrelocation and other contracts that must be approved by a two-thirds majority of county commissioners. That vote is required because the Marlins did not seek formal bids in selecting architects and contractors, requiring a super-majority to waive bid rules. The county commission approved the stadium in a 9-3 vote in February, with Carlos Gimenez, Sally Heyman and Javier Souto voting no, and Sorenson, ill that day, absent. But now that the issue is coming back, to formally approve the smaller contracts, some commissioners are likely to seek further concessions before going along. Again, nine yes votes are needed. Heyman wants to know who is responsible for roadway and utility improvements that could run to tens of millions of dollars, and if the county would have to foot the bill for cost overruns that exceed $20 million. ''Those are critical questions that have gone unanswered,'' Heyman said. ``I've sent out memos.'' Moss, one of the earlier yes votes, wants to be sure the larger megaplan benefits Overtown in a concrete way. ''We have to make sure Overtown gets something,'' said the south Dade commissioner. ``I'm not going to support the program unless there's an additional plan for west of the [biscayne] Boulevard.'' Gimenez has said the Marlins should contribute a share greater than the $120 million the team is putting into the $515 million deal. The team will borrow another $35 million from the county and repay it through ``rent payments.'' Commissioner Joe Martinez, who voted yes in February, could be a key swing vote. Earlier this week he seemed to be leaning against the plan. Martinez couldn't be reached for comment Thursday. Commissioner Jose ''Pepe'' Diaz said he trusts ``management and the mayor when they say they have the money. ``People enjoy baseball. It provides many jobs and it's a game for a lot of people.'' These commission votes have me the most worried. They better not have gone through all this only to kill this deal at the last minute because they want more for their own pet projects.
September 11, 200817 yr sometimes i cant stand the herald. they are always pushing all of this negative publicity towards the stadium. i think they have been against it since day one. the only one who has written anyting positve about the new stadium and marlin fans is greg cote. they can't even let us marlin fans have one full week of enjoying sweet victory without stuffing this crap down everybodys throat! if samson, loria, county mayors & other county officials are not worried then we shouldnt either, it's in the bag... up your butt, miami herald!!!!
September 11, 200817 yr sometimes i cant stand the herald. they are always pushing all of this negative publicity towards the stadium. i think they have been against it since day one. the only one who has written anyting positve about the new stadium and marlin fans is greg cote. they can't even let us marlin fans have one full week of enjoying sweet victory without stuffing this crap down everybodys throat! if samson, loria, county mayors & other county officials are not worried then we shouldnt either, it's in the bag... up your butt, miami herald!!!! I wrote the herald a letter to the editor today. We'll see if it gets published. That's something we all need to be doing. The email address for letters to the editor at the herald was posted on the "public purpose" post.Go write a letter. You can also register for a user name and post comments on herald stories. Its really up to us to make the herald be fair. But I'd be careful about assuming the stadium is "in the bag." Squeaky wheel gets the grease. Apathy gets us nowhere. I'm new to this forum but it seems like there are some pretty vocal people on here. What good does it do to vent among those who are in agreement with you. Make noise where it counts.
September 12, 200817 yr sometimes i cant stand the herald. they are always pushing all of this negative publicity towards the stadium. i think they have been against it since day one. the only one who has written anyting positve about the new stadium and marlin fans is greg cote. they can't even let us marlin fans have one full week of enjoying sweet victory without stuffing this crap down everybodys throat! if samson, loria, county mayors & other county officials are not worried then we shouldnt either, it's in the bag... up your butt, miami herald!!!! I wrote the herald a letter to the editor today. We'll see if it gets published. That's something we all need to be doing. The email address for letters to the editor at the herald was posted on the "public purpose" post.Go write a letter. You can also register for a user name and post comments on herald stories. Its really up to us to make the herald be fair. But I'd be careful about assuming the stadium is "in the bag." Squeaky wheel gets the grease. Apathy gets us nowhere. I'm new to this forum but it seems like there are some pretty vocal people on here. What good does it do to vent among those who are in agreement with you. Make noise where it counts. just did, check it out.... Dear Miami Herald editors, As a reader of the Herald, I am truly sick and freakin tired of your editors only writing negative articles towards the new Miami Marlins Stadium. I am truly disgusted by it, in fact. We have just tasted sweet victory two days ago with a wonderful ruling that will change this city forever and already we get this negative BS from your editors! I will start subscribing to the Sun Sentinel if your editors keep up with this crap. If you don't like the Marlins or the ELECTED city/county officials who make decisions for the people here, then GET OUT!!!! MOVE SOMEWHERE BETTER, LIKE SAN FRANCISCO OR SOMETHING! Laz PS. Greg Cote is the only editor I have ever heard defending the stadium or Marlin fans in general. Thank you Cote, for all the support! Go Marlins! thanx for the tip...
September 12, 200817 yr sometimes i cant stand the herald. they are always pushing all of this negative publicity towards the stadium. i think they have been against it since day one. the only one who has written anyting positve about the new stadium and marlin fans is greg cote. they can't even let us marlin fans have one full week of enjoying sweet victory without stuffing this crap down everybodys throat! if samson, loria, county mayors & other county officials are not worried then we shouldnt either, it's in the bag... up your butt, miami herald!!!! I wrote the herald a letter to the editor today. We'll see if it gets published. That's something we all need to be doing. The email address for letters to the editor at the herald was posted on the "public purpose" post.Go write a letter. You can also register for a user name and post comments on herald stories. Its really up to us to make the herald be fair. But I'd be careful about assuming the stadium is "in the bag." Squeaky wheel gets the grease. Apathy gets us nowhere. I'm new to this forum but it seems like there are some pretty vocal people on here. What good does it do to vent among those who are in agreement with you. Make noise where it counts. I have in the past and continue to do so now. I wouldn't worry too much. This situation is going to be settled. There is just a lot of politicing going on (I think that's a word). Remember, these are for the small agreements. The larger binding agreement was already approved so, reneging on that would put the county in breach.
September 12, 200817 yr sometimes i cant stand the herald. they are always pushing all of this negative publicity towards the stadium. i think they have been against it since day one. the only one who has written anyting positve about the new stadium and marlin fans is greg cote. they can't even let us marlin fans have one full week of enjoying sweet victory without stuffing this crap down everybodys throat! if samson, loria, county mayors & other county officials are not worried then we shouldnt either, it's in the bag... up your butt, miami herald!!!! I wrote the herald a letter to the editor today. We'll see if it gets published. That's something we all need to be doing. The email address for letters to the editor at the herald was posted on the "public purpose" post.Go write a letter. You can also register for a user name and post comments on herald stories. Its really up to us to make the herald be fair. But I'd be careful about assuming the stadium is "in the bag." Squeaky wheel gets the grease. Apathy gets us nowhere. I'm new to this forum but it seems like there are some pretty vocal people on here. What good does it do to vent among those who are in agreement with you. Make noise where it counts. just did, check it out.... Dear Miami Herald editors, As a reader of the Herald, I am truly sick and freakin tired of your editors only writing negative articles towards the new Miami Marlins Stadium. I am truly disgusted by it, in fact. We have just tasted sweet victory two days ago with a wonderful ruling that will change this city forever and already we get this negative BS from your editors! I will start subscribing to the Sun Sentinel if your editors keep up with this crap. If you don't like the Marlins or the ELECTED city/county officials who make decisions for the people here, then GET OUT!!!! MOVE SOMEWHERE BETTER, LIKE SAN FRANCISCO OR SOMETHING! Laz PS. Greg Cote is the only editor I have ever heard defending the stadium or Marlin fans in general. Thank you Cote, for all the support! Go Marlins! thanx for the tip... IMO, these types of comments to the herald need to be a little more formal to be taken seriously. I'm not criticizing you 305, just saying that to pack more of a punch the comments should be less emotional and more fact driven.
September 12, 200817 yr people, check it out, here are all the email addresses of our county officials who will be making a FINAL decision on the stadiums construction agreement. shoot them an email in support of the stadium, it will only take a few minutes of your time...we all have to involved somehow. only one step remains and this whole thing will finally come true for us. and you never know, there might be swing vote somewhere amongst the county commissioners and maybe an email (or a few dozen) from a concerned county resident might make a difference. lets do ur part, let the county officials who speak for us hear our voices. click, copy and paste them all: District1@miamidade.gov; BMORRIS2@miamidade.gov; District3@miamidade.gov; District4@miamidade.gov; district5@miamidade.gov; District6@miamidade.gov; District8@miamidade.gov; District9@miamidade.gov; District10@miamidade.gov; district11@miamidade.gov; District12@miamidade.gov
September 12, 200817 yr people, check it out, here are all the email addresses of our county officials who will be making a FINAL decision on the stadiums construction agreement. shoot them an email in support of the stadium, it will only take a few minutes of your time...we all have to involved somehow. only one step remains and this whole thing will finally come true for us. and you never know, there might be swing vote somewhere amongst the county commissioners and maybe an email (or a few dozen) from a concerned county resident might make a difference. lets do ur part, let the county officials who speak for us hear our voices. click, copy and paste them all: District1@miamidade.gov; BMORRIS2@miamidade.gov; District3@miamidade.gov; District4@miamidade.gov; district5@miamidade.gov; District6@miamidade.gov; District8@miamidade.gov; District9@miamidade.gov; District10@miamidade.gov; district11@miamidade.gov; District12@miamidade.gov Great idea! But just a few dozen? We can do better than that. And I agree about the formality issue. If we want to be taken seriously, we really need to keep these letters on a more professional level. Bash letters to the paper won't get published and the same goes for letters to the commissioners. This stadium has sooooo many positives, let's talk about that. Let's talk about how it's time to move on and actually break ground on the thing! Bring out the golden shovels!!!
September 12, 200817 yr sometimes i cant stand the herald. they are always pushing all of this negative publicity towards the stadium. i think they have been against it since day one. the only one who has written anyting positve about the new stadium and marlin fans is greg cote. they can't even let us marlin fans have one full week of enjoying sweet victory without stuffing this crap down everybodys throat! if samson, loria, county mayors & other county officials are not worried then we shouldnt either, it's in the bag... up your butt, miami herald!!!! I wrote the herald a letter to the editor today. We'll see if it gets published. That's something we all need to be doing. The email address for letters to the editor at the herald was posted on the "public purpose" post.Go write a letter. You can also register for a user name and post comments on herald stories. Its really up to us to make the herald be fair. But I'd be careful about assuming the stadium is "in the bag." Squeaky wheel gets the grease. Apathy gets us nowhere. I'm new to this forum but it seems like there are some pretty vocal people on here. What good does it do to vent among those who are in agreement with you. Make noise where it counts. just did, check it out.... Dear Miami Herald editors, As a reader of the Herald, I am truly sick and freakin tired of your editors only writing negative articles towards the new Miami Marlins Stadium. I am truly disgusted by it, in fact. We have just tasted sweet victory two days ago with a wonderful ruling that will change this city forever and already we get this negative BS from your editors! I will start subscribing to the Sun Sentinel if your editors keep up with this crap. If you don't like the Marlins or the ELECTED city/county officials who make decisions for the people here, then GET OUT!!!! MOVE SOMEWHERE BETTER, LIKE SAN FRANCISCO OR SOMETHING! Laz PS. Greg Cote is the only editor I have ever heard defending the stadium or Marlin fans in general. Thank you Cote, for all the support! Go Marlins! thanx for the tip... IMO, these types of comments to the herald need to be a little more formal to be taken seriously. I'm not criticizing you 305, just saying that to pack more of a punch the comments should be less emotional and more fact driven. agreed...but i cant help holding back sometimes...this is a very emotional issue for me (and many others here)...lets face it, there is alot more at stake here than just a stadium, its whether major league baseball will stay in south florida...cant help to get emotional about it
September 18, 200817 yr sometimes i cant stand the herald. they are always pushing all of this negative publicity towards the stadium. i think they have been against it since day one. the only one who has written anyting positve about the new stadium and marlin fans is greg cote. they can't even let us marlin fans have one full week of enjoying sweet victory without stuffing this crap down everybodys throat! if samson, loria, county mayors & other county officials are not worried then we shouldnt either, it's in the bag... up your butt, miami herald!!!! I wrote the herald a letter to the editor today. We'll see if it gets published. That's something we all need to be doing. The email address for letters to the editor at the herald was posted on the "public purpose" post.Go write a letter. You can also register for a user name and post comments on herald stories. Its really up to us to make the herald be fair. But I'd be careful about assuming the stadium is "in the bag." Squeaky wheel gets the grease. Apathy gets us nowhere. I'm new to this forum but it seems like there are some pretty vocal people on here. What good does it do to vent among those who are in agreement with you. Make noise where it counts. just did, check it out.... Dear Miami Herald editors, As a reader of the Herald, I am truly sick and freakin tired of your editors only writing negative articles towards the new Miami Marlins Stadium. I am truly disgusted by it, in fact. We have just tasted sweet victory two days ago with a wonderful ruling that will change this city forever and already we get this negative BS from your editors! I will start subscribing to the Sun Sentinel if your editors keep up with this crap. If you don't like the Marlins or the ELECTED city/county officials who make decisions for the people here, then GET OUT!!!! MOVE SOMEWHERE BETTER, LIKE SAN FRANCISCO OR SOMETHING! Laz PS. Greg Cote is the only editor I have ever heard defending the stadium or Marlin fans in general. Thank you Cote, for all the support! Go Marlins! thanx for the tip... IMO, these types of comments to the herald need to be a little more formal to be taken seriously. I'm not criticizing you 305, just saying that to pack more of a punch the comments should be less emotional and more fact driven. agreed...but i cant help holding back sometimes...this is a very emotional issue for me (and many others here)...lets face it, there is alot more at stake here than just a stadium, its whether major league baseball will stay in south florida...cant help to get emotional about it I agree man and I don't blame you. I may throw up if I hear one more imbecil say "Why are we paying to build a stadium for millionaires'
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