By CHARLES RABIN AND JACK DOLAN

crabin@MiamiHerald.com

 

Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones, the likely swing vote on the Florida Marlins stadium deal in Miami, is playing hardball -- demanding that her Overtown district receive half-a-billion dollars worth of projects and a youth academy to ensure her vote.

 

''Overtown must get its fair share,'' she said in a statement released Friday, a week before Miami commissioners decide whether to go forward with the long-debated stadium in Little Havana.

 

Spence-Jones' vote is critical. She was on maternity leave two weeks ago when her Miami commission colleagues deadlocked 2-2 on whether to support the stadium, forcing Commission Chairman Joe Sanchez to continue the meeting in the hope of keeping the deal alive.

 

For the Marlins to get their stadium, Miami and Miami-Dade commissioners must OK five contracts that include construction and management agreements. Miami votes first March 6, then the county March 9.

 

The Marlins are hoping to open the $609 million retractable-roof stadium and parking facilities by 2012, with the lion's share of construction costs coming from tourist tax dollars. The Marlins will put up $120 million toward construction, and pay back a $35 million county loan.

 

Spence-Jones supported the stadium in two votes, in 2007 and 2008. But she and others must approve the individual contracts before ground can be broken.

 

Since her absence two weeks ago, Spence-Jones has been publicly silent on how she would vote, until now.

 

She said her district can benefit from extra money generated from the planned expansion of Community Redevelopment Agencies in Overtown and the Omni area. Those areas, like other CRAs, keep the taxes they raise inside the boundaries. CRA rules demand the money raised there be spent to stimulate growth in those neglected communities.

 

In her statement, Spence-Jones said the deal must appeal to the needs of her district, ``or the Marlins will strike out on March 6.''

 

Expanding the CRAs was crucial to County Manager George Burgess' initial plan, unveiled more than a year ago, to bankroll a series of downtown projects. He had said expanding the two districts could create as much as $2 billion -- and, indirectly, free up money for the baseball stadium.

 

The plan was to use CRA money to pay off a $484 million construction debt at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, and use tourist tax dollars that were being used there for other purposes. Among the projects to benefit from the arrangement: A park at Bicentennial Park next to where museums would be built, a streetcar system, a tunnel to the Port of Miami -- and the Marlins stadium.

 

Spence-Jones said though the agreement bailed out the Performing Arts Center and set aside $100 million for a port tunnel, ``Overtown, Allapattah, Little Haiti and Liberty City are left behind.''

 

She is demanding that the broader agreement be amended to prevent the city and county from taking CRA money, and that $500 million go to redevelop Overtown.

 

''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,'' she wrote. ``Foreclosures are up, unemployment has doubled and bankruptcies are at record levels.''

 

Vickie Mallette, spokesman for County Mayor Carlos Alvarez -- a key backer of the stadium deal -- said late Friday the mayor still has faith the deal will go through.

 

''He felt all three parties negotiated in good faith,'' said Mallette. ``Thousands of hours have gone into this deal.''

 

Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, whose demands forced the delay of the vote two weeks ago, would only say, ``her requests are her requests.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-n...ory/925591.html

Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones want jobs and other thing for area for her yes vote for ballpark i not sure if marlins can make her happy she was missing vote last meeting

this is not looking good , road block after road block , corrupt grandstanding politicians it never ends .

I'm beyond tired of all of this already. I just don't understand how this always comes back to Overtown. They put the Miami Arena in Overtown and no, it didn't revitalize that area, but don't the residents of that area share at least a little of the blame? You can pump all the money in the world into an area and if people are unwilling to stop the violence and drugs and homelessness that goes on in it, nobody will want to go regardless. Anyway, at least she gave the parties a week to appease her unlike Sarnoff. '

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.

She has too much pressure to vote no from the pastors in her community, so she needs to bring something back. They have already told her that to vote yes would be akin to a sellout. It goes back to people's belief that the dollars are available for the poor, education etc. The opposition has done a good job selling that lie to the misinformed and those who choose to be misinformed.

 

I just received a mass e mail from a miami beach activist who got involved in the group ?Coalition Against Marlins Bailout?. What irks me is that anyone from the Beach who is active in Beach politics has the hidden agenda regarding the dollars becoming available for the convention center. I have no respect for them because the last thing they care about are the disadvantaged. Just look at the history of the Beach and how they squeezed out the low income people in the 80's, and don't solicit me with an appeal against the stadium based on virtue.

I'm beyond tired of all of this already. I just don't understand how this always comes back to Overtown. They put the Miami Arena in Overtown and no, it didn't revitalize that area, but don't the residents of that area share at least a little of the blame? You can pump all the money in the world into an area and if people are unwilling to stop the violence and drugs and homelessness that goes on in it, nobody will want to go regardless. Anyway, at least she gave the parties a week to appease her unlike Sarnoff. '

 

At some point people need to point the finger at themselves. I do understand that the creation of these poverty stricken areas can be blamed on many many people throughout the decades. However, at some point it's time to stop blaming everyone and actually do something about it.

This deal's as good as dead.

This deal's as good as dead.

 

If she is requiring that this is entered in the agreement your right . I am starting to think if the stadium was going to happen it would have already happened by now . I just want this to be decided one way or other because I am tired of this process.

this going to be doom of us marlins fans. miami want more from marlins and county too that marlins can gave them

As expected, the corrupt MD government is putting thier hand back out for more bribes

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.

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.

 

Seems like every commissioner is for the Marlins stadium except when it actually comes to voting for it

i would like to ask them all will their like for marlins to move or become contracted that be BIG back eye for miami and county their be on all news national wide with report miami loss pro team to other city or team become contracted

f***ing slut bitch. And she has to share my name too. Whore.

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.

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

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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.

On Friday, she broke her silence with a bombshell: She wants $500 million to redevelop Overtown and a youth camp sponsored by Major League Baseball in the neighborhood. this from today report in miami hearld http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/929651.html she want youth camp like hialeah she playing hard ball maybe she want ballpark to build in her town

I'm beyond tired of all of this already. I just don't understand how this always comes back to Overtown. They put the Miami Arena in Overtown and no, it didn't revitalize that area, but don't the residents of that area share at least a little of the blame? You can pump all the money in the world into an area and if people are unwilling to stop the violence and drugs and homelessness that goes on in it, nobody will want to go regardless. Anyway, at least she gave the parties a week to appease her unlike Sarnoff. '

 

yes lets blame the poor people, not the system that doesn't educate them.....ridiculous.

this going to be doom of us marlins fans. miami want more from marlins and county too that marlins can gave them

 

Then Loria needs to sell.....I've stated for years that Loria is too poor to be an MLB owner. We need someone that can afford to pay his share of the stadium costs, or just pay for the thing themselves. Its the only way it gets done.

 

Joe Robbie had to do that, and so will whoever the Marlins owner is. The politics in Miami-Dade will never allow this to get done, unless the economy turns around and the tax dollars promised from the tourism tax can be realized. As a Miami-Dade County resident I too now am worried that this deal as it now stands will cost the County money that should be spent on infrastructure, and cost jobs of firemen, policemen and other county employees. The Marlins need to say they will cover the Tourism Tax shortfall, or this will never happen.

 

If they can't do it, then they need to move or sell to someone who can. PERIOD.

Forgive my language, but Jesus Christ, this b**** is pulling a Marc Sarnoff. Bringing up issues last-second.

The Marlins need to say they will cover the Tourism Tax shortfall, or this will never happen.

If they can't do it, then they need to move or sell to someone who can. PERIOD.

 

Then the question becomes - when tourism collections turn back again and there's a surplus do the Marlins get reimbursed for covering the overrruns?

 

Seems to me you can't have it both ways whether it's the stadium where the Marlins are already committed to covering any shortfall, infrastructure improvements where the Marlins would also cover any shortfall (if their contractor and mgmt team is used). If you want them to do the same thing with the garage then the profits from the garage above servicing the debt and operational costs ought to first go to the Marlins in exchange for taking on a liability and expending the money.

 

Or do you think it's just give give give getting nothing in return after politicians hand out jobs to their favored cronies in the construction trades and with a bottomless pot of money (the Marlins) they drive cost overruns through the roof?

The Marlins need to say they will cover the Tourism Tax shortfall, or this will never happen.

If they can't do it, then they need to move or sell to someone who can. PERIOD.

 

Then the question becomes - when tourism collections turn back again and there's a surplus do the Marlins get reimbursed for covering the overrruns?

Samson has repeatedly pledged the Marlins oppose the use of general funds for the stadium and if general funds were being used then they wouldn't ask for a stadium. The city and county should hold them to this pledge and have the Marlins cover any potential tourist taxes shortfalls to prevent the use of general funds that they supposedly oppose. Of course the way Burgess negotiated this deal he's either a complete moron or a crook so this wont happen.

this going to be doom of us marlins fans. miami want more from marlins and county too that marlins can gave them

 

Then Loria needs to sell.....I've stated for years that Loria is too poor to be an MLB owner. We need someone that can afford to pay his share of the stadium costs, or just pay for the thing themselves. Its the only way it gets done.

 

Joe Robbie had to do that, and so will whoever the Marlins owner is. The politics in Miami-Dade will never allow this to get done, unless the economy turns around and the tax dollars promised from the tourism tax can be realized. As a Miami-Dade County resident I too now am worried that this deal as it now stands will cost the County money that should be spent on infrastructure, and cost jobs of firemen, policemen and other county employees. The Marlins need to say they will cover the Tourism Tax shortfall, or this will never happen.

 

If they can't do it, then they need to move or sell to someone who can. PERIOD.

 

He has said time and time again that he is not selling... so get that idea out of your head.

The Marlins need to say they will cover the Tourism Tax shortfall, or this will never happen.

If they can't do it, then they need to move or sell to someone who can. PERIOD.

 

Then the question becomes - when tourism collections turn back again and there's a surplus do the Marlins get reimbursed for covering the overrruns?

 

Seems to me you can't have it both ways whether it's the stadium where the Marlins are already committed to covering any shortfall, infrastructure improvements where the Marlins would also cover any shortfall (if their contractor and mgmt team is used). If you want them to do the same thing with the garage then the profits from the garage above servicing the debt and operational costs ought to first go to the Marlins in exchange for taking on a liability and expending the money.

 

Or do you think it's just give give give getting nothing in return after politicians hand out jobs to their favored cronies in the construction trades and with a bottomless pot of money (the Marlins) they drive cost overruns through the roof?

 

Are you joking ? :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: I mean you are serious ???? :banghead

 

We are doing them a favor in the 1st place paying for anything. I can assure you in building my business I didn't get a penny from the government. Why should baseball and sports in general feel it is the taxpayers duty to pay for anything for them ? Anything that baseball gets it should feel grateful for, especially at this time, when common sense tells everyone that any collected tax money should be going towards making life easier for Miami-Dade County citizens, and not towards building a sports palace that will only profit Mr. Loria.

 

2003 I know you an ownership suckup, but even you can't be serious with that question and proposal.