During the discussion on the Orange Bowl, the County Commissioners repeated over and over that the people —the voter-- voted for money to go to renovate the Orange Bowl in the General Obligation Bond issue. Following is the ballot for the 2004 General Obligation Bond. The county might have put some money aside in the bond paperwork (which hardly any citizens read) for the Orange Bowl renovation but let's be clear: The voters did not vote on specific money for that because it wasn’t on the ballot. So these God-awful County Commissioners shouldn’t blame us for the Stadium boondoggle because this is all people voted for, 8 VERY GENERAL questions (5 being the most specific) on the ballot:
Question 1: Construct and Improve Water, Sewer and Flood Control Systems. This would include improving distribution of clean water, safe sewage and waste disposal, improved flood control and drainage, and the preservation of endangered lands. Cost: $479 million.
Question 2: Construct and Improve Parks and Recreational Facilities. This includes improving neighborhood and regional parks and other recreational areas to include athletic fields and gymnasiums, courts, pools, playgrounds, marinas and restoring beaches. Cost: $591 million.
Question 3: Construct and Improve Bridges, Public Infrastructure and Neighborhood Improvements. This includes improve walkways, bikeways, bridges and access to the Seaport, and other municipal and neighborhood infrastructure improvements to enhance quality of life. The neighborhood improvements will be divided between the incorporated areas and unincorporated Miami-Dade based on population and tax revenue. Cost: $328 million.
Question 4: Construct and Improve Public Safety Facilities. This includes promoting public safety by constructing and improving detention centers, justice centers, courthouses, police, fire and lifeguard stations, and new animal care and control facilities. Cost: $325 million.
Question 5: Construct and Improve Emergency and Healthcare Facilities. This includes constructing and improving emergency and primary healthcare facilities at Jackson Memorial Hospital and promote accessibility to quality healthcare services. Cost: 138 million.
Question 6: Construct and Improve Public Outreach Facilities. This includes constructing and improving public service outreach facilities to meet code and service requirements and to increase neighborhood and community access to services. Cost: $242 million.
Question 7: Construct and Improve Housing for the Elderly and Families. This includes constructing and improving affordable housing for the elderly and working families to encourage home ownership through the acquisition, construction and renovation of residential units. Cost: $138 million.
Question 8: Construct and Improve Cultural, Library and Multicultural Educational Facilities. This includes constructing and improving libraries, cultural facilities, and Head Start learning centers for pre-school children to offer multicultural educational opportunities and activities. Cost: $510 million.
What is wrong with you people, why did you give them bond money to throw around? You are all enablers if you voted for this GOB. The Commission will move it around as much as legally possible. You should have heard them trying to divert the funds today. And, if you want to split hairs, and say well it was in the backup paperwork, I will split hairs and say, only a renovation was in the paperwork, not a knockdown and rebuild. We get suckered at every turn.
The vote was 11 to 2 in favor of wasting our money on a baseball stadium for a loser team of a sport that has a dying audience because of steroids. How dare these cocky players mess with the legacy of legendary record holders!
12 comments:
Those Miami-Dade County Commissioners are such idiots. No voters in Miami ever voted to give money to build a baseball stadium for the privately owned Florida Marlins. If asked 80% of voters would vote no. Voters did vote to spend money to renovate the Orange Bowl, a football stadium. In fact, Mayor Alvarez and Mayor Diaz would never allow the voters to have a say on the baseball issue. What happens when the proposed new Marlins Stadium costs $800 Mil and they only sell 3,000 tickets? Who will cover the $25 Mil in annual losses?
whoa...whoa...whoa people
first of all, there are over 400 individual projects in the GOB plan and they were all developed in multiple public forums prior to the 2004 vote.
you can't fit 400 projects on to the ballot, so major categories needed to be used in the ballot language.
here is your civics lesson for the day. we elect people who make spending decisions for us at every meeting. we are not a "direct democracy", we are a republic, were people are elected to make decisions for us. we do not vote on every appropriation.
and as a matter of fact, the mayor was clear during his campaign that he was in favor of helping the Marlins.
another fact: polling of county residents shows the Marlins stadium issue split right down the middle (actually leaning towards supporting the stadium issue)although I personally do not agree, this issue did not sneak up on everyone. all of these elected officials have been proposing public financial help for the marlins through at least one campaign cycle each, and they all keep winning.
you can't judge an issue solely on the people who blog on this site.
every time it is convienient, you use the argument that "I didn't vote for that". well that is a BS arguement. i think it's time to go back to highschool civics for most of you.
class dismissed. for today.
I know about the projects Mrs. Not a Moderate, the majority of the voters however, did not. I went to the meetings that had very few people at them.
If you ask voters who their county commissioner is, 9 out of 10, THAT LIVE IN A CITY, do not know. So if you think people knew what PROJECTS they were voting on, you are sadly mistaken. They voted on 8 feel good paragraphs of not much.
Ask today if they know they voted on giving money to the Art and Science Museums -- the centerpiece of the GOB bond and most will say NO!
Voters definitely did not know they were voting to give $100's of Millions to two money losing museums. (Why give money to an art museum with no collection?) And what voter would ever vote to fund a museum if they knew that museum would create losses of 10's of Millions per year? (Remember the PAC.) Right. None. Lobbyists and promoters suck the life blood out of the taxpayers to satisfy their own needs.
If asked, Miami-Dade County voters would vote 80% to give no land and/or no money to a privately owned baseball team.
Do we need new voters?
And Not a Moderate: We have a home rule charter, which is a people centered charter. It has been warped to exclude the people. And, I could not vote for 12 commissioners so how am I being represented fairly.
I attended most of the GOB public hearings all over the county. At the meeting in Miami Beach a lobbyist/attorney in the audience suggested putting a baseball stadium with a retractable roof on the "wish list". He was almost lynched by the attendees. There was NO support for a world-class stadium, other than the lobbyist/attorney. Based on my observations of these meetings the people did not know they could be voting for such things as stadiums. It was also clear from the facilitators of these meetings that they had been given marching orders for certain projects and tried, sometimes succeeding, to slip pet-projects into the lists. People voted for these lists because they agreed with most of the projects. Rather like a good bill that contains a nasty project. People acted in good faith for good projects never considering they were also supporting the ringers slipped in by the people conducting the meetings.Yes, we the pblic, are too trusting. Most of us just can't comprehend such devious behavior. We keep hoping our government will do the right thing; ain't gonna happen!
Were we sold a pig in a poke with the transportation tax and the "independent" transportation trust? You bet. Did art-collector Marty Miguilles sound the alarm about the art museum? Did we listen to him? Now we have an art museum in our Central Park.
In defense of the people voting for the GOB, they were duped!
If only the ten or so people who always read "eye on Miami" were the voters. Unfortunatly the voters are those that are loaded on buses and taken to the polls, those that are paid $10. to vote a certain way and those who are snowed by the bullshit spoken by the politicians. If you check the voters out as I did for many years, you will find that they really know nothing. Our system stinks.
GoD,
all the County can do is hold as many meetings as possible in as many communities as possible to explain and develope plans like the PTP and GOB, which they did. They cannot force people to show up. If you don't show up and become active, then you get what you get.
As far as people wanting to lynch someone for suggesting the Marlin's stadium in Miami Beach: well maybe people cheered the item in Little Havana.
By the way, "Mrs. Moderate" would be my wife.
MENSA
Your last post is surprising. First of all I think this blog has way more than 10 readers. Secondly, there are thousands of voters like you, me and many others that do not get bused and we don't get $10. I agree that some politicians do speak bullshit but many do mean well. I also agree that some voters know nothing but many do know, and quite frankly, our system of goverment is the best in the world.
Not a Mister Moderate:
The voters did not as Souto said approve the stadium renovation -- they approved 8 feel good paragraphs of generalized spending. Last Anon, our system of government in the County is broken.
Hmmm... you don't think the Mayor and manager aren't equally to blame for this? You don't think that Pete H, Donna S, and others have not been in the planning of this for years? You think the public....the mom and pop public are privy to the inside scoop on this issue? The lobbyists still own the 29th floor.
I want to know why any of our elected leaders and Business people would approve tearing down the Orange Bowl,,,something that belongs to Miami History...that represented amazing history? Well, I wouldn't EVER vote to tear it down... the Orange Bowl is to the old Miamians as the Freedom Tower is to the Cubans. It is HISTORY and it is special to the community. Along comes a bunch of folks with no sense of Old Miami history, and suddenly the Orange Bowl is history of a different sort. As a voter, I am angry. I am angry that voters are being pushed aside; by the city, county and business leaders who think we are to dumb or too lazy to care.
We don't need a new MAM. They can't keep staff there. There don't have much art there. Why are we building another gift to the Miami Chamber?
I am just stunned. This is an election year, and it is time to hit the streets.
By the way, employee morale is down at the UM. Donna has come in with her friends and just run the employees ragged with their non-sense. So, why would it be surprising that she would give up the Orange Bowl?
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