Our public servants were either complicit in not revealing the fact they were proceeding blind without seeing the financials, or they didn't have the testicular fortitude to stand up to the Marlins. The third possibility, of course, is they are too stupid to be engaged in business deals!
I am dumbfounded at the vitriol and negative emotion being directed at the Florida (Miami?) Marlins over the recent revelation that they are making a tidy profit and aren't contributing more to the construction of their new stadium at the site of the former Orange Bowl. If you believe in capitalism and the vagaries of a free market, you're holding the wrong party responsible. At least two Miami-Dade County Commissioners and (then Commissioner) Tomas Reglado, have publicly stated on television that they asked the Marlins for their financials, but the Marlins refused to provide them.
Let me get this straight. Carlos Alvarez, George Burgess, and City officials were in contract negotiations with the Marlins for financing a new stadium. The Marlins cried poverty, and stated they needed help from the city and county to build. The city and the county asked to see their financials but the team refused, yet the city and county continued negotiating with the Marlins to craft the deal that was ultimately approved by the city and county commissions. During hearings ad nauseam, accompanied by loud wailing and gnashing of teeth, no one in the know brought it to the attention of either commission that financials were NEVER produced even though requested? (Hit read more...)
In case anyone hasn't noticed, over the years the Marlins dismantle one home grown winner after another (even following World Series victories) to maintain their payroll as one of the lowest in MLB, the team is running a for-profit business. While some people feel the team "owes" it's fans and the public at large some debt which obligates it to act adversely to its own interests, I'm pretty sure the Marlins don't feel the same way, no matter what they say in public. Lying, not telling the whole truth by withholding information, and the softer "portraying things in the best possible light" are facts of business. Before signing a contract, it's incumbent on both parties to be comfortable that they are entering into the agreement freely, with no reservations, and with all the accurate information necessary to ensure their interests and needs are satisfied.
While it is probably true that the Marlin's could not currently finance the stadium on their own, the revelation of their $33 million net income in 2008-2009 makes it clear they could have contributed much more than they did, thereby reducing the burden the county and city would have to carry. In our current economy, cash strapped governments such as ours could certainly reduce or eliminate some service cuts with the revenue they wouldn't have been spending on the stadium.
The sad part of this whole deal is the Marlins' strategy involved public hardball from the start. They openly proclaimed they would leave the area if they couldn't achieve public financing assistance to build the stadium. While the city and county have a vested interest from a revenue perspective to keeping a baseball team in the area. I could accept an explanation that this stance by the Marlins was not intended to be confrontational, but a clear public expression of what they felt was in the best interest of their business. Combining the threat of leaving with the Marlins refusal to open their books prompts me to ask why someone in government didn't have had the balls to call the Marlins, to use a poker analogy.
The Marlins may well not have been bluffing when they threatened to leave Miami, but refusing to provide the financials when requested is the point where a responsible, competent public official who has the people he/she serves at the forefront of their concerns would have told the Marlins to "go ahead and go", and let the chips fall where they may.
Our public servants were either complicit in not revealing the fact they were proceeding blind, didn't have the testicular fortitude to stand up to the Marlins, or are too stupid to be engaged in the business they are.
No one held a gun to the city or county and forced them to sign that contract. The Marlins did what they felt was in their best business interest, and apparently succeeded where our public officials failed. While we may not like it, there's probably little that can be done to remedy the situation besides ensuring the gutless morons we call public servants never get the opportunity to be put in a similar situation again by using the ballot box for one of the purposes it was intended for; term limit by vote.
One long-established principle for breach of contract is misrepresentation of material facts. This is called fraud. If the Marlins made public statements that they couldn't afford more than they ultimately put in, we may be able to fix the mess our elected failures and their minions have put us in.
May god help the Republic of Miami-Dade.
P.S. Norman Braman sued to see the financials read his op ed: Florida Marlins Laughed All the Way to the Bank.
23 comments:
Thank you Javier Souto for changing your mind and agreeing to finance this stadium for millionaires. Thank you Michelle Spence Jones too for voting in Miami.
Where are all the jobs for the union builders that protested in favor of the stadium outside county hall and city hall at the time of the vote?
no where, that's where. the citizens of south Florida were sold a bill of goods. Everyone who voted in favor of the deal should be voted out of office.
when will the voters say enough is enough?
Wasn't Diaz the Mayor when this all went down? Didn't Regalado vote against the stadium as a city commish?
Please correct me if I am remembering this wrong.
I made corrections...
Doesn't this team need good will from the public (ie, local taxpayers)?
I guess with MLB revenue-sharing, the answer is "no."
A first year business major would have known to say
"no financials, no bargaining." Come on - who's getting paid off?
I heard Alvarez defending this in terms of visitor's taxes like it is OK to squander those taxes in a bad deal instead of spending them to develop and support other aspects of tourism. Give me a break.
We tend to elect idiot mayors in this town. Have you noticed?
This is a great article from the New York Times on the Stadium. You all have to listen to the clip from the Stadium hearing. Tell me if Gimenez wasn't 100% on the money:
August 27, 2010, 9:53 pm
Financial Intrigue Builds Between Marlins and Miami
By KEN BELSON
The back and forth between the Florida Marlins and lawmakers in Miami has heated up in the wake of revelations this week that the team was in fact making tens of millions of dollars when it asked the city and county to pay for three-quarters of a new, $645 million stadium in the Little Havana neighborhood.
On Thursday, Mayor Tomas Regalado of Miami asked the city attorney to investigate whether the city could reopen its contract to build a parking garage for the Marlins.
Under the current contract with the team, the city is supposed to build a parking garage next to the stadium for about $100 million, and the city and team are supposed to split any revenue they produce from advertising on and in the parking lot. Regalado wants the city to keep all that revenue.
“I thought it was unfair because we were paying for 100 percent of the project, so at least we can get a few hundred thousand dollars back,” the mayor said in a telephone interview. “It’s one of the easiest things to resolve. To me, it’s a no-brainer for the Marlins.”
Regalado voted against the stadium deal when he was a city commissioner last year. Now that he is the mayor, he wants to undo at least part of what he thinks is a giveaway for the team.
The president of the Marlins, David Samson, said on Thursday that “a contract is a contract.” But Regalado, who said he had not spoken to Samson this week, said he thought there was precedent for breaking contracts. The city, he said, has declared a “fiscal urgency” that allows contracts to be reviewed, including those with fire and police unions.
Adding to the intrigue, Samson told The Miami Herald that the financial figures leaked this week on Deadspin.com “basically confirmed everything that we have said over the years, in terms of how we’ve operated the team, with our eye toward one thing: That was to ensure that baseball would be secured in South Florida.”
However, several lawmakers, including Regalado, said that Samson and the Marlins refused to open their books so city and county officials could confirm for themselves that the team needed help building the stadium, which is expected to open in 2012.
On March 23 last year, Carlos Gimenez, a county commissioner in Miami-Dade, told an open hearing:
“We at least need to take take a look at their financials because one of three things: Either, one, this is about as much as they can spend and they have the financial capability to complete their part of the bargain. Two, they can’t afford any more and they don’t have the financial capability to complete their part of the bargain. Or three, maybe even more importantly, they have more money than they are telling us and they are able to contribute more into this deal than they are letting on and we won’t know because we have never been able to look at their financials.”
He added: “They want the privilege of having $500 million in public financing, but they don’t want to play by the rules, and I don’t think that’s right.”
Gimenez had no luck persuading the commission to pressure the Marlins to open their books. He asked that an independent auditor be hired to look at the team’s books, but his motion was not approved.
(You can hear Gimenez’s comments at the 5:15:00 mark of this video clip. http://miamidade.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=3&clip_id=177)
When reached Friday morning, the Marlins declined to comment.
The New York Times is even jumping in on this one:
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/financial-intrigue-builds-between-marlins-and-miami/
You have to take a look at the video clip of Gimenez's comments during the final Marlins Hearing. Amazing how on point he was. Here is a quote from the NY Times Article (quoting Gimenez from the hearing):
On March 23 last year, Carlos Gimenez, a county commissioner in Miami-Dade, told an open hearing:
“We at least need to take take a look at their financials because one of three things: Either, one, this is about as much as they can spend and they have the financial capability to complete their part of the bargain. Two, they can’t afford any more and they don’t have the financial capability to complete their part of the bargain. Or three, maybe even more importantly, they have more money than they are telling us and they are able to contribute more into this deal than they are letting on and we won’t know because we have never been able to look at their financials.”
He added: “They want the privilege of having $500 million in public financing, but they don’t want to play by the rules, and I don’t think that’s right.”
I thought 4 commissioners voted no on the stadium?
Just another example of why we need Ammendment 4 to pass. Our elected commissioners are too stupid to be engaged in business decisions. The Marlins might not of held a gun to their heads but you can bet a bag of cash incentives/rewards was. Nobody does anything for nothing these days. If we had only jumped on Norman Bramans bandwagon and supported his efforts we would not be in this position today. Shame on the Marlins for taking advantage of the very people they expect to support them. I won't be one of them.
Gimenez, Sorenson, Heyman, and Martinez voted against it.
What the hell does Amendment 4 have to do with a crappy stadium deal? The more asinine arguments FOR #4, the worse supporters sound.
I'm a bit of a purist on the issue, feeling that the amendment is a poor substitute for elected leadership willing to say no every now and again to monied interests, but having been involved in the process, I have been softening to the notion.
But with supporters claiming it is more than it is, the warm and fuzzy feeling of support quickly fades.
Carlos Alvarez and Manny Diaz and George Burgess demanded and browbeat commissioners to get the majority votes. Imagine - would Warren Buffett invest in a $3.5 bil deal where the so-called partners refused to disclose their financials? Of course not.
The bailout of the Marlins will cost the taxpayers well over $3.5 BILLION when debt service is included. Jeffrey Loria just bought a new house in Southhampton, NY for over $20 Mil, yet he had to borrow rent money from the County for the stadium?
He is laughing.
Martinez voted for the deal. Don't let him continue the lie. While it is true that he voted against the financing issue, he voted yes on the No-Bid (that required a supermajority vote). Everyone is well aware that the the Stadium Deal would have died without the No-Bid. Initially, the agenda item included both the financing deal with the no-bid, and that would have required a supermajority for it all. Martinez pushed the County Attorney to seperate the issues, allow a simple majority vote on the deal, and supermajority on the no-bid. That allowed both Martinez and Sarnoff at the City, to vote no on the "deal", vote yes on the no-bid, in a sick and blatant attempt to dup the electorate into thinking they did the right thing. Well, they didn't.
In reality the only folks against it, at the City and County are:
Regalado
Heyman
Sorenson
Gimenez
THAT IS IT!!!
I'm not sure boycotting the stadium is going to get us anywhere except more on the hook at the taxpayers expense. I can't wait to hear the funding cries from contractors wanting to build the bullet train. And you wonder why people spend hours trying to figure out how to screw the goverment out of tax dollars.
Let’s not forget who supported the bad Marlins deal and who did not.
Supporters:
City of Miami Mayor Diaz, Commissioners Sanchez, Gonzalez and Spence-Jones
(All are out of office, not indicated in news stories and not being held accountable as they should be!)
MDC Mayor Alvarez and Manager Burgess
Judge Judy Cohan
All those folks that stood to make a profit.
Against:
City Miami Commissioner’s Regalado (Now Mayor) and Sarnoff (Now Chairman).
MDC Commissioner Carlos Gimenez
Citizen Norman Braman
All those folks that feared the diverting of revenues from more vital needs and the loss of quality of life.
Shame on all those that knowingly or unknowingly supported this horrendous deal. They have damaged our community for generations to come. They are totally responcible and should be made accountable for their actions. Thank you to those brave individuals that stood up to this travesty. They have been proven right again and many in our community appreciates their leadership.
Written here months ago, but worth repeating. We are at the beginning, the beginning of the economic collapse of the City of Miami, Miami-Dade County, the State of Florida, and the United States of America.
There will be public hangings of people in an unfinished Marlins Stadium before any baseball is played there.
Malcolm - that is depressing.
Sorry Harry, you're wrong. When Sarnoff voted for the financing, he was voting for the stadium. He was, in fact, the deal breaker. Don't worry, though, your city job is safe. The voters will remember properly want went down when this vote came in front of the city commission. Don't try to whitewash the facts.
I can't believe you actually tried to pass that off in this blog.
The next thing we'll be doing is subsidizing Port of Miami improvements in an effort to keep the cruise ships from moving to Port Everglades who is growing passenger traffic at an unprecedented rate.
This is the best article you have written this year. Great analysis. Well done.
Sarnoff voted for the No-Bid contract for the Marlin's chosen contractor Hunt-Moss. 4 Yes votes were required. That allowed the Marlin's agreements to move forward to Miami-Dade County. Sarnoff could have slowed or stopped the scam but he wimped out under pressure from Manny Diaz and Larry Spring. That is why smart successful people all over Miami despise Sarnoff.
The other City commissioners who voted Yes? Two were indicted and one is now a security guard.
Sarnoff was the Yes vote that sent the Marlins debacle to the County.
$3.5 diverted from the taxpayers of Miami, Florida to the foreign based owner of the Marlins. Yes, it is true. The Marlins are owned by a company based in Nova Scotia, Canada. The largest shareholder of the Marlins lives in New York City and in Southhampton, NY. Loria just spent $20 mil on a mansion in Southhampton.
If Jeffrey Loria has $20 mil for a oceanfront mansion in NY why is Miami-Dade County lending him the rent money for the Marlins Stadium? $32 mil over 10 years? Why aren't the Marlins paying rent for the $3.5 Bil stadium?
Carlos Alvarez, care to answer?
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