Marlin's Stadium: Backlash At Mayor Alvarez. Guest Blog by David

Response to Mayor Alvarez' Letter printed here Sept. 1st:

Should the Marlins have been insolvent or defaulted due to poor financial condition, the hue and cry you're hearing now would seem like a caressing whisper in your ear compared to the tumult that would have resulted.

Mr. Mayor, to quote your letter:

"...it should come as no surprise - in fact, a great comfort - that the team's balance sheets reflect the financial wherewithal to honor its commitments".

I'm sure it was of great comfort to you, since you really didn't know what the team's balance sheet reflected when you cut the deal.

That's the travesty here. You, despite all of your information from "other sources", didn't know what the Marlins' balance sheet looked like because you failed to insist it was a deal breaker when they refused to provide it.

The real story of this laissez-faire approach to handling the people's money is, "What if the Marlins' balance sheet DID NOT reflect the financial wherewithal to honor its commitments?

To quote you again; "...any lender would demand a strong bottom line from a company seeking a transaction of that size."

Sir, Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami ARE the lenders in this case! You did NOT demand proof of a strong bottom line from a company seeking a huge grant at the expense of the taxpayers you serve. Should the Marlins have been insolvent or defaulted due to poor financial condition, the hue and cry you're hearing now would seem like a caressing whisper in your ear compared to the tumult that would have resulted.

No matter what state of health your "research from other sources" revealed to you about the the financial condition of the Marlins, you have a fiduciary responsibility to your shareholders (us), your board of directors (us again), and your stakeholders (us three times) to protect our interests, which should the interests of the county at all times.

I have the ultimate respect for your distinguished law enforcement career and your desire to serve us as mayor, and I believe you have done a good job for the most part, in difficult times. However, your failure to insist the Marlins provide you with basic information that would allow you to carry out your fiduciary responsibility in an apposite manner; and then inexplicably continue with the deal thereafter, is such an egregious abdication of your responsibility to the electorate you serve, that it renders you in my opinion, unfit for the office you hold.

Amendment 4: a once in a lifetime opportunity for Florida voters on Nov 2nd... by gimleteye

Florida voters will have only one chance in their lifetimes to change the relationship of campaign funders to zoning and local government that shapes communities. The Growth Machine says, no! to Amendment 4. But look around at South Florida, and the ghost suburbs, foreclosures, unemployment and shattered dreams: Amendment 4 is your chance to vote YES! for change.

To reach the state-wide ballot, Amendment 4 was a monumental effort led by grass roots supporters of Florida Hometown Democracy. The development and real estate lobby threw everything they could muster against the measure. Why? Because when it passes, it will crack the bond between local political campaigns and zoning changes required by "comprehensive" planning. (please click, 'read more')

Opponents of Florida Hometown Democracy deride the measure as being superfluous to representative democracy, where voters choose public officials by a majority vote. They also cite abuse of citizen petition to change the Florida Constitution by referendum. But they are the very same big campaign contributors who threw up a massive roadblock in 2006 requiring a supermajority-- or 60 percent of the popular vote-- to amend the Florida constitution: all in anticipation of Amendment 4.

Despite all the roadblocks, including a series of legal challenges to the Florida Supreme Court (one former Supreme Court justice went to work for the law firm representing a poison pill, competitive amendment that was eliminated from the November ballot), Florida voters will have their chance to change the equation of special interests that helped push the economy into a ditch; bad development, over-development, and the false claims of a stable economy based on temporary jobs tied to the housing bubble.

In my opinion, it is the first and LAST chance that Florida voters will ever have. The reason is the insurmountable cost and difficulties of mounting a citizen-led referendum against the Growth Machine. If not for the founders and leaders of Florida Hometown Democracy, Lesley Blackner and Ross Burnaman-- both attorneys who have spent careers involved in land use issues on behalf of community interests-- Amendment 4 would never have existed. The personal toll on the two leaders has been severe. If there was ever a David versus Goliath struggle: Amendment 4 is it.

Where Florida Hometown Democracy has struggled to raise enough money to wage a state-wide campaign, the Growth Machine has quietly set out to raise millions, perhaps tens of millions of dollars. Its signs are appearing on highways, against the measure. And dark, hit-and-run mailers to likely voters are just around the corner. The slimy lies and half-truths are intended to sow enough confusion and doubt, that the measure will not achieve the magic 60 percent.

But I have hope. If voters read the amendment-- and that is a 'big if'-- it will pass. Voters are that angry. Voters are that fed up with economic interests who claim to represent the best chance to rise from the Great Recession. Voters know how we got to this place, and they will vote in droves for Amendment 4. Here is a recent editorial by Lesley Blackner, leader of Florida Hometown Democracy:

Lesley Blackner: Ex-mayor of Port St. Lucie, his council's rubber-stamping
of development, one of reasons Amendment 4 on ballot
BY Lesley Blackner

Monday, August 30, 2010



Remember when St. Lucie County was going to declare itself a man-made
disaster area? It is, after all, ground zero for the over-building bubble
that nuked Florida’s economy.

St. Lucie elected officials deserve a lot of the blame. They are the ones
who rubber-stamped one pie-in-the-sky subdivision after another. What did
the frenzy produce? Thousands of houses are empty or unfinished. Foreclosure
central. Crime and grow houses. Collapsed home values. Rising taxes to cover
all the infrastructure and services the new construction requires. The
politicians own this mess.

Bob Minsky, former mayor of Port St. Lucie, helped set the stage for the
disaster, rubber-stamping the city into a future bubble and collapse. He
deserves an ample share of blame. I’ve yet to hear his apology. Instead, he
blasts Amendment 4, the constitutional amendment sponsored by the
nonpartisan citizens group Florida Hometown Democracy.

Amendment 4 gives voters the final say over whether their local
comprehensive plan should be changed. Now, three votes on the commission is
all it takes. It’s just too easy. According to a state report, St. Lucie
County has enough growth built into its plan for the next 200 years! And yet
the rubber-stamping continues.

Mr. Minsky says voters are too busy to take the time to study the issues. He
says land use is too complicated. I think voters can understand whether they
want a 200-acre parcel designated rural turned into another mall or
subdivision. Put the ballot question in plain English. If voters can sift
through evidence on jury trials, they handle the occasional comprehensive
plan change.

Political rubber-stampers like Bob Minsky created the impetus for Amendment
4. If they had shown some restraint, Amendment 4 would not be on the ballot.
Experience has proven they do not have that ability. During the past year,
Florida politicians rubber-stamped a tidal wave of even more over-growth to
accommodate developers and speculators trying to get ahead of Amendment 4.
That’s why Floridians must make this intervention.

Opposition to Amendment 4 consists of professional politicians, real estate
speculators and lobbyists — the very people who wrecked Florida! They admit
to raising $6 million since April to defeat this reform. About $2 million
comes from giant construction companies like Lennar and Pulte Homes that
went off the deep end and overbuilt, crashing the market and themselves. But
the over-builders got bailed out this year by the federal government to the
tune of $33 billion. They promptly took some of that money and gave it to
the No on 4 campaign. Another $3.5 million comes from their lobbying groups.

Remember the source when the deluge of anti-4 TV commercials crank up. They
will say anything to preserve their power. But the wreckage of the real
estate collapse demonstrates our homes and communities are just too
important to leave in the hands of politicians and their lobbyists.

Amendment 4 is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to provide a commonsense
check-and-balance on a corrupt, out-of-control system that works for
speculators and politicians but has failed Floridians. Is even more
development worth it for us taxpayers? Do we want even more construction?
Because Florida taxpayers are the ones who must live with the consequences,
we deserve a vote. The politicians have failed us miserably. We must take
back the keys to our community’s future. Vote yes on 4 on Nov. 2.

Where Did I Go Labor Day Weekend? By Geniusofdespair

Care to guess:


I always think I should be stoned when going over bridges as they can be pretty trippy visually. More hints, I was in a good place:


With really bad politicians:

Heading Home. By Geniusofdespair

All good things must come to an end...why?

I am headed home. The only bad thing to happen is that my thumb was slammed in the closing trunk. It took a few seconds to start hurting - hasn't stopped since. Aside from that, the trip has been thankfully uneventful. I spent a lot of time on my boogie board in the surf and reading a novel on the beach these past few days. Last night I had a great roasted duck at the Ocean Grill in Vero Beach -- worth a trip if you are in the area. From what I can tell, there isn't much else to do here except eat. I am taking myself -- fat thumb included -- home in a couple of hours, to a reality that has me in a state of subliminal uneasiness.

One last thing...along the highway were many developer paid for signs saying "vote no on Amendment 4". That tanslates to us regular folks as: VOTE YES ON 4! Don't believe their 'no' misinformation blitz for a second!

Genius Taking Off for the Holiday Weekend. By Geniusofdespair

Won't be back till Monday. I'm taking a few days off from this cesspool of a blog. I wish I could leave comments on but some of you have been mischievous lately. Maybe Gimleteye will check the comments and post while I am away, otherwise go read the Miami Herald, here's hoping your favorite reporter isn't on unpaid furlough (that is what they have all been doing). I just realized I am now like the Miami Herald reporters, I too am going on an unpaid furlough!

Have a good holiday weekend...I posted a photo of Mr. Crazy Eyes, Rick Scott, so you all could laugh at the Republican choice for Governor. Those Rick Scott eyes are pretty scary (why doesn't he blink?). Read the review of his misdeeds by Joy-Ann Reid, and the swipe against Republicans for voting for him, here is a sample:

And yet, 46 percent of Republican primary voters want to turn the governorship over to this person. You've got to wonder if they'd have bubbled in the ballot for Satan if he promised to fight Obamacare.

A Labor Day Message: get out the vote for Amendment 4 ... by gimleteye

When Florida Hometown Democracy's Amendment 4 gains 60 percent of the popular vote in November, Floridians will have seized the single opportunity to change the politics and lobbying practices that turned Florida into a landscape blighted by degraded wetlands, crappy subdivisions, and massive municipal and county budget deficits. If you are concerned about higher taxes as a result of the poor planning and overdevelopment that lead to infrastructure deficits, you will not listen to the political committee trying to defeat the ballot referendum. It is called, with no hint of irony, Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy. Inspired, right? Those "citizens" are principally production homebuilders and real estate interests who drove the economy off the cliff. So what kind of business "successes" support their investment in your vote: look at the record.

Hovanian Enterprises contributed $96,000 in the last quarter to defeat Amendment 4. Yesterday, that company declared quarterly losses of $72.9 million. In the previous year period, Hovanian only lost $168.9 million. KB Homes in the last quarter contributed $255,000 to defeat Amendment 4. In its last quarter report, KB Homes only lost $30.7 million. Lennar contributed $367,000. Its 2009 losses were only $417 million, thanks to federal bailouts of the homebuilders called "net operating loss carryback"; a program that will cost US taxpayers up to $53 billion according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

These are just a few of the interests who want a "stronger economy" by pulling the wool over voters' eyes. Toll Brothers-- that contributed $43,000 to defeat Amendment 4 -- reported a "gain" of $13.3 million pre-tax income thanks to "tax asset valuation allowances" (ie. bailout) of $439.4 million. WCI Communities, whose former chairman Al Hoffman, was Jeb Bush's top gun-- chairing the Council of 100 and GOP campaigns nationally-- lost nearly $2 billion through bankruptcy. In its new chicken suit, WCI contributed a cluck-cluck $5000 to defeat Amendment 4.

Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy are counting on voters not knowing the identity of its funders or that the industries they represent first pushed the US economy into a ditch and would be insolvent but for federal tax policy from a Democratic Congress and President, who they did not support.

Amendment 4 gained traction long before the housing bubble burst, among citizens who understood how the Ponzi scheme of development in Florida starts with local elected officials welded at the hip to local developers and lobbyists tied to big, publicly traded production homebuilders. Since the bubble burst, Instead of restraining economic activities that advanced so much carnage, the public seems unaware how federal bailouts have allowed them to continue spending shareholder money to preserve the status quo in zoning and land use in states like Florida. Trading and swapping lots surrounded by ghost subdivisions, the homebuilders are waiting for the miracle to come. Reasonable people would conclude that any industry that caused billions in losses, and untold personal suffering, should not be given the key to the car again.

Instead of conspiring to defeat Amendment 4, the principals behind Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy should be spending their days attending to their own 12 Step Program. Something has to change in the formulaic growth that has caused so much harm to Florida. That would be, Amendment 4.

Unlike its companion citizen referendum-- the effort to rationalize redistricting in Florida-- there has been a virtual media blackout on Amendment 4 and its supporters. Cobbled together from grass roots groups across the state-- Florida Hometown Democracy has succeeded in getting this far with grit and determination. Meanwhile, production homebuilders like those noted are pitching in hundreds of thousands and millions to defeat the lone measure that can offer a chance to save Florida from its worst impulses on how the landscape serves the economy: speculate, scarify, pave, and sprawl. Vote for Amendment 4. Enjoy your Labor Day.

Colleen Griffin ... by gimleteye

(Colleen Griffin with UF scientists, 2005, courtesy of Pat Wade)
Florida's tropical fruit industry lost a pioneer yesterday with the passing of Colleen Griffin. Colleen's family grew mangos along 200 St. and 147 Ave. Colleen was very active in the tropical fruit industry, as well as the community, and she worked very hard to help to keep Florida tropical fruits viable. She was an active member of the Mango Forum, was on the TFGSF (Tropical Fruit Growers) Board of Directors for many years, and was TFGSF president for three years from 2000 - 2002. She is survived by her husband Joe, and her two sons Joe, Jr. and Earl. Colleen Griffin, according to friend Pat Wade, was the kind of activist for her community that is more and more scarce. "She was on more committees than I could count," said Wade. Griffin, from a pioneering family in the Redland, was part of a small network--derided by County Hall and county commissioners-- to keep suburban sprawl at bay. There will be a viewing on Tuesday (8/31) from 6-8 pm at Palms Woodland Cemetery at 27100 Old Dixie Hwy, Naranja. The service will be at Palms Woodland at 10 am on Wednesday (9/1). Mail can be sent to Joe Griffin at 14600 SW 200 St, Miami, 33177.

Florida Legislature: Pathetic ... by gimleteye

On the last day of August, the Florida Supreme Court tossed the Florida legislature's effort to thwart redistricting on the November ballot. The poison pill by the GOP majority was likely worked by Miguel de Grandy. The measure, that would have watered down two amendments put on the ballot by citizens’ petition dealing with redistricting, was deemed as "misleading" by the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the Florida business lobby is ramping up its efforts to kill off Florida Hometown Democracy. The Florida Supreme Court already threw out the poison pill designed to defeat FHD. When it passes in November-- meeting the supermajority 60 percent of voters, another Constitutional amendment successfully passed by the special interests to defeat FHD and redistricting, voters will take away the rubber stamp for changes to development plans away from local legislatures that just can't destroy Florida fast enough. A recent review of Citizens for Lower Taxes and A Stronger Economy, leading the charge to block the citizens' initiative, includes these funders from the Florida Business Hall of Shame:

-- Florida Association of Realtors, $1.75 million
-- Florida Chamber of Commerce, $565,000
-- Florida Power & Light, $200,000
-- GL Homes of Florida, $50,000
-- K. Hovnanian Companies, $96,000
-- KB Homes, $255,000
-- Lennar Homes, $367,000
-- Macy's Corporate Services, $50,000
-- Mosaic Fertilizer LLC, $30,000
-- The Ryland Corporation, $135,000
-- Toll Brothers, $43,000
-- Waste Management, $50,500
-- WCI Communities, $5,000
-- Broward Workshop PAC, $260,000

Marlin's Ball Park Profits: The Mayor's Response. by Geniusofdespair

See our guest blog on the Marlins....hit on each page below to enlarge them and you can read the Mayor's perspective on the stadium deal and the Marlin's profitability question. Mayor Alvarez believes there is inaccurate information being circulated and he wants to set the record straight.