Who knows how long George Burgess will last as county manager. By July 1st, the county manager will report to the county commission if the funding formula for the new Marlins stadium will work, based on tax revenues from the bed tax.
Today, the Herald reports that County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez is steaming, that Burgess withheld important information on February tax receipts until the day after the highly controversial vote by the county commission whether to move forward with the stadium. 90 percent of the stadium construction cost is to be funded by hotel taxes.
February hotel tax revenues plunged 24 percent compared to 17 percent in January. Gimenez knows that information is withheld all the time by county agencies when that information either contradicts predetermined outcomes or conflicts with the agenda of special interests who control commissioners through campaign finance capacity.
County Commission Chairman Dennis Moss represents himself as a public official who takes into account facts and data. The Herald doesn't give Moss' reaction to the news, but at any rate, the plan relies on a quick bounce back of the economy. Which is just around the corner, or, not. If the current office holders are wrong, not to worry: they'll be long gone by the time voters are angry enough to pick up the pitchforks.
33 comments:
I can't believe that Burgess actually lied to the County Commission. 24% is quite a drop...it is a plunge!
Burgess manipulates the BCC and the Mayor. The question is: How much is he getting from the stadium deal? Once it fails, he will be fired but he must have a well-feathered nest to live in after the county finally gets rid of him!
Lying to the commission is a tradition by managers, lobbyists, staff and well, commissioners.
Well meaning people can disagree on the merits of a public-private partnership in the construction and management of a Marlins Baseball Stadium. Miami-Dade County certainly understands that Eye on Miami and its contributing writers are opposed.
However, it should be pointed out that the financing for a Marlins ballpark is not dependent on tourist tax revenues from any one month. It is a 40-year financing plan. Where were you in 1969? Think of all that has occurred in the financial markets in that span of time.
We are in a global economic crisis. We are in a down cycle. No one denies it. We will again be in a more favorable cycle. We expect there to be ups and downs. Historically, we have no reason to believe otherwise. Miami-Dade County Commissioners voted in favor of the Marlins ballpark agreements with full knowledge of the most recent tourist tax information. Nothing was withheld. No one lied.
Victoria Mallette
Communications Director
Miami-Dade County
Thank you Victoria Mallette. We do appreciate hearing the Mayor's view.
According to Miami Today, Dennis Moss is now proposing creating a county committee to put together a bid to the IOC to have the Summer Olympics in Miami. Seriously. They can't think of enough ways to waste money...
Brilliant. Maybe they could hold the FTAA at the same time and use up all the public goodwill that is left.
Summer Olympics in Miami in August? Oh yeah, this can't miss.
Victoria - We are not well meaning people but INTELLIGENT people. Haven't you read the latest unemployment figures? Most of my family is unemployed; neighbors are leaving Florida in droves because they can't find work. If the Mayor and the BCC still don't know it, tourists come to Miami for its beaches not to see a baseball game! Oh, maybe the stadium will become the exclusive country club for the BCC, the Mayor, the Manager and all his assistants, while our schools, transportation and other services go down the toilett!
It's the 40 year repayment plan that bothers me, among other things.
How could we possibly afford to make those massive payments over the last few years of the 40 year term on what will then be a completely obsolete and dated facility badly in need of an upgrade if not demolition?
Victoria is just the mouthpiece for an inept administration. I for one cannot wait until Mayor Alvarez rides off into the sunset, and I hope that Burgess takes the ride with him, or sooner if possible. That is the problem of voting a lifer at the County to run the County. There is no independent thought, you are stuck with the same mindset and people essentially, since the 80's. We need someone that will really shake County Hall up... In 2012, I think that person will be Gimenez...
OMG. I'm in Whistler today. Next year's Olympics are causing major financial headaches for Vancouver and British Columbia. The taxpayers are so mad that they are sharpening the pitchforks as we speak. Unemployment is at an all time high. A stadium and the Olympics? What kind of LaLa land are we living in????? Get a grip!
The other M
Victoria, thank you for writing and since you're here, how is the County going to pay the debt service on the bonds? Do you know how many muni's are being down graded? Will our services be reduced or our property taxes increase if there's a shortfall over time to pay these bonds? I know it's 40 yrs, but one year of higher taxes or service cuts isn't right.
The mayor knows what George does and he is right there with him. They are jointed at the hip. Or at least he has a chief of staff who is directing the musical.
There was some reason Alvarez wanted this so badly. Remember, he even did a flip and started hanging out with the commissioners during the campaign season? Why? Because he needed them a year later?
Alvarez always said the buck stop with him.
You can look at this way, George is the Organ Donor whenever Alvarez needs a body to hack up.
Can you imagine a Summer Olympics in the height of Hurricane Season and in 98 degree weather?
Yup. Sounds like a plan to me.
Ms. Mallette:
Assuming you are correct that no one lied, then why didn't the Administration recommend a delay in the vote on the bonds?
Wouldn't it be more professional and ethical to advise the BCC that new data would be available the next day and that the data may inform a wise decision?
Commissioner Gimenez should demand an investigation of the paper trail on the hotel tax numbers to determine who knew what and when. Your boss should join him, Ms. Mallette.
A lie by omission is still a lie.
-AR
Victoria,
I understand you are paid to misinform the public but please do your homework. Tourism is dying nationwide and especially in South Florida. George Burgess is assuming the bed tax will grow 5% annually for the next 40 years. Do you have any idea how insane it is to project that kind of growth rate after factoring in the growth rate over the past ten years? Even Burgess admits his guesstimates are so dumb he need cannot sell Current Interest Bonds to finance the Marlins Bailout. The "bed tax" revenue stream he is using is so small Burgess needs to see Capital Apreciation Bonds (CAB). CAB bonds are merely adjustible rate bonds or a fancy form of zero coupon bonds. Victoria, have you looked at the daily foreclosure filings? Can you spell adjustible rate mortgage? Can you spell Pic-A-Payment mortgage?
Please be accurate.
Be careful what you wish for anonymous "waiting for Alvarez to ride off into the sunset." You might very well be looking at Marco 'Pretty Boy' Rubio for 8 years...the abuela's (who are the most reliable voting block) love those good looking young guys. Remember how they kept Humberto Hernandez in power before he went to jail. And please don't forget Alex Penelas who was 1,000 times worse than Alvarez. Alex was always surrounded by a flock of lobbyists. It was obscene.
Alvarez has his flock of friends. He just hides them better. You think they sign in and out at the office he has over there in sweetwater? I believe that he also has a back door there.
Isn't it realistic to believe Alvarez's private conversation with Marco Rubio last election was about what Alvarez would do for your pretty boy, if he didn't run against him this time around?
It is reasonable to guess that most of the give-me's in the budget hearing was orchestrated. That being, the stadium deal was sealed, the concessions were already there on the table, and all the pro voting commissioners had to do was act a bit and play around the item, so it looked like they "got" something for us fools.
I don't like picking on the mayor. Yes, a lot of us think this is a really dumb deal, but I think he has done a lot of good things on such things as growth management and the UDB for instance. I refuse to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I disagree with him on the stadium but I don't think that makes him a bad mayor...well I also think he should have fired Burgess, and I guess I also think he should never have endorsed Natacha Seijas.....this second term is a hard one for me to justify.
He is the politician that he denied being at the beginning. He always was one. You don't survive as a department director unless you know how to dance.
This is true for any political office, not just county. What you see on TV isn't usually what you get. There isn't much that is not scripted or directed when an elected official opens his mouth in public. There will always be exceptions, such as when one will stumble off script and causes panic among staff. Staff is the power behind the mirage.
For those of you critical of the Obama political machine, Alvarez ran his elections very much the same way. The end result was the same and the candidates both have a fan base that is hard to beat, because they sold themselves well.
Both campaigns were very good and the public didn't have to "know" either candidate's resume, they "knew" the personality that they were given with careful grooming. No negative crud was allowed to meander out into the campaign trail, it was stifled either by political connections or implied intimidation of anyone who may disagree with the purity of the candiate's past.
This was similar to the stadium campaign. The wagons were circled and details were on lockdown. Only a few in the inner circle would know the truth and they did what they had to do to get the job done. Norman B. was brave to take on the circled wagons.
The public is now seeing the bits and pieces now that they didn't see at the hearings.
First, the disclosure that the small business limitations amendments were not allowed. (They knew that fact a day after the first hearing? Nope, the county attorney is brighter than that, he knew before the vote.)
Then, the tourism rate was a falling disaster. (They knew that fact a day after the first hearing? Nope, the county executive offices are better connected than that, they knew before the vote.)
There is more to come. Eye ought to keep a running list.
It would be good to get your check books out, I have been told that stadium bonds are going to be paying in the range of 7.5% interest. I haven't seen the article, but it was supposed to be in the Herald this past week.
Politics are not for the timid. I am glad that the political scene is way-far beyond my sphere of existence. I would be gobbled up and spit out.
Typical responses from the usual suspects. I especially love the folks who a getting way out in front on the Olympic Bashing. Heck, let's ask to no longer be considered for the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, Orange Bowl, All-Star Game, MTV Awards, Sony Erricson, or National Championship Games while we're at it.
As far as who you might wish for to be the next Mayor, while I agree Gimenez is a very good choice, you guys will find some reason to start bashing him once he holds the office.
The saying goes: "The Best Mayor, is always the next Mayor".
m
"You Guys"? You Guys...
Don't generalize please.
Genius, just because Alvarez agrees with you on an issue that you hold dear, namely the UDB, make no mistake, that is purely a political decision on his part. He wouldn't know growth management if it hit him on the face. He is more beholden to those Penelas cronys that you talk about because they delivered to him the Strong Mayor. Guys like Jorge Luis Lopez and Miguel DeGrandy have more power on the 29th floor than they ever had. Most of what they do escapes the public eye because they are using the Strong Mayor form of government for their benefit. From what I understand, Lopez is the guy that wrote the strong mayor legislation to begin with. Now, why would a lobbyist do that?? Lets see... If passed, I just need to have one person, rather than a majority of 7... Makes life a lot easier... What has Alvarez done really, other than veto UDB applications?? He kept Burgess, the County is fiscally in worst shape than when he entered, there is no improvement in essential services, he raised taxes on those living in Cities, and tried to explain that away. I am sorry, there is reason to throw him out with the bathwater, he is not worthy.
Gimemez' eyebrows don't match his hair. That fact may affect his ability to run government.
Duh. Mr. m.
I see some good discussion on this thread.
Jorge Luis Lopez...how has he slipped through the cracks of my microscope? I appreciate these detailed reasoned responses thanks.
I just looked at his lobbyist report...will have to keep my eye on him.
I am finding these County lobbyist/State legislators pretty unappealing, like Fresen, etc.
There ought to be a law. I am glad this guy lost the election to Garcia. He raised money for Natacha...Hmmm.
Check Pablo Acosta while you are at it... He works with Lopez... But remember, there is a lot that they are doing behind the cloak of the 29th Floor, that I am sure they don't even bother to register for...
It is a tangled web. But, as sure as the sun rises, Alvarez does what is politically expedient for his own people. He warmed up to the UDB people and turned around and had money raised for him by the Farm Bureau. Study his vetoes. He never could lose politically on them.
Again, that is what the political game is about. And that is why lobbyists count votes before hearings. I just wonder why developers and their lobbyists are better at getting to the inside to count those votes than the public. What ever happened to the Jennings Law?
Back to the point. Idiot George Burgess is using declining bed tax revenues propped up by the County's General Fund to pay for the bailout of the privately owned Marlins baseball team.
Burgess gets zero revenue sharing for the County from the privately owned Marlins eventhough the taxpayers are paying 95% to 99% of the costs of the construction and financing of the Marlins stadium. Then Burgess admits he can only provide this gift to the Marlins if the taxpayers pay $1.5 bil to over $2 bil in interest payments at rates as high as 6.25% all the way up to 8%.
Essentially, perhaps $2 bil will be taken from the taxpayers that could have been used to maintain and promote tourism. Tourism is South Florida's largest business after all. Thank George Burgess, Carlos Alvarez and Manny Diaz for this shifting of money from hardworking local taxpayers to New York based sharpies.
George is an expert at the shell game. He can make anything "work" on paper and the BCC is too stupid to ask the right questions. Maybe Gimenez, who seems to have as good a head for budgets as George, will nail George in his lies someday.
I think some of the BBC are not that stupid. They wanted the stadium for their own reasons, and it seems that Alvarez with his own ego is right there in the same egg basket.
Alvarez is very controlling and has his idea of his importance. But, he has some staff underlings with egos that makes the commissioners egos look minor league, to use a cliché.
Carlos Alvarez has proven that he is just another idiot. Wait until the public learns what the interest rate will be on the bonds floated to bail out the Marlins. There could be $2 bil in interest added on to the $700+ mil in construction costs. Wait until the cost overruns are made public.
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