Thursday, February 06, 2014

We just had a bitter battle over a return of 5% to union members, no money for libraries, but we are going to give away valuable county land? By Geniusofdespair


David Beckhan is worth $300 million and his partner Simon Cowell's net worth is $400 million. They say they will fund the stadium but they want a tax rebate from the State and they want the land donated:

“We don’t want public funding. We will fund the stadium ourselves,” Beckham said to applause.

Fund the construction, perhaps, but the tract of land at the seaport is owned by the county. The Miami Beckham United investment group is seeking a deal with Gimenez’s administration to build on the property.
With the budget short I don't think we can afford to GIVE AWAY ANYTHING. David: "You can't always get you want." He is shamelessly using his celebrity to woo our stupid County Government something librarians and nurses couldn't do.


Gimenez needs to find $42 million to balance the $4.4 billion operating budget. This land woud go a long way towards that end. Some say this is the most valuable land in the County.  I wrote about this February 4th. I think this is a bad location. What if we need to expand the port?

Stephen Ross is still trying to get public money for refurbishing his Sun Life Stadium and the Miami Heat want to continue the profit sharing deal we made for free land (with billionaire Micky Arison) that gets us NO MONEY. No matter how you frame it: Stadium funding will end careers. Ask former Mayor Carlos Alvarez. Carlos Gimenez: Do you want to get reelected, treat these people like you treat your union workers and your librarians.

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

The ruling elite do not want employees providing services. They have their own private security, trash collection, etc. They want to use our money to rub elbows with people like David Beckham.

Then there are those elected who thing they actually mean something. Take a look at Pepi Diaz' Facebook page. He actually posted a selfie of himself with Beckham. Really! Tell us Diaz, do you think you would be allowed to cross those velvet ropes and be permitted to touch Beckham but for the fact that you control taxpayer owned land? Of course not, but you are too stupid to see that you are being played for a fool.

Inside sources have revealed that Lynda (another one who might be permitted to clean Beckham's home, but not dine with him) Bell has recommended a specific vendor to fence off the stadium land during construction.

It is unfortunate that voters in this county continue to elect people to spite themselves.

Anonymous said...

I'm only surprised KFR wasn't in a selfie with Beckham. I'm so tired of hearing "we're going to fund the stadium ourselves" like it's a gift to us taxpayers. That's actually what normal people do!

Until the voters vote out these people, en mass, we're going to be in an uphill battle. They play the mainstream media better then most.

Gimenez will not cut the budget from the top down. He'll cut the services from the lowest paid worker's to the point we in UMSA have literally no services but his 29th floor will have the 150K plus crowd with benefits. If they was a way to impeach him instead of a recall for not providing real services to the real taxpayers it would be great because I've had it along with just about everyone I know who actually lives here full time picking up the tab for these moron's on the BCC who are too busy being played for the fools they are instead of working for the taxpayers who probably didn't elect them in the first place due to zero enforcement of our AB ballot laws!

The more I read the more I just wish my home increased in value enough so I can move far away from this tax payer funded giveaway to those who need it the least but take it because they can!

Anonymous said...

Star ass lickers, all of them.

Anonymous said...

Organized sports are as old as history itself. Typically, however, the construction of sports stadiums and the creation of professional sports franchises have served as a reflection of economic development rather than a means to it. The grandeur of the Roman Colosseum is a clear testament to the wealth and engineering skills of the Roman Empire, but it was certainly not designed to enhance local incomes. Roman poet Juvenal coined the phrase “bread and circuses” in circa 100 A.D. to describe the use of food subsidies and lavish entertainment to distract and pacify the masses. This term has come to symbolize the decline of civic duty in the Roman Empire in favor of frivolity and shallow desires. According to Juvenal, Roman politicians decided that the most effective way to ascend to power was to buy the votes of the poor by giving out cheap food and entertainment, i.e. bread and circuses (Sperber, 2001). Under the Roman emperors, the Colosseum was simply another way, albeit a costly one, to limit public dissent. There is no evidence that it was expected to promote local economic growth.

college.holycrossdotedu

Anonymous said...

Makes me want to puke in his jockey shorts.

Anonymous said...

This property belongs to taxpayers, let them vote on it. Don't trust the politicians. They will come up with some deal that looks good, like the AA Arena deal where Heat owners would share revenue, but never did due to their creative bookkeeping or the contract obligation to build a pedestrian overpass from the AA Arena to Bayside, then didn't. You can bet corrupt Port Co-director Juan Kuryla with his shady background, is involved and representing special interests. He is favored by this administration and commission because of his ability to cater to their needs, including numerous junkets like the June 2014 trip he is organizing to Spain and France for insiders paid by taxpayers and all the others including Diaz's trip to Korea. The 2014 Port budget also includes a $5 million item for payment in a legal judgment against the County for a judges ruling that the Port of Miami has a way of doling certain business permits illegally protecting incumbents -- ``creating a handful of entrenched privileged companies". The judge said evidence showed other ``established, qualified, competent and trustworthy companies were denied permits even as some incumbents who didn't use their permits received automatic renewals". Kuryla works the backchannels and selection process, where privileged insiders are awarded business, land deals, and taken on travel junkets while those who are not tied into the system of lobbyists, commissioner aides and certain County staff are denied. Kuryla got a 70% salary increase to $300,000 for his "talents".

Anonymous said...

FBI FBI FBI.

Anonymous said...

The second Anon wrote that Gimenez will not trim the budget from the top down...... Well, let's insist that he does!
We all know what the next words out of Gimenez's mouth will be: "cut funding to parks! Lay-off police and Fire fighters! Lay-off the lower ranks in every department!"

Let's just decide right now that We the Voters will not accept that! We will laugh at him when he proposes that!
Let's start today flooding the offices of the BCC, especially those up for re-election with emails and tweets and Facebook messages.

Let's begin today to take matters into our own hands and not accept Gimenez's BS!

Anonymous said...

Miami Herald editors and reporters also posted selfies with Beckham (in the distance.) Does that mean they can't be objective in the reporting of this fiasco? LOL. And Gimenez boasted that five county commissioners were at the Beckham welcome party. Does that mean they already decided on the big giveaway?
LOL again. I'm LOL because it's better than crying.

Anonymous said...

Will Commissioner Sosa's Climate Change panel weigh in on the wisdom of building a stadium on a barrier island in the middle of Biscayne Bay, vulnerable to storm surge and sea level rise? Nothing like putting more assets at risk in the world's most at-risk city?

Anonymous said...

We don't really need these ventures, as far as we are concerned they can go anywhere in the world. Because we wouldn't pay for improvements to Sunlife stadium, the NFL told us to kiss their butt. Last week we were soaking in the sun at 70-80 degrees while they were concerned with which day it wouldn't snow and be warm enough to hold their super bowl. So, we don't have to bow, lick anyone's shoes, give our precious public land away, or pay taxes for their play pens.

We are a unique area of the world, and the rich who are looking to pimp off of suckers to build their play pens need to keep moving. We cannot continue to elect low-self concept people, who actually believe it is important to mingle with the rich and famous and abandon their charge to protect and defend this community.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, the politicians control the ballot language unless it's voter drive, not lobbyist driven. Look at the Crandon Park tennis mess. Lesson learned. I think we need a 100% moretorium on the sales and leasing of ALL public property until we get a full accounting and full appraisals on all of it across the board, but that would be like Gimenez cutting from the 29th floor down instead of cutting from county services which should be a priority, not the 1st to go. It would also be nice to return the Library millage to where it was when he took office, hence, there's be no shortage there either. But, it's Miami Dade County, "Serving Ourselves Every Day" and "So Close to the United States"!

I hope the majority of the BCC is embarrassed by all of this, but they won't be because their lobbyists will tell them they're doing a great job and find some more campaign contribution for them.

This is another case of why the BCC candidates should be publicly funded because we pay one way on a small scale or we pay a lot more when lobbyists control the government like we have now.

Gimenez is proving time and again what a down right idiot he is by thinking he's smarter then those who are much smarter and much more successful then he'll ever be. He reminds me of Humpty Dumpty.

Anonymous said...

Let's take a moment to revisit our own recent history.

Miami Heat (NBA) (1988–99)
Florida Panthers (NHL) (1993–98)
University of Miami (NCAA) (1988–2003)
Miami Matadors (ECHL) (1998–99)
Miami Hooters (AFL) (1993–95)
Miami Manatees (WHA2) (2003-04)

After wondering about those last three names, remember that these teams all played at the old Miami Arena. remember that building you could see from I-95 that was there - and then it wasn't. Being Miami, the I-95road sign was up for a long while after the building was...gone.

Completed in 1988 at a cost of $52.5 million, By 1998, the Miami Arena, like most indoor sports arenas built in the late 1980s, was beginning to show its age, despite being only 10 years old. Its seating capacity was one of the lowest of any NBA or NHL arena. In addition, sports teams in general began wanting newer, more updated facilities, specifically luxury suites and new concessions.

Fickle sports teams. What investor thought that a stadium would only gave a TEN YEAR lifespan??

The Miami Heat play in a publicly subsidized arena that opened in 1999, and have a 30-year lease that doesn’t expire until 2029. They’re asking for about $66 million in future subsidies to fund renovations they want to do to their arena;

On Wednesday, the commission voted unanimously to direct Mayor Carlos Gimenez to sit down with the Heat, whose executives are seeking a 10-year extension of the deal that lets the team play at the arena and receive about $6.5 million a year in hotel taxes to subsidize operations.

The agreement doesn’t expire until 2029, but the Heat has been trying to capitalize on its back-to-back championships to extend the terms until 2039 in exchange for a significant upgrade to the 14-year-old arena.

Or...what? They up and leave?

History repeats itself.

Anonymous said...

The arena was sold in a public auction in 2004 to Glenn Straub, an investor from Palm Beach County, Florida, for $24 million less than the $52 million the city of Miami paid for its original construction. Miami Arena was sometimes called the "Pink Elephant", because it was a white elephant with pink colored walls.

Anonymous said...

now we get to see real corruption in action. along with perks what and see who will be hired as consultants and who those consultants are related to. remember Gimenez now has 3 family members who offer consultations- whatever the hell that means.
afterwards, because its on county owned property, they wont pay property taxes either.
the corruption has only just begun

Anonymous said...

exalted ruler Gimenez and his merry corrupt band of associates will destroy this county in record time.
we really do need to clean house starting with Bell.

Anonymous said...

for me personally, I think Gimenez has a fetish for me in underwear

Anonymous said...

Betting on the majority of the Minority 99% to pay for the 1% Rich investments to cover the costs and losses...
"Manchester City Said Close to Being Awarded MLS Queens Team
By Scott Soshnick 2012-12-15T13:29:21Z Beckham’s Commitment
“My commitment to this league, my commitment to this sport and this country will continue to be the same as it was when I came here six years ago,” said Beckham, who won league titles with Manchester United in England and Real Madrid in Spain before joining MLS in 2007.
MLS officials have been working for three years to bring a new team to New York, creating a rivalry with the New York Red Bulls, owned by Austrian energy-drink company Red Bull GmbH. The Red Bulls, whose roster includes Thierry Henry of France and Tim Cahill of Australia, plays in a 25,000-seat stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, about a 20-minute train ride from Wall Street.
“Clearly there’s enough space in New York for two or three teams,” Red Bulls General Manager Jerome de Bontin said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Dec. 10. “It would be terrific to have that competition in New York.”
Soccer Hotbed
Flushing Meadows is bordered by the neighborhood of Corona, where Mexicans, Ecuadoreans, Chileans and other Latinos help make up one of New York’s most passionate soccer fan bases.
The soccer stadium would cost $300 million to $350 million and be privately financed. MLS wants to start construction in 2014 and open the venue in 2016.
The last professional soccer team to play in the city was the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League, who popularized the game in the U.S. by signing international stars such as Pele of Brazil and Franz Beckenbauer of Germany. The Cosmos, started in 1971, played home games in three city venues, the last one in 1976 at the old Yankee Stadium, before moving to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Manchester City yesterday cut its annual loss in half to 97.9 million pounds ($158 million) from last year, when it reported the largest loss ever in English soccer.
City boosted sales to 231 million pounds in the 12 months ended May 31, 2012, from 153 million pounds in the year-earlier period. The team also benefited from 10.6 million pounds from the sale of players.
Debt Restraints
The reduction from last year’s record loss of 197.5 million pounds comes as European soccer’s ruling body tries to put financial rules in place to prevent teams from becoming overextended.
City is six points behind 19-time English champion Manchester United in this season’s Premier League standings and was eliminated from European competition after finishing last in its Champions League group.
City has spent more than 500 million pounds on transfer fees and salaries since Mansour bought the team in September 2008.
The team benefited from the start of a record 10-year naming-rights agreement worth more than 300 million pounds with Etihad, Abu Dhabi’s national airline." -http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-14/manchester-city-said-close-to-becoming-owner-of-mls-queens-team.html

Anonymous said...

I think the UAE should buy all of Miami Dade, create it's own Country and then all of the citizens will literally share in the wealth and the visitors will pay through the nose. The Dubai model sounds more tempting by the day, but we'd have to find a way to give women rights and stuff like that!

I agree, Gimenez must have a Beckham in underwear fetish! I wonder if he's photo shopped his head on to the ad yet?

Anonymous said...

Last night, on a Spanish-language radio show that airs on 1080 AM from 8 to 10 pm, a caller offered the BEST name ever for our future soccer team.... The Miami Suckers!

Hurley said...

Let David Beckhan charge soccer fans a hundred dollars a pop to take a photo with him and before you know he will have a lot of money for the land. Like the naked cowboy in New York.

Anonymous said...

Mayor Carlos Gimenez reminds me of Frank Borman, former CEO of Eastern Airlines. After Borman drove the airline to the ground, he sold it piece by piece and laid off thousands of employees. Gimenez's behind the scenes wheeling and dealings with "consultants" Jorge Luis Lopez, Garcia-Toledo and the Munilla family are not far behind. Gimenez brought the putrid political corruption from City of Miami to the county and he will run the county to the ground. He has already scheduled a meeting with all county directors for Monday so they can commence "their cuts". How about starting with those five worthless excuses of deputy mayors he has on the 28th floor, earning a quarter of a million a year in salaries and benefits? This new soccer stadium is just the latest scam.

Anonymous said...

NY Red Bulls play in a new stadium in Jersey. They have an average of 18,000 per game with and low of less than 5,000. Their stadium cost around $200 million. Beckham is lobbying the state. The land giveaway is going to a bad public/private lease. Free land essentially. Once you build on public land the city and county are stuck with the property. Then you need parking garages, buses, police, fire and all the other support staff that come with these deals.

Anonymous said...

has anyone looked into who owns the parking around that area. you know that site on the port cant handle mass parking. we need to trace everything. and, I do mean everything

Anonymous said...

PortMiami. What happens if the Port of Miami needs to expand?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the question. If we need to expand we will just fill in more Biscayne Bay with limestone from West Dade rock mines. You think too limited. Anything is possible here. Go Chamber!

Anonymous said...

has anyone noticed the picture in the herald where gimenez is smiling and his right sems to be on beckham's rearside? maybe there is some truth to the earlier underwear comments

Pete said...

G.O.D., when you supported that 5% pay raise for all of those greedy union employees, you lost your right to complain about wasteful spending.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to know if all these employees live in Dade county?

Geniusofdespair said...

The people from the unions took a temporary cut. The cut was promised to be returned. It is not a pay raise. Putz

Anonymous said...

According to the record the BCC did not raise taxes in 2013 because they WANTED self impose limits on wasteful spending (structural deficiencies as the mayor calls them.)

The 5% wage concession was due to expired for YEARS and was only an issue because of poor budget planning on the administration's part.

What the BCC had in mind with "structural deficiency" was too many chiefs and not enough indians AND things like multi-million dollar give aways to sports' billionaires.

Because of a procedural SNAFU at the BCC meeting Tuesday, not only do all the chiefs keep their job and get 5%, the Mayor has promised to fill the budget hole with the bodies of more indians..

AND apparently move full steam ahead giving prime commercial seaport land on an artificial island dredged up at great expense to a 30 something year old ex-jock and current underwear model with no proven business experience in running a pro sport franchise, (but he has a hot wife which somehow figures into his resumé.)

Yep, that went well.

Anonymous said...

The dade county residents versus Broward residents is another way to create a us versus them focus. It useful only to find a way to unite to complain and hate. The rule to enforce residency restrictions ended years ago.

Anonymous said...

On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Memphis to support AFSCME sanitation workers. That evening, he delivered his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech to a packed room of supporters. The next day, he was assassinated.

AFSCME: 75 Years of History

The history of AFSCME began in 1932, as the country suffered through a severe economic depression, when a small group of white-collar professional state employees met in Madison, Wisconsin, and formed what would later become Wisconsin State Employees Union/Council 24. The reason for the group’s creation was simple: to promote, defend and enhance the civil service system. They also were determined to help spread the civil service system across the country. Read More »
http://www.afscme.org/union/history

Anonymous said...

CORRUPTION, CORRUPTION, CORRUPTION IT IS NOT JUST TAKING THE LAND FROM THE PORT IS THE FACT THAT THE GIMENEZ DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN, KURYLA AND JOHNSON OVER HALF A MILLION IN SALARIES DON’T GIVE A DAMN BECAUSE THEY ARE GOING TO GET PAID NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS WITH OR WITHOUT STADIUM AND THE PORT IS SINKING IN DEBT AND NO ONE IS PAYING THE BILLS OH YES I FORGOT GIMENEZ AND HIS BRIGHT ED MARQUEZ ARE APPROVING THE PORT’S DEBT….

Anonymous said...

The Miami-Dade / Broward issue is about money, namely Miami- Dade money going to Broward, and Broward people pimping off of Miami-Dade people.

Anonymous said...

Does Carlos Gimenez know Miami-Dade and City of Miami taxpayers are obligated to pay over $3 BILLION in debt service on the bonds sold to pay for the Marlins Stadium and Garages? Oh, and the Marlins lost over 100 games last year and they had the worst attendance in professional baseball.

Anonymous said...

So no Miami dade residents live here and work for Broward County government? That would be Miami-dade county residents pimping off the Broward people. Make a motion to close off the highways and shut down the tri-rail (at least during rush hour) so we can prevent people from crossing the border.