No Marlins Bailout!
Friday March 27, 2009 | Miami
Miami, March 19, 2009 – This morning dozens of residents turned community activists gathered on the lawn of Miami City Hall to declare “No Marlins’ Bailout!’ just minutes before the City Commission gathered to vote on the construction of a new stadium for the Florida baseball team. Many expressed that they feel this is backroom dealing that benefits private interests at the expense of public money in critically hard times.
“In these very difficult and uncertain economic times the City and the County are going along with business as usual: corporate bailouts with public money. This particular package of Baseball Stadium Agreements is the poster child of misguided government and private sector greed,” said Michael Burnstine, co-founder for the Coalition Against Marlins’ Bailout.
The initial proposal for the construction of the Marlins’ Stadium came as a part of a Global Agreement approved by City of Miami and Miami-Dade County leaders in the final days of 2007. The current proposal for the construction of the stadium calls for the ball team to put in $120 million for the stadiums construction while the City and County put in $489 million for the stadium, parking, and advance loan to the Marlins, and public-works project to support the stadium.
“Missing from this deal is democracy. From the beginning the public has been locked out of the negotiations. What Michele Spence Jones didn’t say was that 50% of the CRA money is going to bailout county and city interest tied to the global agreement,” said Denise Perry of Power U Center for Social Change. “Open the doors of government and let the people decide what should be done with our money.”
The county delayed the vote on the stadium deal as opposition grew. The Coalition Against Marlins Bailout formed in January, 2009 to expose the facts about the Marlins Stadium deal to the public and to hold local elected officials accountable for their actions. The grass-roots group has captured public attention for exposing the facts about this deal, and showing how bad it really is.
“I played baseball back in Puerto Rico. I was a baseball umpire. I love the game. But this stadium will not bring what we really need to South Florida, good permanent jobs. This is a bad deal,” said Wilfredo Mendoza of Miami en Accion, another member of the Coalition.
But critics aren’t only bringing criticisms about the project they are also proposing solutions. “Why not put the money into building up infrastructure that makes our city more attractive to tourism. We could also build up tourism through community museums, convention centers and green rehabilitation of existing tourist locations. All of these solutions would also create much needed jobs for African Americans and Latinos,” said Hashim Benford of the Miami Workers Center another Coalition partner.