The City of Miami, The Marlins and The Subpoena
The Miami Marlins have a lot more than baseball to worry about these days. With the rise of their new stadium, the Marlins organization and City of Miami officials are under investigation over the new stadium’s financing. With over 75 percent of the 634 million dollar stadium’s cost being paid through tax dollars and bonds, City of Miami residents are in an uproar.
Courtesy of Google
The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued subpoenas to the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County. They are demanding that a significant amount of documents and records be provided for investigation. On January 6th, Miami Government officials, who have agreed to comply fully with the SEC, will release all necessary documents. As of now, the Miami Marlins organization has not been subpoenaed, but there is a possibility they could be, along with a group of Major League Baseball executives. The executives that the SEC is looking at include: Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, Marlins president David Samson, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and ex Major League Baseball President Robert DuPoy.
The SEC wants to investigate the 500 million in bonds sold to raise funds for the stadium. The SEC also believes that bondholders may have been misled. They also want time charts of when executive meetings occurred and what was discussed. Since the stadium plan was established, Miami’s already high unemployment rates have kept rising. Andres Otero, 23, a City of Miami resident and Marlins season ticket holder was not pleased at all with the tax situation. Otero said, “I’m really excited to get some serious talent on this team, and the new stadium is going to be great to watch games at, but at what price? They bleed us for money and now allegations are out. I hope I get some money back if anything.” Most fans agree with Otero, because Miami has never been a big spending baseball club and ticket sales last year were third lowest in MLB.
City of Miami Mayor, Tomas Regalado has openly said that the City welcomes the SEC’s investigation and has full confidence that all stadium matters were handled properly. When the plan to build the stadium was voted on, Regalado was city commissioner and voted against the new stadium.
Courtesy of Google
With the new stadium has come a new way of thinking for the Marlins. For Years, the Marlins front office would criticize big spending teams, such as division rival, the New York Mets, whom are infamous for spending over 100 million dollars in an offseason on new players. Today, the Marlins have made the decision to become big spenders. They are looking to spend over 140 million dollars on just 2 players and also plan on signing St. Louis Cardinals star 1st baseman, Albert Pujols, to a 10 year, 200 plus million-dollar deal.
The Marlins are in the thick of the baseball offseason, set to spend crazy money on players, yet the city they call home has to pay over three fourths of the total cost on the new stadium. Outrage is easily one way to describe it. ESPN 760 executive producer, Kelley Bydlon had some choice words to say about this whole scandal, “this is pretty bad, first they finally start spending money on players, and yet there is an outcry from the residents that they are catching the raw end of the deal. The SEC has to step in and see if there were any crimes committed, and if so, it will be interesting to see if anything is done about this situation”. With the outcome of the investigation unknown, and the majority of the media pointing out the shortcomings and shadiness of the new stadium deal, it is easy to assume there is a crime being committed. However, no documents have been released, and nothing is imminent at the current time. On the week of January 6th, 2012, we will know whether there are criminal charges being pressed. Until then, taxpayers have been tricked into paying more than expected from politicians, the bond situation appears to be inaccurate and the Marlins are planning to be big spenders this winter.
Tough Times In A High Rise
For FIU students, living in the City of Miami is a hassle. After interviewing two college roommates that reside in the Terrazas River Park Village in Miami City, their issues are apparently intertwined. From garbage disposal, to parking and traffic; life can be difficult in the City of Miami.
For Jim Cloud, a 5th year student pursuing an Engineering degree, easy transportation would be considered best. Unfortunately for him, he has to depart from his apartment up to an hour before class so that he can make it through traffic and find an adequate parking spot when he gets to campus. Besides his troubles with getting to FIU on time, he has much larger issues within his living quarters. Cloud, 23, from Peoria, Illinois, moved to Miami to get a degree, enjoy life, and experience something other than snow for winter, has not had everything work according to plan. When asked about how life in the City of Miami has been for him, Cloud said, “The view is beautiful, but the rent is high, the traffic is bad, the maintenance service here is not up to par and ordering delivery can be a nightmare.” When asked about how maintenance service is lacking, Cloud reiterated that, “Yeah, if I have a leak in the wall or my oven won’t work, I call up the front desk, they sweet talk me and no one shows up for a day or two. I have to physically go down to the lobby to get something done. And when it comes to repairs, these guys always spot patch issues and never finish their work, and then expect a fat tip because they showed up. The maintenance people in the dorms at FIU were much better and for once, I miss living in the dorms”.
Aside from the maintenance issue, the food delivery situation can be a nightmare. Cloud’s roommate, Nicolas Jones, 19, a soccer player at FIU, had much harsher things to say, “When we moved in, everything was great, service was superb, everyone was friendly, but man things have changed. When it comes to ordering food, were lucky if the delivery guy finds our place, we have to guide them to our building all the time and it usually takes up to an hour once everything is said and done. The maintenance service can be horrendous and the only way I was able to get my carpet cleaned when we moved in was by purchasing a bottle of rum for the workers. When we need something done, we give gifts to the maintenance guys so that they will help us out. I know it sounds like a scam, but life can be much easier when sharing a drink.“
In terms of how tough parking and traffic can be, the residents at Terrazas have private parking spots, but guests have to go through a valet service that charges unfair rates of up to 5 dollars for one hour, and fifteen dollars per day. Not only that, but you have to go to two different offices to pay the bill to get your car back from the valet service. Once they get out of their complex, depending on what time it is, traffic can be considered hell. They have to make sure what time they go to run an errand or make it to class, otherwise the pursuit to their destination can go terribly wrong. Although the situation can be considered tough, they love their 15th floor man cave where they throw parties, enjoy the view, and live their college dream lives.
City of Miami 