Anyone who thought the deal to build the new Miami Marlins' ballpark was the financial equivalent of using a corked bat or throwing a spitball has company: the Securities and Exchange Commission apparently agrees with you.
The SEC sent subpoenas to the Marlins, the City of Miami, and Miami-Dade County, demanding all the records having to do with the financing deal hammered out between the parties to construct the stadium at the former Orange Bowl site in Little Havana.
"We welcome the investigation," says Miami's Mayor Tomas Regalado. "I think that things were done that weren't right at the time. I don't know if they were illegal but at least, they were immoral because this was pushed down the throat of the people without any details."
Regalado voted against the stadum deal when he was a city commissioner. So does he feel vindicated now that a federal agency is probing the manner in which the deal was made?
"Actually, I would like to say I told you so, but I won't because I have to live with the contract," Regalado said. "I think this was a bad deal that has become worse with all the things we know now."
The $634 million price tag for the stadium was controversial from the start. It led Miami activist and philanthropist Norman Braman to start a successful recall drive against former Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez. Braman also went to court to stop the project, but that effort failed. Now he's anxiously awaiting the results from the SEC investigation, which is just starting.
"I don't know what the circumstances are, I don't know where the smoke is, I don't know where the fire is, but I'm just pleased that there's finally going to be some transparency involved in this entire process," said Braman.
One of the deal's most troubling parts to Braman and Regalado concerns paying back interest and principle on the bonds issued to finance the ballpark. That, they say, will cost taxpayers nearly $3 billion over 40 years, and won't neccessarily be covered by just using tourist bed tax money.
"The voters were told no public money, no taxpayer's money is being used to build the stadium, that was a lie," says Regalado.
Former Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess helped negotiate the deal. Reached on the telephone, Burgess said, "I'm quite comfortable with the financial transactions, this deal stands up very strongly to other deals in other cities, it's not fair to say anyone hid anything or lied to anyone."
Burgess also pointed out that the 70 percent public, 30 percent private funding formula is standard for building new stadiums these days, and says no new taxes were created, no taxes were raised, only tourist taxes are being utilized.
"I don't remotely agree with what the mayor [Regalado] is saying," Burgess said.
