"The state of Florida now has an estimated $7 billion surplus. Of that, about $1.8 billion has been earmarked to help our schools that rank annually among the nation's worst. That sounds big. And we'd all agree it's important. It also leaves more than $5 billion in, well, surplus.
"This shows the hole in the big-picture theme of schools vs. stadiums. It's not really schools vs. stadiums. It's never been schools vs. stadiums. Our local and state governments are awash in increased revenue from increased land values and you see schools still only get so much attention...
"...$150 million in public money (is proposed to be) going to spring-training stadiums. This isn't new. It was done in 2000 for five other cities to the tune of approximately $150 million, too. Why?
"'So teams won't go to Arizona for spring training,' said Nick Gandy, the director of communications for the Florida Sports Foundation, an arm of the state government. 'It's a way to keep teams in Florida.'
"So up to $30 million of public dollars could be spent to keep the Baltimore Orioles playing at Fort Lauderdale Stadium for six weeks a year?
"'That's right,' Gandy said.
"What about $30 million going to keep the Marlins in South Florida forever?
"'No, we're not working on anything like that,' he said.
"Why not?
"'It's just not a proposal,' he said.
"You can say $30 million isn't much. But it's reportedly the exact amount that caused a Miami-Dade proposal to build the Marlins a stadium to fall through.
"This doesn't just show officials are indiscriminate in deciding how to toss around public money. We, the public, also are indiscriminate in caring where public money gets thrown around...
"Jeffrey Loria is the third Marlins owner to try to make baseball work in South Florida. He's the third fighting for a new stadium. At some point, the owners aren't the problem." (SunSentinel)
No comments:
Post a Comment