Miami mega deal: A free lunch for fat cats
By
Max J. Castro Read Spanish Version
majcastro@gmail.com
Democracy
of the few, by the few, and for the few seldom has been more clearly
in evidence than it was recently when leaders of the City of Miami
and Miami-Dade County agreed, in secret, to a mammoth deal to use
taxpayer money for the benefit of private interests, including those
of Jeffrey Loria, the wealthy owner of the Florida Marlins whose team
will get a $525 million stadium, with more than two thirds of the
cost coming from public funds.
For
years, various owners of the Florida Marlins have tried in vain to
get local government to give them the gift of a stadium. Their
persuasion and intimidation failed mainly because of public
opposition.
That
opposition is well founded. There is a mountain of research that
shows that the economic development benefits of stadiums are wildly
exaggerated by proponents of taxpayer financing. Indeed, the evidence
is very clear that when government pays for a stadium the team owner
benefits greatly at the expense of the public.
The
proposed Miami-county plan for a new stadium is just the kind of deal
that made George W. Bush rich, as Washington
Post
reporter David Cay Johnston describes in an excellent new book (Free
Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government
Expense and stick you with the bill).
In
fact, the proposed $3 billion, which diverts money intended to
revitalize slums and help the poor for the benefit of the well-off,
is the perfect example of Johnston’s richly documented thesis that
government today works mainly to enrich the wealthy further at the
expense of the vast majority of the people.
This
particular project, however, is undemocratic not only because of who
benefits and who pays. The very process of decision making that led
to the deal fails every test of democracy, including transparency,
public discussion, and majority rule. Rushed through, presented to
the public as a package deal and a fait accompli, it has all the
hallmarks of a coup.
Miami
Mayor Manny Diaz’s attempt to cast demands for public consultation
and a referendum on the deal in strictly legalistic terms betrays a
very narrow view of democracy and a lack of respect for the will of
the people of Miami. “There’s a sense,” Diaz told The
Miami
Herald, “this
should have been up for a public vote…There’s a sense that all of
the meetings that we had surrounding the negotiations should be with
50 sitting around…” But that’s a misconception, said Diaz.
“None of this is true…There’s no legal requirement for any of
this to be subject to a referendum.”
There
may be no legal requirement, but it is clear that this deal, in form
and substance, violates the spirit of government in the sunshine and
the basic principles of democracy. Moreover, it is clear why Diaz and
others supporting it don’t want a democratic vote. They would lose.
Who is going to support using tourist development money to subsidize
the Marlins when they cannot even draw Miami residents to the
ballpark because its owners repeatedly have reduced the proud fish to
the size of sardines by selling all the good players right after they
have won a championship? Who would agree to use community
redevelopment funds to help pay down the debt of the Performing Arts
Center, a facility patronized mostly by the better-off citizens of
the Magic City and which bears the name of one of its richest
residents?
It
will be one sad day for Miami and for democracy if this colossal con
is allowed to be perpetrated with no debate and the lone opposition
of Republican car magnate Norman Braman, who is promising to fight
the deal in court and beyond.
It
is time for the civic organizations, the community groups, and the
citizenry at large to rise up, demand to be heard, and seize the
levers of decision from the power brokers.
