Since my fellow FishStripers had lively discussion over the weekend in the Chum Bucket, I will present the following.
Dr. Ronald Cox who is infinitely more plugged in to the stadium situation than I am, sent me this email and with his approval, here it is:
Dear Craig:
I wanted to let you know what I have been hearing from my sources. First, Sarnoff completely blindsided the pro-Marlins' stadium city commissioners. He was disingenous to claim he was only briefed the night before--that was true on some of the specifics of the financing, but not true regarding EVERY issue that he tried to amend. Clearly, there is political posturing going on here, and an eventual mayoral contest between him and Joe Sanchez.
The other miscalculation: Michelle Spence-Jones. She would have provided the needed third vote, but Sanchez was convinced that her vote was not needed, and given the maternity leave issues, there were no arrangements made to arrange a conference call. Really stupid move, in retrospect. As someone who believes in planning for all possible contingencies, I really don't see how this could be justified.
Anyway, the best news is that Spence-Jones will likely contribute the needed vote in the next city commission meeting, and they should not have to negotiate ANYTHING with Sarnoff (let him steam).
Also even better news: the County commissioners are planning to vote to waive the requirement for a super-vote majority to approve the construction agreement and related agreements. Which means the Marlins are only going to need 7 votes. This has been agreed to behind the scenes by several commissioners on both sides of the aisle. That way, folks like Joe Martinez can vote against the agreements without killing the deal.
It should get done, but in Miami anything, of course, is possible....
Best,
Ron
Dr. Ronald W. Cox
Associate Professor
Department of Politics and International Relations
Florida International University
Miami, Fl 33199
From my discussions with Dr. Cox over the years, especially concerning the stadium, I have come to one unmistakable conclusion: He knows what he is talking about.
The final caveat is an important one, especially given the way of South Florida politics, but at this point in time it sounds like there is a lot of promise for the stadium deal passing. However, if the county doesn't agree to rescind the super-vote majority, it could once again become iffy. Hopefully the commissioners will hold to their behind the scenes agreement to waive the super-vote majority, unlike the crap that Sarnoff pulled, and it will get done.
Many thanks Ron!
