minutes of feb 13 2009 meeting

8/3/2019 Minutes of Feb 13 2009 Meeting

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Friday, February 13, 2009

9:00 AM

Meeting Minutes

City of Miami

City Hall3500 Pan American DriveMiami, FL 33133

www.miamigov.com

City Hall Commission Chambers

City Commission

Manuel A. Diaz, MayorJoe Sanchez, Chair

Michelle Spence-Jones, Vice-ChairAngel Gonzlez, Commissioner District One

Marc David Sarnoff, Commissioner District TwoTomas Regalado, Commissioner District Four

Pedro G. Hernandez, City ManagerJulie O Bru, City Attorney

Priscilla A. Thompson, City Clerk

SPECIAL MEETING


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Meeting Minutes February 13, 2009City Commission

9:00 A.M. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Present: Commissioner Gonzlez, Commissioner Sarnoff, Chair Sanchez and Commissioner

Regalado

Absent: Vice Chair Spence-Jones

On the 13th day of February 2009, the City Commission of the City of Miami, Florida, met at itsregular meeting place in City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida, in special

session. The meeting was called to order by Chair Sanchez at 9:19 a.m., recessed at 2:04 p.m.,

reconvened at 2:49 p.m., recessed at 3:15 p.m., reconvened at 4:34 p.m., and was continued to

the Commission meeting currently scheduled for March 12, 2009 at 9 a.m.

Note for the Record: Commissioner Gonzlez entered the Commission chambers at 9:42 a.m.

Commissioner Regalado entered the Commission chambers at 10:11 a.m.

ALSO PRESENT:

Julie O. Bru, City Attorney

Pedro G. Hernandez, City Manager

Priscilla A. Thompson, City ClerkPamela E. Burns, Assistant City Clerk

Chair Sanchez: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This is a special meeting being called

here on the agenda for February 13, Good Friday -- should be -- 209 [sic] at 9 a.m, at our City

Hall, which is a historical hall, 3500 Pan American Drive. Thank you for being here. Those

that'll be present, as we call the meeting to order, the Mayor, Manny Diaz, who will be joining

us, I believe; myself, as Chair. Michelle Spence-Jones will not be joining us today, I don't

believe. Angel Gonzlez, Commissioner Gonzlez, Commissioner March Sarnoff, Commissioner

Tomas Regalado; with us present also is the City Manager Pedro Hernandez and our City

Attorney, Julie O. Bru, along with our City Clerk, Priscilla Thompson. This meeting was

properly advertised. Today, there are three items on the agenda. Those items are pertaining to

the baseball stadium and the agreements. We'll go ahead and start with the invocation, and a

pledge of allegiance that will be done by Commissioner Sarnoff.

Invocation and pledge of allegiance delivered.

Order of the Day

Chair Sanchez: All right. Once again, I want to welcome each and every one of you to City

Hall. We do ask that everyone please take a seat. We also ask you that you cannot bring any

signs either for or against. Everyone will be afforded an opportunity to address this

Commission. So, please try to take a seat. We cannot have people standing. The only ones

allowed to be standing are the media and the camera crew that stands in the back of the

Commission [sic]. So please move over, let someone sit next to you. There are some reserved

seats that were -- if not, what we're going to have to ask you to do is please step outside. There

are TV (Television) monitors outside which you can monitor the City of Miami Commissionmeeting, this special meeting. And if you will be speaking or addressing this Commission, we

ask you to please sign in with our City Clerk, put your name down, so we could have the list so

we can run through this meeting as smoothly as possible. So we're going to go ahead and start

with item number one. But before we do that, Madam Attorney, can you read the procedures to

be followed during this special meeting?

Julie O. Bru (City Attorney): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, members of the

Commission, Madam Clerk, and the public, and Mr. Manager. This is a special City

Commission meeting that has been properly advertised and noticed. Any person who acts as a

lobbyist, pursuant to the City of Miami ordinance, must register with the City Clerk prior to

Page 2City of Miami Printed on 3/13/2009


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engaging in lobbying activities before the City staff, boards and committees, and this

Commission today. Any person or entity requesting approval here today for relief or other

action from the City Commission must, before appearing, do the following. They shall disclose

in writing whether any consideration has been provided or committed directly on its behalf to

any entity or person for an agreement to support or withhold objection to the requested

approval, relief, or action; disclose to whom the consideration has been provided or committed,

the nature of the consideration and a description of what's being requested and exchanged forthe consideration. The disclosure form, which is available from the City Clerk, must be read into

the record by the requesting person or entity prior to submission to the secretary -- clerk of the

board. Any person making impertinent or slanderous remarks or who becomes boisterous while

addressing the Commission shall be barred from further audience before the Commission by the

residing officer. Please, no clapping, applauding, heckling or verbal outburst in support or

opposition to a speaker. Please silence all noise-making devices. Thank you very much.

Chair Sanchez: Okay. Once again, this is a public hearing. Those that will be addressing us

will be afforded three minutes to address the Commission when the public is allowed to speak.

Once again, being that we're worried about our economy, today being Friday the 13th,

tomorrow's Valentine's Day. So I hope that you do go out of your way and get your spouse or

our loved one a nice gift, hopefully, bought in the City of Miami, okay.



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PUBLIC HEARINGS

09-00132SP.1 RESOLUTION

A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH

ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THEFOLLOWING STADIUM AGREEMENTS, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THEATTACHED FORMS HERETO, AS EXHIBITS "A" THROUGH "E",RESPECTIVELY, RELATING TO THE DEVELOPMENT, CONSTRUCTIONAND OPERATION OF A NEW BASEBALL STADIUM FOR THE FLORIDAMARLINS, AND RELATED PARKING FACILITIES, AS CONTEMPLATED INTHE BASEBALL STADIUM AGREEMENT DATED MARCH 3, 2008,APPROVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION PURSUANT TO RESOLUTION NO.08-0089, ADOPTED FEBRUARY 21, 2008:

1.CONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT AMONGMIAMI-DADE COUNTY ("COUNTY"); THE CITY OF MIAMI

("CITY") AND MARLINS STADIUM; DEVELOPER, LLC, ADELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY(EXHIBIT "A")

2.OPERATING AGREEMENT AMONG THE COUNTY, THECITY AND MARLINS STADIUM OPERATOR, LLC, ADELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY(EXHIBIT "B");

3.CITY PARKING AGREEMENT AMONG THE CITY, THECOUNTY AND MARLINS STADIUM OPERATOR, LLC, ADELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY

(EXHIBIT "C");

4.ASSURANCE AGREEMENT AMONG THE COUNTY, THECITY AND FLORIDA MARLINS, L.P., A DELAWARE LIMITEDPARTNERSHIP(EXHIBIT "D"); AND

5.NON-RELOCATION AGREEMENT AMONG THE COUNTY,THE CITY AND FLORIDA MARLINS, L.P., A DELAWARELIMITED PARTNERSHIP(EXHIBIT "E");

FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER AND/OR THE CITYMANAGER'S DESIGNEE TO EXECUTE SUCH OTHER DOCUMENTS, IN AFORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, AND TO TAKE SUCHOTHER ACTIONS, AS MORE PARTICULARLY REQUIRED OR PERMITTEDIN THE STADIUM AGREEMENTS.

City Manager's

Office



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09-00132 Summary Form .pdf

09-00132 Legislation.pdf

09-00132 Exhibit 1.pdf





Motion by Commissioner Gonzlez, seconded by Commissioner Sarnoff, that this matter

be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS FAILED by the following vote.

Votes: Ayes: 2 - Commissioner Gonzlez and Sanchez

Noes: 2 - Commissioner Sarnoff and Regalado

Absent: 1 - Commissioner Spence-Jones

__________________________________________________________________

Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, FAILED by the

following vote.

Votes: Ayes: 2 - Commissioner Sarnoff and Regalado

Noes: 2 - Commissioner Gonzlez and SanchezAbsent: 1 - Commissioner Spence-Jones

motion was made by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, which

ailed, with Chair Sanchez and Commissioner Gonzlez voting no and Vice Chair Spence-Jones

absent, to amend the proposed Marlins Baseball Stadium Agreement to include (1) establishing a

$94 million cap on the construction of the parking garage; and further, in return, the Marlins

would receive their pro rata share of net profits for the retail component; (2) that the City of

iami and Miami-Dade County receive its pro rata share for the overall naming rights which

the City would use to pay for its debt service; and (3) in the event of the sale of the Marlins, the

City and Miami-Dade County would benefit in the proceeds in a pro rata amount.

motion was made by Chair Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, and was passed

unanimously, with Vice Chair Spence-Jones and Commissioner Sarnoff absent, to continue theSpecial City Commission meeting of February 13, 2009 to March 12, 2009 at 9 a.m.

Chair Sanchez: So we'll go ahead and start with item number one. Item number one is SP.1.

That is the executive agreement pertaining to the new baseball stadium. At this time, I'd like to

turn it over to the City Manager.

Pedro G. Hernandez (City Manager): Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners. Today,

as you all know, is a very significant day in our city and our county, as we bring before you the

documents that will have the final say as to the implementation of the baseball stadium at the

Orange Bowl. This is something that has been under discussion and negotiations probably for

the last eight to ten years. I've been involved, from the City's side, on these negotiations over the

last two. And what we have before you today is the result of those negotiations. We have five

definitive agreements; the construction agreement, the operation agreement, non-relocationagreement, assurance agreement and City parking agreement. And that is the first item that

we'll be dealing with this morning. During the briefings that we had, we used some term sheets

that explain the benefits of each one of the agreements and how it compared to the baseball

stadium agreement that was approved in February of last year. The baseball stadium agreement

is a binding document that provided the framework for the agreements that we have before us

today. I also provided yesterday a memorandum, in a narrative form, explaining the various

agreements and how they impact the City of Miami. In general, the stadium is proposed to be

located at the same site of the Orange Bowl. And it's interesting to note that back in the early

1930's, the Orange Bowl was constructed as part of a stimulus program; that was the WPA

(Works Progress Administration), as part of the New Deal by President Roosevelt in those days.

http://egov.ci.miami.fl.us/Legistarweb/Attachments/48972.pdfhttp://egov.ci.miami.fl.us/Legistarweb/Attachments/48971.pdfhttp://egov.ci.miami.fl.us/Legistarweb/Attachments/48970.pdfhttp://egov.ci.miami.fl.us/Legistarweb/Attachments/48969.pdfhttp://egov.ci.miami.fl.us/Legistarweb/Attachments/48968.pdfhttp://egov.ci.miami.fl.us/Legistarweb/Attachments/48967.pdfhttp://egov.ci.miami.fl.us/Legistarweb/Attachments/48666.pdf


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nd the Orange Bowl was constructed to create jobs. And here we are today, 77 years later,

basically, contemplating a stadium at the same site that will provide additional jobs, which I

think is the main goal in all of our minds. I have Mayor Diaz now that has joined us here, and

I'm going to yield to the Mayor to do his opening statement, and then I will continue with the

details of the impacts to the City of Miami. Mayor Diaz.

ayor Manuel A. Diaz: Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, good morning. Let me first take thisopportunity to thank County Mayor, Carlos Alvarez, who will be joining us shortly; George

Burgess, all the County attorneys, County staff that worked on this -- have worked on this for a

very long time. And I really appreciate the level of cooperation that we got and received from

them and their commitment to continue to work with us in the City as true partners in this effort.

I also want to thank Bob DuPuy, who's here, the president of Major League Baseball, and all

associated with Major League Baseball. So -- also, I would like to thank Jeff Loria, David

Sampson [sic], and the entire Marlins family, and at this point, acknowledge the commitment of

ajor League Baseball and the Marlins to keeping this team in South Florida. I also want to

thank City staff. Pete -- and I hope I -- I'm sure I'm going to leave somebody out. But Pete

Hernandez and Larry Spring and Olga Ramirez, Veronica Xiques and Julie Bru, Robert Fenton.

The amount of hours that they devoted to this process, sacrificing a significant amount of family

time, to make this deal happen, especially those that just had recent babies, they have fought

very hard, and have been very prudent in providing you today with what I believe is a verybeneficial deal for us in the City. And I also want to finally acknowledge Ed Marquez, our

inancial adviser, and really, when you come down to it, the entire City family, because this is a

rocess that has taken some ten years and has involved numerous people who are here today

and those that have preceded us. Today marks the sixth time I have appeared in front of this

Commission asking for your support in keeping Major League Baseball in Miami. And I want to

thank all of you for your support the previous five times that I've been before you. It's been a

difficult road. These have been very long negotiations, but everyone in the process, I assure you,

has taken their responsibilities very seriously. Now I'm not going to get into the details of the

deal. We've had extensive briefings over the last two weeks, and clearly, we've had extensive

briefings through the years, each and every time this deal has been asked -- you have been asked

to vote on this issue, including, by the way, just last year, when you approved a binding baseball

stadium agreement, which created the business framework for the agreements that you have

before you today. The fact is that the deal that you have before you today is the same deal thatou approved last year; only better. I will let Pete, Larry, Olga and others review the details

with you. I really do believe that after your careful consideration of these agreements and after

our consideration of staff's recommendations, that you will reach the same conclusion I did and

support the deal and vote favorably for the sixth time. Instead, I will focus my remarks on those

critical areas that form the part of my analysis in supporting the deal. First, I believe the

threshold question for us here today has to be, is this deal in the best interest of the people we

are elected to represent? This is our job. Not to concern ourselves with said policy for the

eople of Miami Beach, Perrine, Aventura, or Unincorporated Dade; we represent the people of

the City of Miami. Now, clearly, there's a lot of noise out there, and there's a lot, certainly, of

misinformation that's been put out there for some time now. Some people simply don't know

better. Others know precisely what they're doing. But as representatives of the people of Miami,

I, again, reiterate our focus is on the people of Miami. Our job is to focus on the facts and only

the facts that are before us. So what are they? At the moment, we have a 40-plus acre of landvacant, right in the middle of our city, right in the heart of Little Havana. And today we are on

the verge of a $600 million investment in our city, using other people's money. This is a very

important fact that can't be ignored, and Pete and Larry, I'm sure, will get into more detail on

that in a while. We have an obligation to create desperately needed jobs. We have an obligation

to revitalize a neighborhood in need. That is the bottom line. Those are the real facts. Nothing

else. It is really this simple. In addition, we have to ask ourselves, is it important to keep a

ajor League Baseball franchise in Miami that will bear our brand name? Are the Miami

arlins part of the building blocks for the future of our city? Is this one of the many elements,

the investments that we talk about, that we approve, along with a performing arts center or



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museums or other cultural facilities; the investments that are necessary in our ports, in our

airports -- and Commissioner Sarnoff, and particularly, I comment you for your advocacy and

our leadership on the issue of the tunnel, which is a project, to me, that shares many of the

similar characteristics of why we're here today in support of this project -- our investments and

infrastructure, including transportation and great parks and open spaces; our investments to

create a diversified economy, to be environmental stewards? I could go on and on and on. All

of these form part of a blueprint that is designed to create a competitive, long-term sustainablecity. Investments that are part of the future of Miami that we are all collectively building today.

I believe the answer is yes. This is one of those investments. If we close our eyes and imagine

what Miami could look like in 10, 20, 50 years, I believe we can all envision a Miami that has all

of these elements. Think of our grandchildren, think of our children and grandchildren, and

their children and grandchildren enjoying all of these great amenities in the future Miami. We

have finally emerged as a global city. People from all over are choosing to live, work and open

businesses in our city. But as I have said before, this future is not a guarantee. There are many

other cities that can also lay claim to the very same virtues that make us strong. And we will

only continue to be relevant if we continue to effectively compete. Other cities in the United

States and abroad don't look inward. They're not lacking in confidence and they're not afraid to

invest in their futures. We should not, we cannot be afraid either. We need to continue to build

on the momentum that we've started. If we want our children and our grandchildren to choose

iami in the future, we must be able to sustain a globally competitive economy by continuing toinvest in the people, places and things that make us who we are. This is why the state of our

uture depends on the kinds of investments that we make today. And this is why the city that we

ass on to our children will be determined in large part by whether we are willing to seize this

moment, make the hard decisions and see them through. Now, let's talk about the economy.

There is absolutely no doubt that times are extremely tough. The economy is in a crisis, and

things may very well get worse before they get better. That is why now, more than ever, it is

highly important that we create jobs. Many of our residents, through no fault of their own, have

lost their jobs, their homes and their small businesses that, in many cases, have been in the

amily for generations. Our country, last year alone, lost three and a half million jobs. Last

month, we lost 600,000 jobs. Think about that. That's 20,000 jobs a day; 20,000 families that

are losing their livelihood. In our city, in December of '07, the unemployment rate was 4.3;

December of '08, it was 7.5; and projections show that we could have much greater job loss in

the year to come. This project will produce over 2,000 construction jobs over the next threeears. That's 2,000 families. It will create hundreds of permanent jobs once the stadium is built.

nd I will also remind you that we retained a significant amount of property that we can do

other development in, which I believe can generate close to a thousand new jobs, with the

development of a possible hotel, retail shops, restaurants, residential and office. These are more

than simple statistics. You need to see the faces behind these numbers. A week or two ago, I was

at one of the office buildings that is being built on Brickell Avenue and some 2 or 300 workers

were there, and many of them came to me and said, Mayor, please make sure that the

Commission approves the baseball stadium. This project will be done in the next three, four, five

months. I have no idea what I'm going to do once I'm done here. I am offended by the

suggestion of some critics that some of these jobs that we're going to create are not high-paying

obs, that they're not worthy of being created. First of all, they all probably have jobs

themselves, but it is my opinion that a job is a job. My parents washed dishes, they cleaned

homes, they parked cars, and they spent their entire life working in factories in Miami; and itwas those low-paying jobs, those unworthy jobs that made it possible for me to be the first

erson in my family to graduate from college and go on to become a lawyer. In fact, my first job

was a minimum-wage job as a janitor. Commissioners, these are real jobs. These are real

eople. These are real families. These are real people that need to feed their family and send

their kids to school, pay their rent and keep a roof over their head. We cannot afford to wait.

We must act, and we must act now. We can't afford to hope that things get better. We have to

stop bickering. We have a moral responsibility to lend a hand to our residents by continuing to

create jobs. At this particular moment, all of us know that investment in the private sector, for a

whole host of reasons, is practically shut down. Government has a responsibility. We are the



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only entity. Look at the discussion that is taking place and has taken place in Washington over

the last few months. We are the only entity left with the resources to create jobs and to jolt our

local economy back to life. We are the only ones that can break the vicious cycle of rising

unemployment. We need to invest to create jobs and to create prosperity for the people that we

represent; and in so doing, we can't lose faith in our city and where we're going to go. We have

to accept this challenge. We have to rise to the occasion of the day. Let us not sit idly and let

the world pass us by. You know, it's very easy to say no. I believe this is not why we get elected.We get elected to act. We get elected to be decisive. We get elected to lead and not be afraid to

say yes and not be afraid to face up to challenges. Finally, let me say this. These agreements

may not be perfect. As a lawyer -- and I'm looking at another lawyer -- I can tell you that no

agreement ever is. As a lawyer, I could also tell you that if one side is very happy, that is a

transaction that is a recipe for failure. Every transaction is about give and take. This deal has

been very carefully negotiated, very carefully crafted, and there are many pieces, obviously, that

make up this very large puzzle that is now before you. When all parties to a deal are not happy,

when all parties to a deal did not get everything they wanted, you know that you have negotiated

a fair deal, and you know that you have the greatest chance of success. President Obama

recently said that we cannot allow the perfect to prevent us from enjoying the good. And so

today, in your hands, after ten years, it is time to seize the moment, or we can choose to allow a

40-plus acre parcel of land to remain vacant in the middle of our city in the heart of Little

Havana. We can choose to invest in Little Havana. We can choose to take those 40 acres thatsat idle for all but six days of the year and make it home now to a new baseball stadium, retail

shops, restaurants, and yes, possibly even a hotel. We can take those 40 acres that sat idle for

all but six days and make it create jobs for thousands, inject millions of dollars into our

economy, and create a sense of pride for a neighborhood that has long served as the entry point

or so many in search of the American Dream. We can take this investment and create thousands

of jobs at a time when thousands are losing their jobs. We can continue to position Miami

competitively with other great American cities. We can create opportunities for our children and

our grandchildren to grow up in a city where they will be able to watch a Major League

Baseball game. At the beginning, I talked about our threshold question. And that was, what is

in the best interest of the people of Miami today and the people in Miami in the future? All of

these, I believe, are important obligations. And these are obligations that we can achieve, and

we can achieve today, and we can achieve with other people's money. It is time, once and for

all, for us to decide. In your hands today is the fulfillment of the dreams of many that haveworked for many years on this project, and in your hands will be the future enjoyment through

obs and through recreation of future generations of Miamians. You have supported this deal in

the past, and I ask for your support one last time. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

r. Hernandez: Mr. Chairman, I'm going to proceed and complete my brief introduction of the

agreements. Larry will then talk about the origin of the funding sources that we're using, and

then we will be hearing from the County mayor. We have 40 acres at the Orange Bowl, out of

which our plan is to convey to the County a total of 17 acres, 14 of which are for the stadium,

and 3 acres of those are for a public plaza. And the public plaza, in my opinion, is one of the

great benefits to the City of Miami and to that community. It's a plaza that is about two blocks

long by one block wide and will be available all year long to the residents of that community.

We convey the land to the County; and the County, through the Team, will have the construction

of the stadium accomplished. Something very significant about the stadium is that the -- there isa guaranteed maximum price that is being worked on, and that the team will be responsible for

the cost overruns. If these agreements are approved today, we're looking at construction in July

of this year, so this is really one of those ready-to-go projects that can have an impact on our

economy immediately. With reference to the parking garages, which are the responsibility of the

City, we plan to construct -- it's four buildings that will serve for parking structures. And we

would also make available six parcels that will provide surface parking for a minimum of 5,500

spaces. The parking structures and parking facilities in total are estimated to cost 94 million.

That's a figure that I generated back in November of '07. I know that prices after that went up

and then have come down, and we feel that those prices today should be within many ten, no



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more than fifteen percent of the original estimate made in November of '07. The construction is

estimated to start in early 2010. Since the garages is a project that can be accomplished in

about 20 months, while the stadium requires the early start, because they do require about 30

months to be able to do their construction. We also have a responsibility with the County to

rovide the public infrastructure that will serve the stadium and also the garages, and this

includes utilities, like water and sewer, gas, telecommunications, electrical lines, sidewalks,

streets, street lighting, et cetera. We will share with the County on the public infrastructure, andit's one of those elements of the project that will have a lot of opportunity for local involvement,

since I know that we have an abundance of contractors locally that do specifically that kind of

work. The public infrastructure is the item that, in today's agenda, requires a waiver of the

ormal competitive bidding process. We are recommending to the Commission that they support

that waiver. And I can tell you from my own personal experience that I've been involved in many

rojects having to do with these type of improvements, I can get it done. However, I think it's

imperative that we have Hunt/Moss, who's the contractor that will be doing the stadium, to also

be responsible for the public infrastructure. As a manager, I can tell you that that will protect

the City because it will control potential increases; it will control the risk of finger pointing as to

who's responsible for what. That protects the City and the County, so it's very significant; and

that's why we are supporting that waiver. We also have, with the remaining lands, an

opportunity for development, potential hotel, potential commercial development. We have eight

acres available for that purpose. Besides that, there is something that is very, very significant.We have a neighborhood in the City of Miami that is willing to accept a stadium. Sometimes it's

difficult to place any kind of institution in any location in the City. Here we have a

neighborhood that lived in good harmony with the Orange Bowl for many years and is willing

and looking forward to have this new stadium in that neighborhood. We also have a

responsibility at the City level to provide improvements to that community, so this is not just a

baseball stadium. That's why the City is committed to looking into other potential improvements

around the stadium, like enhanced street lighting, additional street improvements, additional

landscaping, to ensure that the stadium harmonizes with the community and that we do

something for the community that is willing to receive the stadium. Also, as the Mayor said, this

is the right moment, the right moment because construction is at a low. The cost of construction

is going to be level, if not, lower, and also because we have a high level of unemployment,

especially of construction people. And these are the construction individuals that can find a job

in a project such as this. I'm going to be asking now for Larry Spring, our chief financial officer,to give you more detailed information as to the origin of the funding that we plan to use for each

one of these elements. Larry.

Larry Spring: Commissioners, Larry Spring, chief financial officer. Since the BSA (Baseball

Stadium Agreement) -- the passing of the BSA, we've continued to develop our financial model

with regard to our funding obligations for the -- required on the stadium agreements. As the

City Manager's pointed out, the City has four or five different funding categories that we've --

are -- committed ourselves to in these agreements. There is a $13.5 million contribution to the

stadium construction itself. Over the past 18 months, those funds have been secured, via CDT

(Convention Development Tax) funds that have been provided to the City from the County prev --

oh, excuse me, CDT funds that were provided from the County to MSEA (Miami Sports and

Exhibition Authority), as well as sales proceeds that were transferred from MSEA to the City of

iami. With regards to the public infrastructure obligation, we estimate that obligation to beroughly around $12.4 million. The City has street bonds [sic], proceeds, sunshine state loan

roceeds, as well as sanitary sewer bond proceeds. It should be noted that the use for the

stadium purposes, with regards to the Orange Bowl redevelopment, were already approved by

the City Commission; and another note is the public infrastructure work at the site would be

work that the City would have had to do regardless if it was this project or any other project.

With regards to our funding obligation to the parking facility, we have an obligation to deliver a

minimum of 5,500 parking spaces for the stadium and for general public purpose use. Estimated

at around $94 million, we expect to be able to finance that via the proceeds -- the bond proceeds

derived from the CDT revenues that will be provided by the County, and those -- that agreement



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will be approved and are memorialized in the CDT interlocal agreement that's before you today.

In addition, the City has gone through great pain in negotiating parking revenue structure with

the Team that calls for a minimum bulk sales price for every single parking space for every

single home game of the soon-to-be Miami Marlins. Between those two sources, we expect to

generate at least the $94 million and have built-in cushion to be able to expand that -- those

bond proceeds as necessary. Also, the City is obligated to make a annual contribution of

250,000 a year towards the capital expenditure fund for maintaining the stadium itself. Again,we expect that we will be able to meet that obligation via the CDT revenues that are being

rovided by the various agreements, as well as the additional revenues generated on-site; that

would include advertising, other parking, so on and so forth. However, in my model, I have

included them specifically from the CDT revenues that we expect to get from the County. There's

also an obligation towards a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)

contribution to ensure that the stadium meets silver LEED certification. That obligation is a

$1.75 million requirement. Again, we expect to be able to meet that obligation from the bond

roceeds derived in delivering the parking garage. Again, the documents -- and our City

ttorney can get into this in more detail -- allow for the City to receive a credit towards that $1.7

million obligation, as we add qualifying elements -- LEED elements to our parking obligation.

So this is not necessarily an additional cost on top of the delivery of the stadium. Finally, the

re-site development requirements, again, these are things that the City would have had to do

regardless of the project; demolition of the old Orange Bowl stadium, environmental testing andremediation. These funds -- this approximate -- actually, these expenditures have already been

made. They amounted to approximately $3.3 million. Those expenditures were paid from CDTs

that were previously transferred from the stadi -- from MSEA, as well as Homeland Defense

Series 1 bond proceeds that were approved by the voters for the Orange Bowl redevelopment. I

would say on top of this, I would like to just add to the record that, again, in negotiating with the

Team and the County, we have, from the City's perspective, made sure that we've negotiated

rices, secured funding for this site. We have a site, again, that is essentially vacant right now,

rom the City's perspective. We have secured financing, revenues from the City and the County -

- I mean, excuse me, from the County and the Team that will assist in the City meeting its

obligations. Based on our number runs and what we see today, we do not expect to have any

impact on our general fund, whatsoever. Thank you.

Chair Sanchez: Thank you, Larry. At this time, we call up to the mike Mayor Carlos Alvarezrom the County. Mayor, welcome to City Hall, sir. Always a pleasure.

iami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez: Good morning, Mr. Chair, Commissioners. Thank

ou very much for the invitation. I think you all know where I stand on this issue. I'm here to

ask for your vote. I can tell you that, just like Mayor Diaz said, today is decision day, but this

subject matter is nothing new. I can tell you that, when I first made my decision to run for

mayor, late 2002, early 2003, that was one of the first things that I had to come to grips with,

whether I would be supportive of utilizing public funds for a construction of a Marlins stadium;

and back then, six years ago, I came to the decision that I would. So it's nothing new. It's

something that's been around for probably, in talking to the Mayor last night, as long as he's

been mayor, which is eight years; but today is decision day. Let me tell you a little bit about why

I made the decision five, six years ago to be in favor of utilizing public funds for the construction

of a Marlins stadium. First of all, I looked at what it meant for our community. We all talkabout having a great city, a great community. Well, you know, if you go around the world, if you

go around this country, you will realize that there's a number of things that make up a great city,

and one of them, not all of them, not the most important one, but one of them is the fact that you

have major league sports. Here, we have football and we have basketball, and we used to have

hockey, but they moved a little bit north, and we're lucky enough to have Major League Baseball.

nd quite frankly, they might never win another World Series, but they've won two. They've

between pretty successful. And I remembered what this community was like when those two --

when the team went to the World Series and it was unbelievable. So I looked at, you know, what

does a team mean to this community? It means a lot. It means that we are investing in the future



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of our community. A lot of people say, well, you know, you're building a stadium for the

arlins. Well -- but what are we getting in return? Well, we're getting the fact that we're going

to have a Major League Baseball franchise playing here in the City of Miami, not the Florida

arlins, but the Miami Marlins, for the next 35 years. Quite frankly, I think that that's

important. That's a step in the right direction in making us a great city, such as New York and

Chicago, L.A. (Los Angeles), and so on and so forth. So that's why I reached my decision. Back

then it was like, you know, why are you going to build a stadium for folks that are rich? Well,we're not building a stadium for folks that are rich. We're building a stadium for us, you know.

We're going to own the stadium. The Marlins are going to give a down payment and pay rent,

and they're going to be playing in our stadium for the next 35 years. And I think that the fact

that they are making a commitment to stay here in Miami, in your city, for the next 35 years, is

extremely important. And that's why I supported it back then. Obviously, economic development

-- and when you talk about economic development, it's just like if you have, you know, ten

lawyers in a room, five will give you an opinion this way, and five will give you that one. When

ou talk about whether a stadium actually does anything for economic development, if you have -

- if you talk to five economists, they'll tell you -- five of them will tell you that it does, five you tell

ou that it doesn't. But the fact of the matter is -- and this was a lower priority in my mind when

I made the decision five or six years ago, but it's changed. And that's what the Mayor said.

obs. Back then our unemployment rate was probably at three percent, three point two, three

oint four. Well, now it's upwards of seven, probably more if you count the people that want towork full time and can only find a part-time job. So it's upwards of ten percent. That's what it

means right now. Our decision today, your decision here, our decision in the County will affect

approximately 2,000 jobs that could start working in three months in an area that's been hard

hit. And that's construction. If you talk to the folks at the Beacon Council, that the one area that

has suffered the most in our community. There has been a reduction of almost 16 percent, 15.7

ercent in the area of construction, and that's why it's so important. You know, things change.

Things change over time. The fact is that our financing is over a 35-year period. Now, four

ears ago, we wouldn't be worried about financing. We'd be worried about it and make sure that

everything was all right, but we wouldn't be worried about the financing like we are today.

Why? Because the economy has taken a downturn. But I can tell you that over 35 years, it's

going to go like this; and I can tell you that, personally, I'm a very conservative person. And I've

told the Manager that whatever agreement we come with, it has to be very conservative, based

on historical facts, based on a history of things. And no, it's not a perfect agreement, and it'srobably not the best agreement that the City could get. It's certainly not the best agreement the

County would get, and if you talk to the Marlins, it's certainly not the best agreement they could

get. So everybody has given a little bit. Everybody has negotiated for a long time and, like I

said, it's decision day. Quite frankly, right now, it means a lot. It's jobs, jobs, and jobs. And like

the Mayor, like Mayor Diaz, I do take exception to some of the articles that have been written,

ou know. There will be good jobs. There was one article in particular that said in the short

term, there will be good jobs. They agreed to that. There will be high-paying, good construction

obs, in the short term. Didn't explain what the short term was, though. Short term is almost

three years. Who wouldn't want a job for three years, a high-paying construction job, if you

don't have a job right now? The other thing was that, yeah, okay; and after the three years, what

we're going to have is a bunch of minimum wage jobs. I truly took exception to that because I

came to this country as a political refugee in 1960, and my father parked cars at the

Fontainebleau, and he didn't have minimum wage; it was tips. That's what it was. We lived offtips. And if you would have told my mother or my sister or myself that my father didn't have a

good job, we would have thought you were crazy because that's what paid the rent, paid the

hone bill, paid the electric bill, and put food on our table. And it means thousands of jobs for

the next 35 years. And quite frankly, they won't be at the Orange -- they won't be at Dolphin

Stadium because they'll leave. They'll leave because they are a private institution, and they're

there to make money. People are afraid that the Marlins will make money. I hope they make a

lot of money because if they make money, we're successful here in this community. That means

that people are going to their stadium and people are going -- having a good time, and that's

what we want. Government's not in the business of making money. We're in the business of



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roviding service, improving the quality of life for people, and that's what I think this stadium

means. Now, baseball, you know, in the big scheme of things, when people are losing their jobs,

it's just a piece of the puzzle, but it's an important piece of the puzzle. When you talk about New

York, what do you talk about? You just don't talk about the museums. You talk about the

museums. You talk about the parks, the theater, restaurants. It's just a piece of the puzzle. And

quite frankly, I truly believe that it would be a shame if we had a major league franchise leave

our community because, after 10 years of negotiation, we couldn't come up with a contract. Andlet me just reiterate one thing -- because I understand that this has been a big issue, and quite

rankly, rightly so -- and that is the status of our economy right now. We live in the greatest

country in the world, and we will overcome this economic downturn. And all you have to do is

look at the history of the CDT and the TDT (Tourist Development Tax) and the sports franchise

tax, and you will see that even in the worst of times, in the worst of times, after September 11,

there was growth. Wasn't as much growth, but there was growth. Think back 35 years. I know

where I was. I was at FIU (Florida International University). I was a senior in FIU. How many

things have occurred in 35 years? That's what we're planning for. Will there be ups and downs?

I think we have come up with a better plan because of what has occurred, and we have seen

some of the things that could occur 10 years from now, and we have learned from those -- from

that information. I can tell you that this hasn't been an easy process. I've had to, on many

occasions, give my County Manager a lot of medication to keep him going. But quite frankly, I

think that this is the best deal that we can come up with. I'm asking for your support. I'm askingor your vote. Thank you very much.

Chair Sanchez: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. All right.

pplause.

Chair Sanchez: Rule number two: no clapping, okay. No clapping. No signs, no clapping.

nd that way we could get through this meeting and you can hold your applause 'til -- when you

leave City Hall at the parking lot, you can do the wave, you could cheer, you could do whatever

ou want. We had our City Manager address us. We would afford the opportunity to the County

anager Burgess to speak on the issue. Sir, welcome to City Hall. Always a pleasure.

George Burgess: Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the City Commission. Good morning. Iwould like to take the opportunity to thank Mayor Diaz, the City Administration, Pete, Larry, the

gang. This has not been easy. It's not been easy for the Team. It's not been easy for the City.

It's not been easy for the County. This project has been something we have been working on for

a long, long time. And we've persevered every bump in the road, and we're finally to a point

where I think it's decision time, up or down. I don't believe that, going forward without an

affirmative vote today, any time soon, if ever, are we going to have this kind of conversation

again. Opportunities come, opportunities go. This is a complicated deal. If it wasn't a

complicated deal, we would have had a deal a long time ago. It is a complex financing, but the

inancing is no different than it was in the BSA. As Mayor Diaz said, what is before you today is

undamentally the same as what was in the BSA that you approved, with some refinements, in my

udgment, things that actually improved the position of the public sector in this deal. I would

urge you not to believe those that suggest to you that somehow this deal is significantly worse

than other deals that have been struck in other major metropolitan areas in this country; frankly,to the contrary. But I would urge you to also understand that it's almost impossible to compare

one deal to the other because every market is different, every deal is different, every situation is

different. As to the financing, my boss, Mayor Alvarez, I think said it beautifully. This is a

35-year financing. If someone were to say, why don't we take a breather and come back and

consider this in two years, I would submit to you that if we're moving forward in two years

because things have improved that, by definition, we could do the deal today because of the

construct of the financing. The financing is structured with debt that is built in the back. It's

back-loaded. When you bring those costs to the present, the costs are not significantly different

than they would be with what's called "current interest bonds." We've looked at our revenue



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streams. We've looked at them very conservatively. I understand. My hearing is good, and we

looked at things very cautiously, and we used history as an indicator. And it's interesting to

know -- and I'll share with you three numbers. Convention Development Tax dollars, since its

inception, have on average, year to year, grown by over seven percent. That's since inception.

That's over twenty-something years. The Tourist Development Tax has grown by over 6 percent

since its inception. The Professional Sports Franchise Tax has grown by over five percent,

roughly five and a half, I believe, since its inception. We're running numbers as conservative asa 35-year average of 4 percent. As the Mayor said, things go up, things go down; averages, by

definition, compensate for the ups and the downs. And with that kind of conservative

assumption, we have sufficient capacity to do the same deal that we talked about a year ago

when we were talking about the BSA. We have researched the Team's ability to secure its debt,

to meet its obligations. We validated, as the estimates have progressed, the cost of the stadium,

the validity of the estimate, the validity of the schedule. We have done very good work at

negotiating away government cause to overrun risk. The team has assumed it in all of the public

infrastruction. That's an enormous concession. When you look at all of the different concerns

we had, from is it financeable? Can the team meet its obligations? Can we protect government

rom overruns? We have successfully, in my judgment, done all of those as best we could, given

the circumstances. We wouldn't be here before you today if we didn't believe that this works.

nd yes, it creates jobs. It creates economic opportunity. What it also does is it continues the

right thing to do as a region, and that is invest in significant public infrastructure in our urbancore. And that -- it isn't about one project; it isn't about two. It's about a sustained, continued

recognition that public investment in the urban core will ultimately fuel private investment, and

we will bring people closer to where they work, pedestrian activity where it belongs; and this is

one small component of that bigger initiative. Thank you.

Chair Sanchez: Thank you, sir. At this time, Bob DuPuy.

Bob DuPuy: Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, my name is Bob DuPuy. I'm the president of

ajor League Baseball, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak for a few minutes in favor of a

ballpark for the soon-to-be Miami Marlins. I would like to thank Mayor Diaz, Manager

Hernandez, Mr. Spring, and the entire City attorneys, the entire staff, and of course, Mayor

lvarez and County Manager Burgess and their entire staff, for spending literally hundreds and

hundreds of hours to get us to where we are today, and that is, with a chance to save MajorLeague Baseball for generations to come in South Florida. The decision to utilize public funds

or any project is obviously your work, and I would not be presumptuous enough to come here

rom New York and suggest how you should do that. I would only say that I have been involved

in more than a dozen of the twenty-one new ballparks that have been built by communities since

the early 90's. In every one of those, there has been vigorous debate and often acrimony; and in

every single one of those instances, that debate has dissolved as these wonderful ballparks have

been built and it served as destination points and it served as places of joy for millions and

millions of fans. A year ago I stood here, and I told you about what's happened in some of the

communities where major league parks have been built. I asked you to look at Baltimore and

Cleveland, San Diego, Phoenix, Denver and others, where ballparks have served as hubs of

urban development. That development goes on today, unabated, and today, Miami can join that

list of communities. I'd like to provide just a few examples of what I think a Major League

Baseball facility can provide and only a Major League Baseball facility can provide. A placewhere 30,000 local fans can gather with a sense of community, with a sense of purpose, and a

sense of pride 80 times a year for affordable family entertainment; coverage in the newspapers

of the world every single day, from February to October, and frankly, most other days during the

off-season. If you travel in Latin America, you travel in Asia, you travel in Europe and you see

Hanley Ramirez shirts and Miami Marlin caps all over the world advertising your community.

When you have your long-awaited and delayed all-star game, which is a five-day celebration of

baseball, the finals of the World Baseball Classic or a World Series -- and as Mayor Alvarez

ointed out in the short history of the Marlins, you've already had two -- your city will be

showcased in 13 languages to 225 countries and over 100 million people. No brochure can do



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that for this community. A world-class academy, which is only the second that Major League

Baseball has invested in, that will produce not just good baseball players, but good citizens as

well. Mr. Chairman, no one remembers their first visit to a convention center, but almost

everyone remembers their first visit to a Major League Baseball game. Hundreds of thousands

of grandparents and parents will take their grandchildren and children to their first game.

Thousands of those may catch a foul ball or get an autograph. Each will have the memory of a

lifetime. The 20 major cities in the United States, each have a major league team and it helpsdefine their cities as major league. Today, you have a chance to ensure Major League Baseball

or Miami for generations to come. I ask for your support and that you vote yes. Thank you very

much.

Chair Sanchez: Thank you. Mr. Loria. Thank you, Bob.

effrey Loria: Mr. Chair, members of the Commission, Mayors Alvarez and Diaz, and County

anagers. I wanted to take a minute of your time, A, thanking you for -- to thank you for letting

me speak on the record, but also to express what I've been trying to say for a long time.

Obviously, my presence in this community and -- in the community is probably the longest

running presence of any owner of a major league team here, and it's for a reason. It's because I

have an unwavering commitment to see things well done, professionally done, and to continue in

that same manner here in Miami. I just want you to know that it will continue in that same vein.I do take exception, however, to Mayor Alvarez's comments that we may never win another

World Series. Thank you.

Chair Sanchez: I knew you would. Thank you. Next speaker. Mr. Samson.

David Samson: I knew that was coming, Mayor Alvarez. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

embers of the Commission, I am reminded that we have been before you many times, six times,

I guess, in the six years, to discuss this very important issue; and I wanted to clarify a few things

that have come up in recent days, weeks, months, and years that have not been stated enough or

clearly enough. The Miami Marlins, from the very beginning, have said one thing and one thing

only: The only money that could be used or that the Marlins would like to be used in a

ublic-private partnership is money that comes from other people. Tourist dollars. We are not

interested in using money from the general revenue, whether it is money for police, for fire or forother social services. And there is one reason for that that has not very widely been discussed,

and that is because we are members of your community. Even though we are private business

owners and we want to continue doing business, we recognize that in order to live here and in

order to maintain our quality of life, we need to have all the services that make this community

so great. So when we discuss becoming a partner with Miami, the City of Miami and the County

of Miami-Dade, from the beginning we had those parameters. So we sat with Mayor Diaz and

ayor Alvarez, and prior to Mayor Alvarez, and George Burgess, the County Manager, and

Pete Hernandez, and all of the attorneys, and we all sat in one room many times, many hours

because we all had one goal. In a public-private partnership, there must be winners on every

side of the table. And everyone has to understand what it is they are doing and what it is they

are trying to achieve. You have heard from the Mayor, Mayor Diaz, about what the City of

iami is trying to achieve and what the City of Miami alone can accomplish. Your role today is

to make a decision on behalf of the City of Miami. The County had a decision to make on acountywide basis. What is the benefit of having baseball in Little Havana? What is the benefit o

having Major League Baseball period, of being a major league city? And the Team had a

decision to make, like every private company and every private business in this fine city, do we

want to do business here? And our answer, from my boss, Jeffrey Loria, has been the same from

day one in 2002. Yes. This is where we want to do business. This is where we want to build a

legacy. This is where we want to have the Museum of Baseball, a ballpark that people will come

to from all over the world. This is where we want to celebrate championships. This is where we

want to see economic development and revival. This is where we want to run our foundation to

give money and time back to the community. This is where we want players to touch the lives of



15/87


kids, to touch the lives of the elderly, to touch the lives of people who need to be touched because

we have choices. As members of the Commission, and certainly as the Chair, and all of the

members, you have choices, too. The next thing we did is we sat down with the County and the

City and we decided, what is the best way to get to all of our goals? And we spent -- someone

today testified that it was hundreds of hours. Well, I actually counted -- I didn't sleep much last

night, as I was surfing the Internet and watching the news -- and I was able to calculate in my

new agenda that's on a computer the number of hours spent, and I can only tell you that I wish Iwere compensated by the hour because then I would be in a higher tax bracket. I was paying

bed tax last night in Miami, and I will tell you that this City is waiting all over the radio, all over

TV (Television). This has been debated. This is not the first time I have been before you or this

issue has been before you. People have had an opportunity from day one to vet these issues

ublicly. Anybody who tells you they have not had an opportunity is not being forthcoming.

nyone who tells you that they think that it's either a ballpark or money to help social services,

they're not being forthcoming. Anyone who tells you that the Florida Marlins are not committed

to this community only has to look at the actions we've taken in the past six years. Forget the

World Series victories. Forget those things. I'm talking about things when the cameras are off.

nyone can perform when the camera's on. That's not what you should look for from your

rivate businesses 'cause the real world operates without a camera; when we are doing services,

when we are giving food away during Christmas or toys to people who can't afford toys, or

games to kids -- or dinner to kids, forget desert. We have a rule with our foundation, Mr. Chairand Commissioners. We will not give desert to children who cannot afford dinner. We will give

dinner. When we talk about the jobs that we create and the jobs that we have, when we talk

about our commitment to ballparks and ballfields and sports, to keeping kids off the streets and

keeping kids doing things that matter, that will make them productive members of this

community, that's what my job is; and I would say to you that I hope that that's what you believe

our job is, to take responsibility for the future, for a future that all of us, when we are no longer

here, that will be enjoyed. I am here to humbly, for the sixth time, ask for your vote so that,

inally, there will be no more votes; that you will say, once and for all, to the people, there will

be a ballpark; there will be jobs; there will be economic development; and we have satisfied and

gotten another good partner to keep this City going. Because when this economic downturn

changes, people will look to Miami and say Miami positioned itself to come out stronger than

before and ready to take on all challenges. Thank you very much for your time.

Chair Sanchez: Thank you. All right. What we're going to do now is we're going to -- we're on

SP.1, and that is to approve the -- all five agreements. What we're going to do is we're going to

open it up to the public, and then we'll come back to the Commission, make a motion and a

second. We'll debate it, and then we'll legislate, okay. So at this time, what I'm asking is, all

speakers who are going to speak in favor or against, you will be afforded three minutes to

address this Commission. All right. Did you sign --? The only thing that we ask is that you sign

up with the City Clerk so we could get you to come up. And when you come up, please state your

name and address clearly for the records, as we do our best to keep good public records here at

City Hall. So we'll start with the first speaker. Yes. Not everybody at once. All right.

Carlos Rodriguez: Hello.

Chair Sanchez: Good morning.

r. Rodriguez: Morning. My name is Carlos Rodriguez, from Urban All Development Group,

also owner of Marlins View Holdings, LLC (Limited Liability Corporation). It's a company that

owns properties close to the stadium in 12th Avenue, between 5th and 6th Street. Also, we own

this building in 12th Avenue and 2nd Street that we just finished. I'm here because Miami is

becoming to be a global city from a small town in a tremendous pace. And this Marlins Stadium,

as Mayor Alvarez mentioned, is just part of the puzzle. This announcement about this stadium is

or us to start investing in the area, and also wanting to propose, not only the stadium. The

stadium was just the beginning. It's to create in Miami, the Marlins Sports Village as a



16/87


destination point between 1st Street to 7th Street, between 12th Avenue and 17th Avenue, what is

going to be the Marlins Stadium, the soccer stadium, the Champions Hotel, the destination point

or the city. This is a tremendous engine for the City. When we talk about jobs, it's not only job

or the stadiums [sic]. It's what that is going to irrigate in the rest. For example, dreaming

about and what that contribute to the City and reading in the papers about the problems of the

garage, I say the parkings [sic] -- we have parking here in the City of Miami. We have parking

at the Marina Stadium. We have parking in Bayside. We have parking in the airport. We cancreate the marina in the river in 13th Avenue. And we have -- we can create a water taxi. So I

can give you a tremendous amount of ideas how this stadium and the surrounding area, creating

the sports village as a destination, as a new district, can bring to the City. So I'm here to support

the stadium and everything -- initiatives that can irrigate the area and create the Miami -- a

world destination point for entertainment and sports. Thank you.

Chair Sanchez: Thank you. Next speaker. Good morning. State your name and address for the

record.

ariano Cruz: Okay. Mariano Cruz, 1227 Northwest 26th Street. I have live in Miami since

1962, when I came by boat. I was picked up there I'm the Bahamas. I have been now -- being

sent back Cuba because we are wet feet -- no, it was the Bahamas by the Coast Guard that I was

sent here. Since 1962, I been here. The only time I was out when I was out on the assignment asa volunteer during the October crisis. That's when I got to use all this stuff now. Listen, there

was a saying in Cuba (Speaking in Spanish). It's going to be candy for everybody. Not for just a

ew; candy for everybody. And everybody, according to the dictionary, encompass everybody,

don't leave out anybody. Now (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It was a senator there in Congress that was

saying -- asking, how come you don't make any speeches? He said, I don't need to make

speeches; I have the votes. He said, if you have the votes, you have to make speeches. So I won't

have to make the speech. We don't have the votes. But never know -- but this is -- see, I am not

against Major League. See -- you see here I am a Major League insider, okay. I have that

inside (UNINTELLIGIBLE), okay? So I am for that. I used to follow it. But the only thing is the

transparency of being done. Company without bids, how much, all that. (UNINTELLIGIBLE),

whatever. When there is a time now -- there's a lot of construction company without work. No,

we can bid. Just now there was a -- I am in the bonds advisory board of the City. I know what is

-- it was a $5 million job, and you know how much came the bid? Three point one million, andeverything the same, same specs, same thing; almost $2 million less, okay. That's it. But I am

there. Since years ago, I remember going to Grapeland Park. I was a member of the Parks

dvisory Board. And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I was lobbying for the Marlins too, many, many

ears ago. And we were the first in Commissioner Regalado program to ask for the Marlins to

be at the Orange Bowl site, when everybody wanted downtown, Bicentennial, blah, blah. I've

been following that 'cause I live close to the old Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium there. I used to -

- I followed everything there. And I own a house in Polk County, so I knew all the grapefruit

leagues there. No, the lakes there -- the -- Lakeland, everything, Baseball City. So I follow the

baseball. But what (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is there no transparency. What are the salaries? Are

ou going to follow TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program), too? Are you going to follow that?

Because you go to the Yankees, three people there, Rodriguez, Jeter, and Giambi, over $70

million one year. Over $70 million. Are they contribute anything? No.

Chair Sanchez: Mariano, in conclusion.

r. Cruz: Okay, in conclusion. The only thing is transparency and what are we going to get?

When people in my neighborhood complain that street -- they stop at 29th Terrace fixing the

street. What happened to the other street? There is money -- billions of dollar for a stadium.

Our quality of living has to come too. Bring some money there to Allapattah, too, okay.

Chair Sanchez: Thank you.



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r. Cruz: Bring some money to the neighborhood, too --

Chair Sanchez: Thank you.

r. Cruz: -- because we are taxpayers, too.

Chair Sanchez: Thank you. Next speaker.

r. Cruz: Thank you.

Ramon Guillen: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) come in the morning, you know, 7:30 we been here.

Chair Sanchez: Yes, sir.

r. Guillen: Ramon Guillen. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the area of Dade County, Miami for 42

ears. Me coming today (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I no play today. I like it -- you know, the

(UNINTELLIGIBLE) people come, the City of Miami, they put money. Me like it.

(UNINTELLIGIBLE) you know the kitchen over here and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) money,

(UNINTELLIGIBLE). No way. I like the people. You no put the stadium, the Marlins Stadium.

You know the something people (UNINTELLIGIBLE) North Miami and 2nd Avenue, northeast.Some of the people, he say, oh, he no like the idea of the area. That a good area. you know now

I put up that big building. I got the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). The people come in New York, they

ut one -- 700 million all the people, you know the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Now Allapattah, you

(UNINTELLIGIBLE). Allapattah number one. And the 70 -- 57 Street and the expressway, you

know the 36 -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It got -- you know, 20,000 people (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

boat. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Mr. Gonzlez. He got -- when Gonzlez come, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

rogress with Allapattah. Some of the people tell me now, what happened, Mr. Ramon? You no

ut up the stadium. I tell (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And today, the City of Miami tell all the

Commission, Gonzlez, Joe Sanchez, Michelle, Angel, and my friend, Mr. Regalado, he said

Regalado put, you know, the stadium, the Orange Bowl. If you happy today, Mr. Regalado, you

(UNINTELLIGIBLE) put the support to the Miami and put up the stadium today.

(UNINTELLIGIBLE) the people. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the Commission put the support the

iami stadium, the Miami put the support. I no play. I work (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for 42 years,the community. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) now, Miami come up, up, up. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Manny

Diaz, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), he put up more building. (UNINTELLIGIBLE), sent the

eople different place, the Dominican Republican. (UNINTELLIGIBLE), you know, and Santo

Domingo -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE). He got the support of the Marlins. Maybe next year I look at

my family, you know, the stadium, the Orange Bowl. Thank you very much.

Chair Sanchez: So you are in favor of the stadium?

r. Guillen: Yeah. I support the stadium today.


ohn Siegle: Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, Mayor Diaz, Mayor Alvarez, my name is JohnSiegle, from the Construction Association of South Florida; and I'm here to talk to you about

obs and small businesses and clarify some of the statistics. As we're all aware, South Florida

construction companies are experiencing the most abrupt and steepest construction slowdown in

more than 25 years. Just in the state of Florida, 184,000 jobs have been lost in the last 24

months. Private and public contractors have been canceled or delayed, and we estimate that at

least 4,000 jobs, just in Miami alone, will vanish in 2009 unless projects start. And unless

there's a change, hundreds of construction businesses will cease to exist. Small businesses with

ewer than 20 employees are especially the most vulnerable. Fortunately, there is an opportunity

to turn this situation around, and that is the -- going forward with the stadium project. This



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important project will allow many South Florida companies to survive, save jobs, expand their

payrolls and help turn this economy around. So we would like you to remember that this mustn't

be a debate about politics, policy, or who gets to spend tourist dollars. It's a debate about the

very survival of small businesses, of jobs, and our ability to sustain the local economy for years

to come. Thank you.

Chair Sanchez: Thank you, sir. Next speaker. Morning.

Osvaldo Vento: Good morning, Mr. Chair, Commissioners, Mayor Alvarez, Mayor Diaz. My

name is Osvaldo Vento. I am the immediate past president of the Latin Builders Association, and

I am the president and owner of Everglades Lumber. As immediate past president of the Latin

Builders, we, obviously, support the Marlins Stadium. We're advocates of an industry that's been

hurt severely, and we need jobs. But I need to speak to you as president and owner of

Everglades Lumber, a company that has been in the City of Miami since 1940; Commissioner

Regalado, in your district. For the first time -- my family has been involved in the business since

1972. For the first time in 37 years, we've had to let a hundred families -- we've had to lay off a

hundred families, a hundred families that I believe that with this stadium and the opportunities

that are in front of you, will be able to be rehired. Just this morning -- I normally don't wear a

suit to work. They saw me in a suit; they knew I was coming here. Just this morning, three of my

guys looked at me, came up to me, and says, (Speaking in Spanish). Is this going to pass? I wish

I could have captured the anxiety in their eyes. And I said, you know what, it's going to pass. I

really believe it's going to pass because our elected officials understand the need, understand the

situation, and understand that we need to continue to create jobs in this community. Thank you

very much.

Chair Sanchez: Next speaker.

Carol Bowen: Good morning, Mr. Chairman, City Commissioners, Mayor Diaz, Mayor Alvarez.

For the record, my name is Carol Bowen. I'm the director of Government Affairs for Associated

Builders and Contractors, Florida East Coast Chapter. We are a commercial construction

association headquartered in Coconut Creek, with offices in Doral going up to Brevard County.

On behalf of our 900 member companies and their thousands of employees, I want to publicly

encourage the Commissioners to vote this project forward today. As has been explained to yourepeatedly, the stakes for this project couldn't be any higher. The economy is bad, people are

out of work, and there are no guarantees that the federal dollars will save us in the way we hope.

We need this project to move forward and we need to do so today. The project will create

thousands of construction jobs, employ hundreds of suppliers, increase much-needed foot traffic

to the surrounding local businesses and bring millions of dollars in tourism to the local

community for years to come. We simply cannot wait any longer to move forward and must vote

in support of the stadium project today. Thank you.


Denise Perry: Good morning. My name's Denise Perry. My address is 164 Northwest 20th

Street. I thought the game was three strikes, you're out. And my understanding is this is the

sixth time up here, so I'm not sure if the game is understood by everyone the same way. I alsowant to raise a comment to the Marlins representative who said that the dollars being spent on

this is not our money, and I strongly disagree with that. We're the ones who cleaned for that

money to serve those tourists. We gave them massages. We cooked for them. We drove them to

all the places and beautiful sights of South Florida. We earned that money to be spent in our

best interest. If this is about jobs, then does it matter what we build? Construction is

construction, whether you're building a stadium or, more importantly, a school, housing, parks,

a community center, something that serves the people of Miami in our greatest hour of need. A

deal? A deal for who? Mayor Diaz said that we didn't understand what was going on and that

this is easy to say no. I disagree. I don't think it's about yes or no. I think it's about a

responsible decision. You say no to bad deals, and you say yes to good deals. This appears to



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be a bad deal, or is the information that we don't know what's happening behind closed doors.

What are the pay offs for everybody else because it doesn't seem to be paying off for the housing

needed in Miami, the jobs needed in Miami, to build schools. I would like to know if Alvarez or

the County or the City, who laid off people -- and the thousands of people who need work, we're

saying to them, this is a 35-year trajectory; maybe in 35 years, you can come back to this job.

I'm concerned about the fact that the Miami Arena was a hot deal, was going to bail out

Overtown and provide us with a great future. I don't know if anyone's driven by there lately, butthat's nothing but dust. The opportunity for jobs was minimal. Those jobs were minimum wage,

and yes, they were working, but it wasn't enough to take care of their family, and now it's

nothing. The -- following the lead of our public projects that have happened, I'm concerned

about the Performing Arts Center, a bleeding, bad deal that, thanks to a wealthy woman,

brought us a little bit out of the hole, but it's still a bad deal. I'm not sure that we're all capable

of just watching our elected officials make decisions that do not respect the desire of the people.

This is also -- I'd like to represent the folks who are at the County right now. There are

thousands of people who are against this. It's difficult for us to all be in two places. Thank you.


Truly Burton: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Truly Burton. I represent the Builders

ssociation of South Florida. We are residential and multifamily builders, located iniami-Dade and Broward County. Good morning, Commissioners, Mr. Manager, Mr.

Chairman, Mayors Alvarez and Diaz. I'm here today to express the support of our board of

directors for jobs. The preceding speaker related the issue about jobs. I'm here today to tell

ou, as you all know -- you're heard from preceding speakers -- our industry is hurting. Our

eople are hurting. They need work. They need work now. As Mr. Vento mentioned, he's got

amilies that he had to lay off. Our folks are in the same place. We are both in the same

industry. In fact, the one major way that a government can help its people is to propose and

approve and get started major public facilities like stadiums. We are very excited that thousands

of construction jobs and then permanent jobs will be created by this project. However, before

our board chose to support this resolution and the stadium, they wanted assurances from the

arlins management that two things would happen. First, that all work would be bid out in a

air, open, and competitive process so that everybody could participate, and that the majority of

work, from professional services down to construction laborers, would be drawn from the localool of talent here in Miami. It's a very rich talent pool, and these folks are ready to get to work.

Once the Marlins' senior management gave the Builders Association's board of directors that

assurance, our folks endorsed it. So I'm here today with pride to tell you, please say yes and

build the stadium. Thanks.

Chair Sanchez: Thank you. Next speaker, ma'am. Good morning.

Vonkeva Sneed: Good morning. My name is Vonkeva Sneed. This is Felicia Norris. We're

members of the Power U unit. We stay at 419 Northwest 8th Street, Apartments 204 and 201.

We are in a crisis baseball cannot answer. The City and County must stop rewarding the most

able. We must stop rewarding the slumlords and profiters. Use this money to hire the thousands

of new code inspectors needed to clean up years of neglected housing in Little Haiti, Overtown,

Little Havana, Wynwood and Liberty City. Make money by taking down slumlords like DelPlaza, LLC. Our Commissioner, Michelle Spence-Jones, knows that there are more pressing

issues than baseball. She knows that the slumlords and profiteers of the City are killing the

eople of Miami. We will see if she and this body could do the right thing and truly protect the

eople of the City. Say no to Del Plaza and to baseball. Hit a home run. Knock this deal back

to the thousand of Miami workers at the Dolphin Stadium who will lose an entire season of pay if

ou make this deal. Thank you.




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ane Winston: Hi. My name is Jane Winston. I'm a resident of the City of Miami and an owner

of a business in the City of Miami, and I'm a season ticket holder of the Florida Marlins. And I

thank Mr. Loria and Mr. Samson and Mr. Beinfest for bringing us a wonderful team year in and

ear out, a competitive team. I just think that -- I'm going to be redundant. I'm just going to say

that, obviously, bringing jobs -- I really want Miami to be a major league city. I think that's

really important for our city. And I think -- I grew up in a different city up north, in northeast,

and my fondest memories were as a child, going to baseball games. It's an eminently affordablerecreation activity that I'm looking forward to a whole new generation of baseball fans being

spawned here in South Florida. Thank you.

Chair Sanchez: Thank you, ma'am. Next speaker.

Shannon Reaze: Hi. I'm Shannon Reaze, with Power U Center for Social Change, address 164

orthwest 20th Street. I just want to talk for a second about the issue of jobs within this. If we

add the 2,000 jobs that will occur over the next three years, what does that make our

unemployment rate? I bet we'll still be at the seven or eight percent once you guys get done

calculating those numbers. The major cities that the president mentioned, three of them are on

the worst cities in the nation list, three of them. We are one of them. Will this deal continue to

ut us on this list, or will we actually be able to get off? I don't know how he feels about that.

Tourism dollars are for the benefit of the people, not to enable businesses to make more profits.Baseball cannot get us out of this crisis. If the Marlins truly do love this city, they will find a way

to stay without our tourism dollars. What will the Marlins do for the slumlords all around Little

Havana? What will the Marlins do to improve the conditions of housing that people have to live

in every single day? Not baseball, not now. Fix our homes, fix our roads, support our schools

and build a green industry. That will produce more than 2,000 jobs over three years. We have

to stop having these backroom deals between private business and the government. It is truly

time that at every one of those tables, the people of this community are who are sitting there

making the decisions and deciding how our money is going to be spent. We didn't make this

decision. It has been six years of trying to get this done. We keep telling you no. I'm from

Cleveland. I went to the Indians games. It did not -- it was not what improved my home. It is

not what improved my life. The Indians didn't do it, and the Marlins will not do it for Miami.


ose Gonzalez: My name is Jose Gonzalez. I live at 1118 Southwest 10th Street, Miami.

Through this whole proceeding, I have received a lot of deceit, deception. I was taught that a

deceiver is worse than a liar. For example, Mr. DuPuy talk about the economic impact on a

stadium and the benefit that will bring. An economic study was done by the University of

Columbia and it says no arena, no stadium, no sport facility on this whole nation has contribute

to the economic benefit of a city or a county. Mr. Mayor, you are deceiving the people in here

when you talk about 2,000 jobs. You're talking about 2,000 sophisticated jobs where they want

to put up a sophisticated building, which you guys -- if I come in here and try to put up a

building, the first thing that is required is the parking; and somebody forgot the parking at this

stadium, which we are going to pay for. And another thing, Mr. Loria, I have to congratulate

ou. You got the best deal of a baseball team in the nation in the history of baseball. You're

getting 70 percent of our money, and you're only putting 30 percent, which, normally, it's theother way around. You deceive the people, and you, too, because the last stadium that came to a

vote, they lost. And this one never came to a vote. Don't lie to yourself. If this has been up for

ten years, what happened with the Bobby Maduro Stadium? What happened with the land there

that was so cheap? What happened with Allapattah? It's because they are blacks or Puerto

Ricans, we cannot do it there, and now we have to do it in Little Havana? Something is wrong.

You're thinking about the big business, Mr. Mayor. And something happened the other day that

opened a little bit my eyes. My daughter-in-law went to get a permit at the County. Are you

aware that if you go to get a building permit -- and this is not related to the stadium -- you have

to pass a five-question exam; and a police officer, a doctor, an attorney, or whatever -- or



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contractor can go 20 times to pass the exam; but if you fail as a property owner, you cannot pull

the permit?

Chair

minutes of feb 13 2009 meeting

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