*It appears St. Petersburg City Council Member Ed Montanari (R) will be the one determining the outcome of the Rays/Hines deal and whether $1.6 billion in taxpayer subsidies in corporate welfare to private entities Rays Hines is in the best interest of our city.
Ed - it's decision time - you can't have it both ways. Fiscal conservativism is inconsistent with big government spending.
When we met, you said you are fiscally conservative, that you treat the city's money like it is your own, that you want to make sure the city has funds in reserves when the storms come, and after making sure we have adequate fire and police protection, that we have the funds to pay for the $5 BILLION (!!!) in storm water and sewer repairs that are so vitally needed to prevent flooding around the city. (Note: currently, the city says it will take 30 years to address all the needs.)
You said we cannot focus on the shiny object and that we need to make sure we have the funds to rebuild the marina and build a needed municipal services building. But after all of that you said, "do you know how hard it was to get baseball."
The current proposed Rays/Hines deal will cost every man, woman and child in St. Petersburg $6,000 - a total of $1.6 billion. And for what? A transfer of an enormous amount of the citizen's resources to billionaires when a deal could be renegotiated to keep those resources for the great needs you and the vast majority of voters care about.
Or a stadium could be built in a more central and conventional stadium location nearer to their fans, where their game day attendance will improve. With political leadership and perhaps some public financial support at a more reasonable level (provided by ALL of the Tampa Bay region), multiple sites around the Tampa Bay area could be a better location.
Ed, Republican leadership does not support corporate welfare.
Ed - as you are leaving city government to run for what I assume is Republican leadership in Florida government, I hope you would agree that corporate welfare to the tune of $1.6 billion is not what state-wide Republican leadership advocates.
Moreover, the citizens of St. Petersburg - regardless of political affiliation - once presented with the costs of the deal, have overwhelmingly said they don't like it.
Ed, it's time to make a decision and you can't be both things at once. Are you truly a fiscally conservative Republican leader, or not?
Please don’t ignore or dismiss the economic analyses that clearly show that the Rays Hines deal is not good for St. Petersburg. While you are our representative and empowered to vote as you see fit, you also have an implied fiduciary responsibility to your constituencies.
We count on that fiduciary responsibility to protect us from decisions based on political and personal ambitions or failure to consider all sides of an issue. The commitment of city funds and promises involved in this project will have consequences for many years and affect residents who have not been given the opportunity to vote how and where their taxes and other city revenues will be spent.
Vote 'NO' on the proposed Rays/Hines deal - we can do better.
To Our Readers
Want to help?
The vote is Thursday July 18th.
Call Ed Montanari's office @ 727 551 3305 - and leave a message about how you feel.
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AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY
Americans for Prosperity-Florida; Statement on Development Plans for New Stadium from AFP-FL State Director Skylar Zander
“The economic benefits promised by proponents of publicly funded sports stadiums fail to materialize time and time again. Studies have consistently shown that the return on investment for such projects is questionable at best, with most of the economic gains flowing to private interests rather than the general public. This means that taxpayers are forced to shoulder the financial burden yet reaping limited rewards, if any."
“For years, Tropicana Field has drawn some of the lowest attendance in Major League Baseball, and there is little reason to believe — and certainly no guarantee — that this would change at a new stadium. We cannot support such a waste of hard-earned taxpayer dollars, especially while the area is experiencing plenty of infrastructure failures.”
CITIZENS AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE
America's #1 taxpayer watchdog. Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) urges St. Petersburg renegotiation or consideration of alternatives re Rays Baseball proposal for the Gas Plant redevelopment.
The CAGW is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization representing more than one million members and supporters nationwide. CAGW's mission is to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in government.
"...improving the financial terms of the Rays Hines deal at the Gas Plant site to shift the burden off taxpayers.... and for the council to publish the total expected cost of unfunded priority infrastructure projects in the city for the next 30 years, so that taxpayers have full information to assess the true opportunity cost of directing public funds to a private stadium.
St. Petersburg’s taxpayers and voters deserve credible evidentiary data to support the dubious claim that a stadium would provide more local jobs and stronger economic growth than alternative development proposals for the Gas Plant site...or other non-baseball events would not increase local gains...where TDT money received by hotels / hospitality industry... end up be used to pay off the stadium debt.
Taxpayer Watchdog Groups
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), CCAGW Urges St. Petersburg City Council to Reconsider Stadium Funding Proposal, Tom Schatz, June 4, 2024
Taxpayer Protection Alliance, TPA Urges St. Petersburg City Council to Reject Taxpayer Funding for Tampa Bay Rays Stadium, Hunter Hamberlin, June 11, 2024
