Wouldn’t we all like to be given 100 acres and a billion dollars?
Chutzpah, cojones, nerve…all of these words come to mind when hearing that the Rays’ new billionaire owners are demanding free prime land on Dale Mabry and a one-billion-dollar cash gift from the public. This week, our elected officials including Tampa City Council and the Hillsborough County Commission have a tough decision to make when voting on the Rays’ proposal to fund a new baseball stadium in Tampa.
Here are just a few reasons why we—the undersigned former elected officials who for a total of more than 50 years in office have “been there and done that”—believe the current elected officials should “Just say no.”
Use taxpayer money for its intended use
Taxpayers expect that public funds (your money) are collected to be used for essential services such as police, fire, roads, sewers, affordable housing and hurricane resilience projects. The Rays’ owners are demanding more than $1,500,000,000 (a billion and a half dollars—including interest) of public money to build infrastructure around a private baseball stadium, draining funds away from these critical services.
Bait and switch
It is immoral, unethical and possibly illegal to use even one penny of CIT (Community Investment Tax) generated money when the CIT ballot language in 2024 told voters that this sales tax would be used for transportation, public facilities and public infrastructure, not a private stadium. Moreover, when they put the CIT on the recent ballot, the County Commissioners debated the issue and expressly rejected including “stadiums” in the ballot language. With inflation pushing housing, insurance, grocery and gas prices up to record highs, this is not the time to burden residents with additional financial strain to subsidize billionaires.
Let the voters decide
The Rays new owners are “demanding” that our elected officials vote on this billion-dollar boondoggle this week! Why? What’s the hurry? Clearly, the owners are afraid of a public vote because it’s easier to persuade eight elected officials than hundreds of thousands of voters. The owners say they need a quick vote because “they must build and occupy a new stadium by 2029.” This sense of urgency is fictional because the Rays can stay in the newly renovated Trop field in St Pete more or less indefinitely. Our elected officials must show the courage and backbone to let the voters decide how your CIT sales tax funds should be spent.
Don’t buy their false promises
In every city where a billionaire sports team owner wants a new stadium, they hire consultants to spin the pitch and assure the local community that it will make money on the deal. To the contrary, many independent studies on stadium subsidies over the past few decades have shown that the economic benefits produced fall far short of the owners’ projections. For example, in Miami, their new baseball stadium saddled that community with a huge long-term debt and millions lost annually. Similarly, the “Art of this Deal” (proposed by the Rays) clearly shows that the money generated by this stadium will also go to the owners and not to the community.
Call their bluff
We are already a “Major League” community with two world championship sports franchises. While most folks would like baseball to stay in the region, there is no compelling reason that taxpayers need to pay one penny of public funds to keep it here! We are a proven sports market and the 11th largest media market in the nation. The owners of the Rays NEED to be in the Tampa Bay market much more than we NEED them to stay…so elected officials, call their bluff.
Understand, that a “NO” vote this week doesn’t mean no to the idea of a new stadium; rather, it merely sends a strong message to the owners and MLB that if one is built here, WE will set the terms and WE won’t be “played”.
County Commissioners, City Council, Mayor Castor: Stand up for your community and ”Just Say No” !
Readers: you can email your own comments to your elected officials (prior to Wednesday) at:
Tampa City Council Tampacitycouncil@tampagov.net
Mayor Castor Jane.castor@tampagov.net
Hillsborough County Commission hcfl.gov
This is an op-ed signed by:
Hon. John Dingfelder – Former Tampa City Councilman
Hon. Mariella Smith – Former County Commissioner
Hon. Orlando Gudes – Former Tampa City Councilman
Hon. Pat Kemp – Former County Commissioner
Hon. Linda Saul Sena – Former Tampa Councilwoman
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay accepts letters to the editors and op-ed pitches. We will not run your letter without permission. Email your submissions to rroa@cltampa.com for consideration.
Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.
Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky