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10 September 2008

Marlins one step closer to ballpark

The soap opera-esque story of the Marlins' efforts to get a ballpark took a positive turn Tuesday. Well, it was positive for the Marlins, perhaps not so much for the citizens of Miami-Dade County. Judge Jeri Beth Cohen, who was presiding over Norman Braman's lawsuit regarding the legality of the stadium deal, threw one the last remaining arguments of the case: that the stadium did not serve a public good. That may not sound like much, but that's important when it comes to securing public financing.

One issue remains, the most important one. Braman wants to see the ballpark put to a referendum. That ruling is expected after September 15. He has also indicated that he will appeal the case all the way to the Florida Supreme Court, although if he loses on this remaining count (he's lost the other six so far), the Marlins and Miami would be free to proceed unfettered.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would not be in favor of funding this if I was a taxpayer down there. Cities need to force these teams to come up with private financing plans like our two baseball teams have done.

Anonymous said...

"... like our two baseball teams have done"??????????????????

nothing has been done as yet by the a's ... to me, financing is still a mystery and in the end I doubt taxpayers won't have to pony up just a wee bit.

jack

Anonymous said...

Read more carefully. It says plan. They have come up with a financing plan that does not include taxpayer money. Regardless of your imagination, the plan is not a mystery and doesn't include taxpayer funding.

Anonymous said...

Maybe we should have a running poll to ask reader which would be built first: Cisco Field, the proposed Marlins ballpark, both or neither.

This might generate some interesting discussion or it may not.

Anonymous said...

Another legal decision, from the Florida Supreme Court, though unrelated to the Marlins issue, could nonetheless have a big effect on that legal case:

http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2008/09/15/daily52.html