Mar 17, 2009 11:20 pm US/Eastern
Marlins Stadium Deal Raises Questions Over Race
Read More About This In David Sutta's Blog.
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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New rendering of the Florida Marlins Stadium to be built on the site of the now-demolished Orange Bowl.
Urban Design Review Board/CBS
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New rendering of the Florida Marlins Stadium to be built on the site of the now-demolished Orange Bowl.
Urban Design Review Board/CBS
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New rendering of the Florida Marlins Stadium to be built on the site of the now-demolished Orange Bowl.
Urban Design Review Board/CBS
The latest effort to get a financing package approved to build a new stadium for the Florida Marlins may have hit a snag involving the labor involved in the construction of the project.
CBS 4 Reporter Natalia Zea spoke with Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones on the phone Tuesday night, asking whether she is using her leverage as the likely swing vote. Spence-Jones, who is considered the swing vote in the stadium project, said it's not about leverage; it's about getting what she wants for her district.
It seems as if the Marlins Stadium saga will never end. With a final Miami City Commission vote set for Thursday, Spence-Jones came out with more demands on Tuesday.
She wants half of the stadium construction and operating jobs to go to City of Miami residents, who belong to unions. She is demanding the contracts to go to local business owners, and she wants to create a trust fund for youth baseball programs in the inner city. She is also asking for guaranteed penalties in the contract—so if the promises are not kept, the Marlins will have to pay into that youth trust fund.
Spence-Jones has asked for some of this before, and a source close to the deal questions whether she is simply grandstanding before the big vote. Spence-Jones denies that and says the listed issues are non-negotiable for her. But this isn't the first time she's used her key vote to get what she wants. Just last week, she secured millions of dollars to revitalize part of her district.
The Spence-Jones curveball comes the same day that the NAACP and the Marlins withdrew their written compact promising that 15-percent of the building and operating contracts will go to black-owned businesses. The deal was created last week.
According to the Miami-Dade County Attorney, the pact would have jeopardized the entire deal. The attorney voiced concerns that if the County Commission voted for the Stadium, and it included the black owned business guarantee the County could be sued. It's happened before, in the late 1990s a federal court ruled race-based contracts were unconstitutional.
The Marlins and the NAACP say despite the end of their official deal, they will continue to work together. Miami Commissioners vote on the stadium Thursday. The County Commission votes Monday. Count on CBS4 News to be there, and provide full coverage.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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