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Jul 16, 2008 9:02 pm US/Eastern
Poll: Voters Oppose Miami Mega Plan
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MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Miami Marlins Stadium, part of the controversial Mega Plan
Norman Braman has always said he would drop his lawsuit against the city of Miami and Miami Dade County, if its leaders would allow the public to vote on the so-called Mega Plan.
And yet, city and county officials have refused his offer.
In fact, they have gone out of their way to structure the deal for a new Marlins Stadium and a port tunnel so that the public would never have a chance to vote on it.
A new poll by Sergio Bendixen makes it clear why city and county leaders are afraid of a public vote.
Fifty-seven percent of voters believe building a new stadium for the Florida Marlins is "a bad investment for Miami-Dade taxpayers."
Only 37 percent of voters believe the stadium is a good investment.
"I'm not surprised," Braman said Wednesday before court resumed on his lawsuit. "This is precisely why city officials and county officials do not want a public vote."
Only 33 percent of voters believe the $1 billion port tunnel is "a good investment" compared to 60 percent who believe it is "a bad investment."
And just 29 percent of those surveyed believe the plans to create Museum Park – a $500 million plan to build a pair of science and art museums inside Bicentennial Park – is a good investment for Miami Dade taxpayers.
"These are very difficult economic times for most people in Miami and they want their tax monies spent on priorities that impact on their quality of life, like for example better schools," Bendixen said. "And they just don't think at this time we can afford luxuries like the baseball stadium, like the tunnel, like Museum Park."
The opposition to the Marlin's stadium, on the site of the old Orange Bowl in Little Havana, is strongest among Anglos and blacks, according to the poll. Sixty-eight percent of Anglos and 68 percent of blacks believe the stadium to be a bad investment.
Even non-Cuban Hispanics oppose the stadium.
Only Cuban voters believe the project makes sense, with 56 percent supporting it.
It also shows that an overwhelming majority – 65 percent – believe the money spent on the Performing Arts Center was a bad investment.
These results show a complete turnaround from just four years ago, when voters approved a series of bond issues for dozens of projects.
"In 2004 the taxpayers, the voters of Miami Dade County were in a fairly generous mood," Bendixen said, "and they also seemed to have a great deal of trust in how county government would administer those funds. That environment has changed."
Scandals surrounding the Performing Arts Center, Miami International Airport, and the half-penny transit tax, have all added to the feeling that government cannot be trusted.
But anyone who thinks the people surveyed were just in a mood to say no to everything should think again. Bendixen asked them if they would be willing to spend taxpayer money on building new schools.
Sixty-five percent of those surveyed said that would be a good investment.
"The voters of Miami Dade County are willing to fund what they consider to be a key priority, better schools," Bendixen said.
The survey of 800 registered voters was conducted in June and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percent.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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