January 30, 2005
Punditry on parade
I have a ton of respect for Miami Herald muckraker/novelist extraordinaire Carl Hiaasen, but his latest column chiming in on the Florida Marlins stadium controversy is just plain weird. The Marlins' demands for a $60 million tax rebate amount to "corporate welfare," writes Hiaasen, noting that while $2 million a year may not sound like much, it would "pay a mountain of medical bills" for Floridians getting squeezed by Gov. Jeb Bush's latest state budget. Then he goes on to suggest that maybe the Marlins should get their subsidy anyway, at the expense of repealing the law that authorizes tax breaks to sports teams. "From then on, no more handouts of tax money to sports tycoons," he writes. "Not a penny, not ever, for any reason." Because, you know, the Florida legislature can quit at any time.
Out in Salt Lake City, meanwhile, the less-renowned columnist John Yewell has done something nearly unheard of in local newspaper reporting: He's studied the experience of other cities, noting how Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad was rebuffed in his attempts to extort his home state for as much stadium dough as possible. Yewell's suggestion to owners of the Real Salt Lake soccer franchise: Ask for what you need, not what you think you can get away with; be creative with seeking private funds before you look to tap the public purse; stop trying to sell us a bill of goods about economic benefits from a stadium, when "studies have repeatedly shown that sports stadiums don't contribute to economic revitalization. [Salt Lake Mayor] Rocky Anderson says a stadium can anchor housing and commercial projects. If such projects are worth doing, then do them, but a stadium will not enhance their viability." Yowsah. If this Yewell guy can write novels, too, Hiaasen had better watch his back.
Glad to see that the Salt Lake Tribune is covering all aspect of the new MLS team out there. Proof that the MLS is legite.... journalists paying attention to it.
Posted by Bertell Ollman on January 31, 2005 01:33 AM