I really didn’t want to dignify this op-ed by Hillsborough County Commissioner Chris Boles arguing that it’s too soon to “declare this [Tampa Bay Rays] deal a home run or a strikeout” with a response, especially given that J.C. Bradbury already provided the perfect one. But taking as a given that this is a dumb opinion piece designed mostly to ward off criticism of a massive public expense for a private stadium by saying, “What if it isn’t, maybe?”, let’s focus on just one section of the word salad:
We live in an era of “hot takes”, where being first to complain is often valued more than being right. But a multi-billion-dollar redevelopment project that could redefine Drew Park and the Dale Mabry Sports Corridor for the next half-century deserves more than a knee-jerk reaction. Let your elected officials and financial analysts do their due diligence, but demand that it be rigorous, transparent and grounded.
Yes, absolutely, let’s demand a rigorous, transparent, and grounded analysis of the full costs of the proposed Rays deal! Perhaps by a property tax expert who is skilled in estimating the future cost of handing over public land and tax breaks, because he used to work for a city government doing just that, and later wrote a whole book about it. And why look, if it isn’t Geoffrey Propheter, who ran the numbers more than two months ago and found that the public costs of land and tax breaks for the Rays project would be between $1.1 billion and $2.5 billion, on top of the $1.15 billion in cash Hillsborough County would be handing over. Boles would like to suggest that the economic benefits of the project could make up for that — he warns against ignoring “the ‘waterfall’ of revenue streams that can, if properly structured, insulate taxpayers from long-term risk” — but coming up with enough money to cover between $2.25 billion and $3.65 billion in public costs would require multiple Niagaras worth of new revenues, something no stadium-anchored mixed-use project in history has ever generated, no matter how properly structured.
And even Boles seems to have recognized that writing an entire op-ed around the idea of “What is money, really?” wasn’t going to go very far, because he’s padded it out with an absolute fusillade of baseball metaphors, each one making less sense than the next:
- “The crack of the bat is usually a sound of pure optimism, but in the case of the Tampa Bay Rays’ stadium deal, it has triggered a frantic scramble in the bleachers.”
- “Jumping to conclusions before the final details are inked is a classic ‘foul ball,’ and this commissioner would encourage everyone to return to the dugout”
- “In this case, the devil is most certainly in the details, and we should all head back to the dugout because, in the end, we are all on the same team.”
- “Until the final box score is in, let’s keep our eyes on the ball and wait for the full data set to cross the plate.”
I am, frankly, in awe. I can’t wait for more numbers to come in, to see if Boles takes a swing at them and launches them into the bleachers to trigger a frantic — sorry, what’s that you say, the city and county could end up voting on this deal next week? Maybe it’s actually time to get out of the dugout, or Hillsborough County could end up looking at strike three without ever getting into the batter’s box.
This op-ed was not game ready and belongs in the minor leagues for a little more seasoning. He needs more practice, hit pitch is a total gofer ball, opponents are going hit it out of the park. Am I doing this right?
Close! It’s “gopher ball.” And a pitch can’t be one, because that literally describes the home run itself.
“The Rays vote is coming soon on May 6th. We got lots to do before then and educating the public on the ENTIRE project, not just the stadium, is paramount. “. JPPeterson on X,
In JP’s defense, he’s not terribly bright.
That’s almost as good of a defense as “I don’t recall”!
When will cities stop making these deals? When a city defaults on the bonds? When a state refuses to bail out the city? These figures are simply asinine.