Gulf1-Letters

Reference Charlotte Crane’s article

C.C. Elebash says,

Reference Charlotte Crane’s article in your March 15 internet issue. Ms. Crane quotes the glowing economic impact claims of the manager of the new Pensacola baseball team.

In fact, almost all independent experts find that minor league sports teams have little or no positive economic impact.

“Sports economists have long argued that publicly financed stadiums are a waste of taxpayer money. And they have the data to prove it.” (Mark Yost in a Wall Street Journal article dated July 16, 2008, entitled “If You Build It, the Jobs Won’t Come”.)

“Virtually every independent economic study, including one by the Florida Senate in 2005, has shown that publicly funded sports stadiums are a rotten deal for taxpayers.” Carl Hiaasen, Miami Herald, syndicated column in Pensacola News-Journal, January 12, 2010.

“The supposed economic stimulus of sports stadiums is a myth that has been so thoroughly debunked by economists — a group famous for their penchant to disagree — that a recent survey of the American Economic Association found that 85 percent of its members favored eliminating government subsidies of professional sports franchises.” J.C. Bradbury, Atlanta Journal Constitution, September 9, 2011

Pensacola is losing population and has high poverty rates. Sadly, it is betting its economic future on a $52 million baseball complex.

Stadium view – the good and the bad

Clarence C. Elebash says:

As Opinion Page Editor Carl Wernicke wrote in his February 26 News-Journal column, fans at the new waterfront baseball park will have a spectacular view. It will be quite impressive.

However, what the fans will not see is more significant than what they will see. Almost all of the attractions promoted in 2006 are missing. There is a huge difference between the 2006 colorful brochures and 2012 actuality.

Baseball fans and other visitors will not see a maritime museum, marine research station, UWF classrooms, conference center, parking garage, office building or hotel. Nor will they see “tall ships”, a quaint 1910 fishing village, or a spacious public park with a lighthouse and other amenities. All of these were in early Community Maritime Park plans,

Simply put, the Community Maritime Park evolved into a waterfront baseball park. The expanded stadium dominates the entire site. It looms over an amphitheater and a reduced public area. The project became what has been aptly described as "a $52 million baseball complex”.

Also, Park visitors will not see benefits from the $2.5 million that CMPA spent on their Master Developer. CMPA Trustees selected a Master Developer whose financial condition was questionable. CMPA’s real estate consultant did not recommend the selected firm, but Trustees did not take his advice. Problems arose and the Trustees ended the contract. However, CMPA is unlikely to recoup the $2.5 million. (This was not CMPA money. It was money the City borrowed and entrusted to CMPA.)

The “baseball complex” is unlikely to yield grand results that supporters still tout. City Hall apparently listened only to those who stood to benefit from the project. They did not seek independent expert advice.

Spending at the stadium will mostly be offset by a decline in sales elsewhere in the community. Minor league sports do not attract out-of-town money. Municipal ballparks shift spending from one local venue to another.

Long-term economic benefits from the stadium are very doubtful. Almost all expert studies agree that minor league sports provide little or no lasting economic impact. CMPA’s own impact study claimed only a small benefit from a ballpark.

City funding for new downtown projects will be severely limited for years to come. This is due in large part to $46 million in bond debt associated with the waterfront project. The City will pay out $85 million over 30 years to retire the debt. Meanwhile, City finances are extremely tight, Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) revenues have declined and the CMPA has no money.

Lack of public funds will hinder efforts to make Pensacola a more desirable place to live, work and visit. It will also be difficult for the City to provide infrastructure needed to attract private sector investments.

Yes, the stadium has a great view -- but transformation of the maritime park into a baseball park was not a pretty picture. It is not a “shining hour” in local history. The burden of park debt could actually hinder downtown revitalization.


March 2012
(The author is a retired Air Force officer and a retired UWF finance professor. He was a long time resident of Pensacola who now lives in Escambia County. He has degrees from the U.S. Military Academy, University of Michigan and Florida State University.)

“Virtually every independent economic study, including one by the Florida Senate in 2005, has shown that publicly funded sports stadiums are a rotten deal for taxpayers.” Carl Hiaasen, Miami Herald, syndicated column in Pensacola News-Journal, January 12, 2010.

“The supposed economic stimulus of sports stadiums is a myth that has been so thoroughly debunked by economists — a group famous for their penchant to disagree — that a recent survey of the American Economic Association found that 85 percent of its members favored eliminating government subsidies of professional sports franchises.” J.C. Bradbury, Atlanta Journal Constitution, September 9, 2011

Media Bias

Bill Bledsoe  says,

One reader, of a local advertising forum that purports to be a “newspaper”, recently asked “What happened to the concept of reporting news in an unbiased manner?”

A classic example of news media unbiased is reflected in the news reporting by Michael Peltier, News Service of Florida, PNJ on 3-4-12, “Controversial schools bill passes Florida Senate Committee.”

Writers are quite adept at using code words and phrases to control readers’ thoughts.  In this article, Peltier writes:  ‘….. (the bill) was rammed through a Senate Committee…”

Of course, there is the excuse that “reporters” express their opinions, and are not held accountable for accuracy or truthfulness.  They can use code words (rammed) to influence the manner in which the reader understands (?) the story.  Too many reporters and columnists create news rather than accurately (and unbiased) reporting news.

With a very high rate of illiteracy among adults in Florida (and many of them vote!), there is little chance that they can see through the code words.