Take if from former Miami Marlins President David Samson — because he knows a bad deal when he sees one.
Samson is the narrator of a new mini documentary video about the Miami Freedom Park deal, a 99-year, no-bid lease of the city of Miami’s largest public park for a real estate complex of stores, restaurants, offices and a hotel all disguised as a soccer stadium which may come before the city commission next week — if it’s not delayed yet again because it’s still not ready.
Read related: Premature and postponed: Miami Freedom Park deal not ready for vote
“If you thought the Marlins Park deal was shitty, wait until you get a load of this,” Samson says, though at first you can only see his evil grin in front of a microphone in a two-minute video created by local political observer and award-winning documentary filmmaker Billy Corben — a favorite target of Commissioner Joe Carollo‘s — who likens the crappy deal to the Marlins Stadium ripoff, which everyone knows was a scam.
“The city wants to give billionaire Jorge Mas, David Beckham and their InterMiami soccer team a 99 year, no-bid lease below market value on 131 acres of parkland at Melreese, that’s Miami’s single largest piece of public property,” the as-of-yet unknown narrator says.
“They want you to think this is about a soccer stadium but it’s just another real estate hustle to pave paradise and build a hotel, office park and shopping mall.
“This is a billion dollar heist happening in broad daylight,” Samson says, adding the scoop from Political Cortadito about City Manager Art Noriega, the city’s lead negotiator, being offered a job with the team once it’s done.
“The Melreese giveaway is so bad, it would make the Marlins stadium deal look good,” Samson dares say. “Take it from me, someone who actually negotiated with your politicians and almost single-handedly ended stadium public financing.”
Read related: Commissioner wants to stop Miami city manager from selling out for a juicy job
Then you hear the scratch of a record when it stops suddenly.
“Almost,” he says with a smirk. He’s getting off on this.
“I thought I’d be the final guy who fucked you,” Samson says. “It turns out, I’m not.”
Marlins Park is considered the papi of all Miami boondoggles. Paid for with almost $500 million in bonds from the county and the city of Miami at a very bad time for bonds, the public’s total payout by 2049 will be at least $2.6 billion, according to Georgia State University’s Sport and Urban Policy Initiative.
And the public outcry led to the political demise of former and recalled mayor Carlos Alvarez and anybody else who had anything to do with it. Former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and former Miami-Dade Commissioner Bruno Barreiro were never elected again.
(Pssst: Miami Commissioner Ken Russell, you should take note.)
Corben told Ladra he wanted to know what Samson, now an armchair pundit with a sports business podcast, thought of the deal. So he called him and asked.
“When Clarice Starling was going after Buffalo Bill, she went to Hanibal Lecter for help. So that’s what I did,” Corben said. We know that Samson is Lecter. But is Mas Buffalo Bill or is Beckham?
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The video is already making rounds on Twitter.
“I’m hoping for a slightly more palatable if not better deal, and for the commissioners to stop doing what they’ve been doing their whole careers, which is horse trading to give themselves the best deals,” Corben said.
But it might backfire, because, can we really believe anything Samson says?
[…] Read related: Marlins Park’s David Samson: Miami Freedom Park is a ‘billion dollar heist’ […]
Will Ken Russell have the courage to vote no? Obviously, Mas is ready to pay slightly more rent. Why not, the 600 page lease was drafted by his attorneys and he probably won’t pay a cent until 2036. Taxpayers are getting screwed. Again. And Miami which ranks last in park space per resident will have even less park space.
Pardon our prejudice, but, more people live in Miami-Dade, than politically connected Cuban exiles! . Public property, common gain.
Clearly, Jorge Mas has paid lobbyists and scammers writing comments on this blog. David Samson and Jeff Loria did most of their own lying to elected officials. They found the City and County elected officials so gullible and so lazy they hardly had to hire more than a couple lobbyists. Samson always said he was amazed most of the elected officials did no due diligence. The result is taxpayers paying over $3 Billion for the Marlins Stadium… Will demolishing Melreese Park be a bigger loss for taxpayers? The site is 300% larger than the Orange Bowl site.
I don’t understand this sudden sentimentality towards Melreese Park. It’s a below-average, one-dimensional park space sitting on top of an old landfill which, by the way, Jorge Mas will clean up if he gets his deal. People have to pay upwards of $75 to play golf there. I have lived in the Miami area practically my entire life and have never felt even a passing urge to go there. However, if the project passes and it is built, me and my family will be frequent visitors to the soccer games as well as the other planned amenities which, by the way, include green space that will likely be much more accessible to Miami’s than what’s there now.
The City of Miami collects over $1.4 Billion in taxes in 2022. Every year more money gets collected from taxes and fees and more money goes to the 4,500 employees. Residents need more park land.
Melreese Park is valuable for many reasons. Even neighbors who do not use the park see it every day. They get the benefit of seeing grass and trees instead of concrete. Miami International Airport? Everyone hates the rundown airport which is the result of decades of corruption. How will residents and tourists like MIA when they miss their flights because of new increased traffic of Mas’s proposed new Mall? Or new traffic to his proposed office buildings? Or massive traffic to his proposed hotel? You or your family members wants to miss plane flights? Honest commissioners will vote No. Corrupt commissioners will vote Yes.
We too, are neighbors of Grapeland Park, and used the tennis courts, football and baseball fields, checked-out books at its former library’ ,and now roll by and wish the kids using the water park, all the joy in the world. We enjoyed seeing the golfers in their carts circulate the nearby holes while shooting baskets at the courts. We are also affiliated to the life of MIA , what young person doesn’t like airplanes?, now the 11th busiest in the US, and we must think that it has gone backwards in that ranking, and it is because it’s compressed in its current dimensions by development along its perimeters. This to point out how valuable those 140 acres of golf course real estate can be. Public property , common gain.
First and foremost. Does anyone here even know what Melrese is? I lived in Grapeland for 30 years and not once did any of us kids get invited or be asked to enter their golf course for old white men that don’t work.
Miami folks do not have access to Melrese unless you pay over 60 dollars per play. Melrese is a golf course, that people laugh at and only play when Biltmore of Key Biscayne if full.
Wake up Miami.
Why would we fight for a park that has 30 rich people at the most, without one poor child, person or resident there.
Miami needs soccer and this would allow the public to enjoy the world’s largest sport. Baseball has been dead for decades, it is not soccer. Oh and how about jobs? Anyone know what Melrese employs?
You people are sheep in a game of media.
Bruno Barrerio was one of the greatest cheerleaders of the Marlins Scam. Barrerio was the Maker of the Motion to approve the No Bid totally one sided scam. Barrerio refused all attempts to make the shitty lease better for taxpayers. Taxpayers will now lose over $3 Billion. The loss is on him and on Marc Sarnoff too. That creep was the 4th vote required at the City to send the scam to the County.
Elaine Don’t Trust ” El MENTIROSO” Barreiro WORTHLESS of District 5 . What CORRUPTION and POLITICIANS Have in Common ? ANOTHER BAD DEAL FOR TAX PAYERS IN MIAMI and MIAMI DADE ? “ARE WE EVER GOING TO LEARN ” ?
As I recall Bruno was chairman at the time and one of the biggest supporters. Ask him how proud he is of his leadership, bearing in mind we still have the tapes.
To be clear no one that voted for the Marlins ever went on to higher office. Some were recalled, some lost reelection and of those who remain in in office, now unanimously say they regret their vote or claim ignorance of the intricacies.
Billion Dollar Heist! states the expert David Samson.
Hi Elaine, for clarification purposes, after a failed recall attempt, I was re-elected with opposition in 2012 and subsequently reelected without opposition in 2016.
David Samson is a legitimate expert on conning Miami and Miami-Dade County elected officials, bureaucrats and attorneys. Samson and his attorneys drafted a 100% one-sided lease for the Orange Bowl site and the idiot politicians voted yes. The idiot politicians, like Marc Sarnoff, even agreed to let the Marlins keep 100% of all revenues. And they thanked Samson. Samson screwed the taxpayers out of $3 Billion. Sarnoff now works for Suarez and Mas as they try to steal 131 acres of Melreese Park.
Several differences between a straight out sale and a 99 year lease. By only leasing the property Mas “the tenant” can avoid or minimize paying any Real Estate Taxes. And in this case, Mas “the tenant” is paying so little for rent he has a massive savings over his cost to own, assuming he was forced to pay a market price for the land. And in this case, Mas can sell off (sub-lease) pieces of the 131+/- acres and he can get all his costs back upfront and collect rent forever.
[…] Spotted via Political Cortadito […]
My guess is Russell against it and King for it. The disappearing act Baby X pulled off during the redistricting may pay off after all. The question is: what would Crazy Joe do?
What’s the difference, between a straight-out sale, and a ninety-nine year lease ?.
Worse than the Marlins Scam? Elected officials forced taxpayers to pay over $3 Billion, including debt service, for the takeover of 40 acres at the Orange Bowl Park. (Yes, elected officials voted to demolish the just renovated Orange Bowl… That cost taxpayers another $50 Million.). Melreese Park. Demolishing 130+/- acres of Melreese Park looks worse than the Marlins Scam. How will Ken Russell vote? Will he be a man or will bend to Mas and Suarez? How will Christine King vote? Will she stab black people in the back again, like she did to black Grove residents? Or will she bend over for Suarez?