Another "Public-Private Partnership" Ripoff Dumps $2,000,000 Bill On Unsuspecting Hillsborough/Tampa Taxpayers.

Legends' Field of Schemes...

Another "Public-Private Partnership" Dumps $2,000,000 Bill on Unsuspecting Hillsborough Taxpayers...

Political Commentary

9.20.97 (updated: 7.2.98)

The Legends' Field baseball "Thing" simply goes from bad to worse.

According to the "Tampa Bay Insider" column in today's (9.20.97) Tampa Tribune, county taxpayers are stuck with yet another Sports Mogul's bill for nearly $2,000,000 that overly enthusiastic baseball "Yankee Backers" (read: Corporate Welfare Shills) promised to raise for county politicos to defray the cost of building George Steinbrenner's Field of Dreams. Surprise! The Yankee Backer's check, slipped, no doubt, under the county commissioners' door at midnight, was reported as being a tad light -- about $1,883,000 light to be exact!

To quote the "Insider" column:

" It sounded like a great plan. A group of boosters would help build Legends Field for the New York Yankees by raising a cool $2 million.... Commissioner Jan Platt said the commission was counting on the $2 million to help offset the cost of helping The Boss."

And in what had to be the understatement of the year, Jan is further quoted as saying:

`` It's unfortunate the dollars didn't materialize.''

Yes it is, Jan, and here's our suggestion. How about a county lawsuit against that jolly band of so-called "Yankee Backers" to recover for local taxpayers the difference between the $2,000,000 promised and the $117,000 delivered?

And while you are at it, how about a lawsuit against the individual county workers responsible for the $1,600,000 of taxpayers' money reportedly thrown out the window of the Pink "Taj Mahal" to GTE this week ? That was a classic! In a dazzling display of professional incompetence on the occasion of a routine land deal, county professionals(?) reportedly neglected to get in writing a supposed agreement with GTE for a real-estate sale -- a Basics 101 principle of Florida real estate law.

One thing is certain, Hillsborough county and Tampa governments have a 100% consistent economic failure rate in every one of their so-called "Public-Private Partnerships." Not one, not the first "non-monopolistic" economic undertaking of any local governmental entity, has ever been able to support itself on its own economic merit. Inevitably, all such undertakings have finally pandered to the "thuggish" and predatory nature of government for perpetual, taxpayer-financed corporate welfare.

Other Questionable Public-Private Partnerships

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