Tampa Sports Authority members snap at a proposal limiting financial autonomy.
By BILL VARIAN
Published October 19, 2004
TAMPA - Normally, meetings of the Tampa Sports Authority have all the acrimony of a fraternity council's debate over which weekend to hold the annual toga party.
Board members approve a few contracts, recite the Bucs schedule and express shock over the $130-plus price of front-row Barry Manilow tickets at the St. Pete Times Forum.
But Monday's meeting got heated when board member Jim Norman officially unveiled a plan to give the Hillsborough County Commission greater oversight of Sports Authority finances. Norman is the commission's representative on the board, and he's been upset for weeks about a 4-year-old, $14-million investment that county officials thinks put taxpayers at risk.
Here's how it went over:
"What's the purpose of this?" asked Tampa City Council member Gwen Miller, who sits on the Sports Authority. "What's the agenda? Do you want to have the county take over this board?"
Then later, "Do you want us to get together and meet and do nothing?"
"This would cut the legs out from under the Sports Authority," said La Gaceta newspaper owner Patrick Manteiga, another member.
"If I sat on a board I thought had as many problems as you think, I would resign," said yet another board member, Sue House.
Norman expressed exasperation. He has presented board members with information he believes shows part of the $14-million in principal from the investment could be lost. County staff says the Sports Authority may have gotten shortchanged by the investment company that paid it $715,000 for rights to invest the money.
Further, Norman and county staff say the investment blocked a potential refinancing of debt it undertook to build Raymond James Stadium, where the Bucs play. And he says Sports Authority officials have not been up-front, either with the original deal or now that questions have been raised.
"What do you want me to do?" Norman said. "Should I just show up to this board and be happy? If I think there's a problem, I'm not going to sit here and drink Diet Coke and say nothing about it."
The Sports Authority has been losing money in recent years. The city of Tampa and Hillsborough County are required to make up any shortfall, with the city picking up a third and the county two-thirds.
That being the case, Norman thinks both local governments should get a greater say in decisions that could ultimately affect taxpayers.
Norman has proposed a six-point plan that would require County Commission blessing of many of the key financial decisions the Sports Authority makes. It would require county approval of any deals the Sports Authority makes relating to its debt, any contracts worth more than $100,000, the Sports Authority budget, decisions about property insurance, annual audits and selection of the agency's auditor.
Sports Authority members say the proposal goes well beyond issues raised by the investment. In fact, the authority's executive director, Henry Saavedra, pitched a proposal Monday that would offer the local governments review of its investments only.
The Sports Authority will consider that proposal next month. Meanwhile, board members voted to ask Saavedra to present a response to Norman's proposal and what it will mean to Sports Authority operations.
Norman expressed frustration with Miller, in particular, who, as the city's representative on the board, declined to join his side. Miller said the Sports Authority is attempting to be responsive to Norman's concerns about the investment that raised Norman's ire.
"Give us an opportunity to work it out," she said. "Things are being worked out."
