Pull stadium plans out of the shadows
A Times EditorialPublished November 16, 2007
A new waterfront stadium in downtown St. Petersburg for the Tampa Bay Rays combined with the redevelopment of the Tropicana Field site is an intriguing concept with considerable potential. But there also are plenty of questions, and this ambitious proposal needs to move promptly from private exchanges between the city and the team into the public arena. It is in the best interest of the taxpayers and the Rays to start discussing the merits of the team's vision in the open now instead of fueling concerns about secret negotiations that would make it harder to build public support down the road.
David Goodwin, the city's economic development director, signed a one-page confidentiality agreement in March at the team's request. That agreement exploits an egregious public records exemption concerning economic development. The exemption, which is opposed by the First Amendment Foundation and other open government advocates, enables developers and government officials to unfairly keep residents in the dark about tax breaks and other incentives. By the time the public learns months later about the project and what government has given away in return for the promise of jobs and economic growth, it is too late to protest or change the terms of the agreement. This is a gaping hole in Florida's public records laws, and it needs to be closed by the Legislature.
The Rays' use of the exemption to keep their stadium plans secret is particularly troublesome and short-sighted. It does not even fit the usual unconvincing arguments for secrecy. This is not a case where St. Petersburg is competing against cities in other states to lure a big-name manufacturer or retailer. The city isn't trying to attract a new business to an economically depressed area with incentives. There aren't several private companies competing to get the best deal from the public.
This situation involves one team that already has a long-term lease with the city. It concerns leaving one publicly financed stadium built on public land for a new stadium on another publicly owned site just blocks away. This isn't a competitive situation involving multiple cities or multiple teams, and it isn't necessary to take advantage of a public records exemption to keep the public in the dark until the Rays are ready to unveil their plans.
The confidentiality agreement already has created some unfortunate awkwardness. First, city officials were less than candid in August when they brushed aside suggestions about designating Al Lang Field as park land in new land development regulations. They talked vaguely about flexibility but didn't -- or couldn't - reveal they already were talking to the Rays about building a new stadium there. And since the St. Petersburg Times' web site, Tampabay.com, broke the news last week about the stadium proposal, Mayor Rick Baker and some other city officials have provided little insight.
More than two decades ago, there was a wide-ranging public discussion about the merits of building the dome before the St. Petersburg City Council took the decisive vote. Voter approval was not required back then, but it will be this time if the Rays' waterfront stadium proposal advances beyond a vision. That makes it even more imperative that this community is immediately engaged in a public discussion. It was a mistake for the city and the team to sign a confidentiality agreement, and releasing the agreement and perhaps some e-mails between the team and the city as early as today isn't enough. The Rays should cancel the confidentiality agreement with the city, and the city should release all of the documents. Unless this discussion about a new baseball stadium promptly moves into the sunshine, this unnecessary secrecy will undermine the project before its merits are even debated.