Thread by @GlennaWPLG

🙋🏻‍♀️Good morning from #Miami City Commish taking up the billion-$ #soccer & #commerce complex at Mel Reese.
On the table:
* no-bid lease agreement
* stopping all talks & putting it all out for bids
* Mayor’s request to delay
* any unexpected twist
@WPLGLocal10 stay tuned!⚽️

2/
Gist of public comments so far:
Pro: “voters approved negotiations”, “...good revenue source”, “world-class #MLS soccer & park space”
Con: voters were “bamboozled”, “save the green space”, “no-bid sell-out to special interests”
@WPLGLocal10 #MiamiFreedomPark

3/
#Miami Freedom Park people came to make presentation.
Commish Manolo Reyes (a “no” vote):“We don’t need a presentation...we’ve heard it all...”
Reyes says he is not vs soccer or project; but is opposed to circumvented process & vote swayed by deep-pocket campaign
@WPLGLocal10

4/ Commish Joe Carollo:
“My vote will be depended upon (appraisals, traffic, studies etc)... this will be the worth of the deal...”(Beckham, Mas, etc) will have to offer more than what was on the ballot’
(He had dropped the grenade to open it all to competitive bid )
@WPLGLocal10

5/ Commish Ken Russell asks the same question I’m sitting here thinking:
“Clearly we are not there. Yet the questions are before us.”
Appraisals not done, enviro & traffic analyses in process..Can this even happen today? *It’s #Miami - who knows?
@WPLGLocal10 #Beckham #soccer

6/
#BehindtheScenes in #Miami
In the job descriptions of everyone at #CityHall - make & serve the #Cuban #coffee
@WPLGLocal10

7/ #Miami Freedom Park & Beckham partner Jorge Mas is up.. his points:
process has been transparent
Team will pay fair market value
Residents will bear no expense
Projected benefits $2.9B over 99yrs
Any other developer could have come to make a proposal .
@WPLGLocal10 #soccer

8/
And it has come to this: two commissioners saying “it’s not soup yet” ... backers looking for a way to keep it going.

@WPLGLocal10 #miamifreedompark #soccer #miami

#Miami commissioners just voted 4-1 to deny the lease agreement outlined today.
Then Commish Hardemon tells them we should not have voted - he’d rather vote to withdraw.
@WPLGLocal10

10/
Carollo moves to bring back item next month 12/21 meeting after - hopefully - final appraisals (and new commissioner(s) )
Except - today is that agenda deadline ....
Mayor says “hold on - I have 10 days to veto it )
@WPLGLocal10 #miami #miamifreedompark

11/
#Miami commish now decides to *amend* the second question ( put it all out for bid) - and instead keep working on the lease and bring it all back.
Passes 5-0
Welcome to Miami

@WPLGLocal10
#miamifreedompark #beckham #soccer

12/ Ok, so..
#Miami commish has now scheduled the vote on #miamifreedompark #beckham #soccer lease at Mel Reese Golf Course for 12/12 meeting.
And everyone I just spoke with, including commissioners & Jorge Mas, said it won’t be ready then either. See you in 2020 🙄
@WPLGLocal10

13/ A lot of people left the #Miami commish meeting asking “..what just happened?” Here is our 2min attempt at an answer⏩
@WPLGLocal10 #MiamiFreedomPark #Beckham #soccer #MLS ⚽️🤔