Soccer stadium plan presented

Major League Soccer, with David Beckham and Jorge Mas, is eyeing a golf course for the site. 3C. Columnist Dave Hyde says financing plan is ludicrously vague.

Have we learned nothing from the civic embarrassment of Marlins Park? Nothing at all?

One by one, people came to the microphone before city of Miami commissioners Thursday to speak for or against the proposed Major League Soccer development in a wonderful mess of democracy.

Youth golfers and youth soccer players. Professional developers and civic analysts. There was pro golfer Erik Compton, who grew up playing the Miami golf course the soccer team wants to end, calling this debate, “ludicrous.”

There also was former baseball player Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, who started to talk before being interrupted.

“Are you going to say, ‘I love you, Miami?’” a commissioner asked.

Uh, his brother, Livan, famously said that. Here’s what you didn’t have as this public debate played out for hours: Any formal, public proposal from the MLS soccer officials led by Jorge Mas and David Beckham.

Few public numbers. No official wording. No locked-down financial details. Nothing beyond a few sketches and statements made in the media.

After the public segment of the discussion, Mas and Beckham spoke with professional drawings and conversational sketches of their ideas. The park looked great. The ideas were great.

It might work. Let me underline that. Mas looks and sounds like he has enough ideas to and local commitment to make this soccer plan work for the public and to help the youth golfers at First Tee.

But the financial details were so lacking, a debate broke out later with the commission over the value of the land. Isn’t that a starting point? And then there was a longer question over the cost getting discovered toxins out of the land. Mas said if they’re 15 feet deep it’s one cost. But if they’re 30 feet deep it could be another, higher cost altogether. Again: Shouldn’t this be discovered before moving ahead?

Unless you’re a complete fanboy or want to smirk from Broward, how can you be for this proposed soccer deal in Miami before it’s actually proposed in detail? And before critical analysis is then applied to the details?

There’s a larger debate of whether public land should be used for private gain. That can be accepted at times, considering a sports team adds to a local community. Who is against a MLS team here? Why would you be?

I’m for soccer. But I’m sick of bad stadium deals. I’m sick of hand-outs that rip off the community. It’s America’s version of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

Sure, this group has great South Florida ties and has said it will pay for the stadium itself. But what about the cost of the infrastructure around the stadium? Is the $380 million in annual revenue proposed from the hotel and restaurant for this MLS team on public land a fair profit?

Thursday was all rushed and too backwards. Even the commissioners said so. At one point the proposed hotel was 500 rooms to some commissioners and 750 rooms to others.

Here’s a question: Why did this MLS group only give four days between releasing sketches on social media to asking the commission to back them? And why didn’t they make a formal presentation of plans, as a couple of commissioners asked.

If this is indeed the “anti-Marlins’’ plan as Mas has said, then put everything on the table and show it’s that. Again: You want to believe Mas will work things out and he has a good track record. But again: We’ve been here before trusting billionaires too much.

A soccer stadium needs about 10 acres. The Melreese Country Club is 170 acres of green space. Can’t the MLS team find those 10 acres without ruining a public golf course in Miami? Can’t they buy that land on their own without demanding public subsidies?

The question isn’t if public government should help sports teams. They should. The question in this case is getting enough answers to some of the financial questions involved.

The Dolphins are the only South Florida team that owns its land, built its stadium, pays for the stadium’s upkeep and also pays local taxes. In fact, they’re one of the few sports franchises in the country to do that.

You should want soccer to come. But this isn’t about soccer or Mas. Not yet. Right now it’s about getting the details right. It’s about whether anyone learned from the civic mistake of Marlins Park.