Times Loves Regional Efforts; Hates Bill Foster (Repost from Shadow of the Stadium)

I decided to repost this piece (written by Noah Pransky) which was published in the excellent blog, “(the) Shadow of the Stadium.” I felt that it was important enough to post here as well. Pransky’s blog is a wonderful place to start, if you’re looking for a competent counter voice in the Rays stadium saga. Highly recommended.

On the eve of the Rays’ meeting with the Hillsborough County Commission, the Tampa Bay Times has penned another editorial pleading for a regional approach to keep the team.

Echoing what I said last week, today’s editorial points out upcoming talks are lacking regional collaboration; but the Times was hopeful the two commission boards would overcome “Mayor Bill Foster’s foolish threats of lawsuits.”

The Times never misses an opportunity to bash Foster, but they’ve been calling on Rays Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg for years to “make a reasonable offer to St. Petersburg” if he wants to explore new stadium sides.  Yet Foster gets 100% of the blame for lack of progress while Sternberg continues to get a free pass.

I’m also not sure how valid the Times’ premise is that “The Rays need a new stadium soon if they are to remain in the Tampa Bay market.”

But I couldn’t agree more that if the Tampa Bay region wants to help the Rays build a new stadium, the only way to do it is coming together as the Tampa Bay region.  I said back in 2011 that the easiest pill to swallow from a financing standpoint would be a multi-county tax effort.

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