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BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN AND MARTHA BRANNIGAN
mhaggman@miamiherald.com
Hector Gabino / El Nuevo Herald Staff
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, in a bare-knuckled fight to keep his job against a mounting recall effort, has received a major financial jolt from the Florida Marlins and contractors building the team's new stadium.
The Marlins' owner Jeffrey Loria and team president David Samson have given $50,000 to the political action committee Alvarez formed to fight a recall targeting him -- a year after the mayor successfully pitched more than $350 million in public money for the stadium.
The general contractor hired to construct the stadium -- Hunt/Moss -- has written a check for $5,000. The company pouring cement at the ballpark, Baker Concrete Construction, contributed another $5,000. The cabinet-maker, mechanical and electrical contractors at the Little Havana park have collectively written checks for more than $13,000.
All told, the low budget ballclub and builders of the new stadium handed $73,500 in checks to Alvarez in the past 2 ½ weeks -- the biggest financial contributions yet toward the mayor's defense.
``I think he's an outstanding mayor,'' said the Marlins' Samson.
The team president said the Marlins are not fundraising for Alvarez, and said he could not explain why a half-dozen stadium contractors have written checks just as the Marlins did.
Facing a recall campaign led by billionaire businessman Norman Braman, Alvarez formed a political action committee in September called Citizens For Truth, allowing him to raise unlimited sums of money to fund his legal and political campaign to defeat the recall.
Alvarez's decision to back public funding of the stadium in 2009 -- a deal approved by county and city commissioners -- is one of several flashpoints that have stoked voter anger. Braman, a car dealer who has often used his private fortune to wage public fights, previously sued unsuccessfully to stop the use of public money for the park.
Alvarez said the stadium is creating jobs when they're needed most. Yet on Thursday, some county commissioners critical of the deal may ask the mayor to reopen talks with the team, a long shot hope to up its contributions in the wake of reports about its profits.
mhaggman@miamiherald.com
Hector Gabino / El Nuevo Herald Staff
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, in a bare-knuckled fight to keep his job against a mounting recall effort, has received a major financial jolt from the Florida Marlins and contractors building the team's new stadium.
The Marlins' owner Jeffrey Loria and team president David Samson have given $50,000 to the political action committee Alvarez formed to fight a recall targeting him -- a year after the mayor successfully pitched more than $350 million in public money for the stadium.
The general contractor hired to construct the stadium -- Hunt/Moss -- has written a check for $5,000. The company pouring cement at the ballpark, Baker Concrete Construction, contributed another $5,000. The cabinet-maker, mechanical and electrical contractors at the Little Havana park have collectively written checks for more than $13,000.
All told, the low budget ballclub and builders of the new stadium handed $73,500 in checks to Alvarez in the past 2 ½ weeks -- the biggest financial contributions yet toward the mayor's defense.
``I think he's an outstanding mayor,'' said the Marlins' Samson.
The team president said the Marlins are not fundraising for Alvarez, and said he could not explain why a half-dozen stadium contractors have written checks just as the Marlins did.
Facing a recall campaign led by billionaire businessman Norman Braman, Alvarez formed a political action committee in September called Citizens For Truth, allowing him to raise unlimited sums of money to fund his legal and political campaign to defeat the recall.
Alvarez's decision to back public funding of the stadium in 2009 -- a deal approved by county and city commissioners -- is one of several flashpoints that have stoked voter anger. Braman, a car dealer who has often used his private fortune to wage public fights, previously sued unsuccessfully to stop the use of public money for the park.
Alvarez said the stadium is creating jobs when they're needed most. Yet on Thursday, some county commissioners critical of the deal may ask the mayor to reopen talks with the team, a long shot hope to up its contributions in the wake of reports about its profits.
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