The latest deadline to complete a lease for a new Bucs
stadium passed yesterday without resolution and, as a result, a
"squabble" has "erupted" between the Tampa Sports Authority and
Hillsborough County Commission over just when the lease should be
completed, according to the TAMPA TRIBUNE. The Commission voted
Thursday to extend the lease deadline to August 29, so voters can
learn of lease details before they vote on a half-cent sales tax
increase proposal September 3. However, the TSA, made up mostly
of Tampa City Council members, moved the deadline back to
September 5, after City Councilman Ronnie Mason said that rushing
to ratify a lease before the referendum could leave taxpayers
with a "bad deal." Bucs Owner Malcolm Glazer said the team would
agree to wait until the 29th, but in a letter to the TSA, Glazer
attorney Jonathan Jennewein called the September 5 date
"unacceptable." Jennewein: "The [TSA's] decision ... disturbs
us because it has always been our intention (and, we believed,
the intention of the city, the county and the TSA) to complete
the lease prior to the referendum" (Henderson & Koehn, TAMPA
TRIBUNE, 8/16). In St. Pete, Danielson & Dougherty note "a rift
seems once again to be developing" with the Hillsborough County
Commission and the Bucs "on one side" and the Tampa City Council
and the TSA "on the other" (ST. PETE TIMES, 8/16).
