Grassroot Groups Urge County to Reject Orlando Soccer Stadium

Grassroot groups on the left and right appealed on Tuesday to the Board of the Orange County Commission to do the right thing and reject funding the corporate welfare soccer stadium.

There are plans in the works by the city of Orlando to build a new soccer stadium that is estimated to cost $100 million. Orange County government is looking at putting up millions to support the Stadium and today’s call by the groups could be viewed as a pre-emptive strike.

“We are here together to call on the Orange County Board of Commissioners to reject the city of Orlando and the Orlando City Soccer Team’s pleas to spend tens of millions of tax dollars on a new soccer stadium which will further gentrify historic Parramore,” said Mike Cantone, a Democrat and former Orlando Mayoral candidate, one of those who spoke out against the stadium.

Cantone also said that Orlando is maxed out and the community is over extended and cannot afford any more corporate welfare. He also noted that a series of problems have dogged Orlando Venues projects, including over-budgeting and mis-management.

“We still have debt obligations across the board and this is not the time to continue digging our community deeper in the hole,” Cantone said.

Matt Falconer, a Republican and former Orange County Mayoral candidate said corporate welfare just does not work and “local governments are subsidizing for-profit ventures competing for the same consumer dollars.”

“Minorities and poor people are being used as an excuse to fund corporate welfare… and it’s wrong, it actually hurts our economy,” he added.

Doug Head, former Orange County Democratic Chair pointed out that the matter of urban renewal of Parramore has been on the books for at least 50 years, yet little has changed.

“We have had fifty years of no action by the governments of Orange County and Orlando, although from as far back as 1963 urban renewal was seen as a must,” he said.

Head made reference to then-Chairman of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee for Community Improvement, George Stuart and Orlando Planning Director, Franklin Albert who argued 50 years ago that, new housing development was the key to revitalizing the Parramore area.  Instead, Parramore has been “devastated and cleared out by urban renewal plans,” he said.

“I was shocked to learn how long this is going on,” Head added.

Lawanna Gelzer, a Democrat who heads the Inner City Neighborhood Association, joined her colleagues and called on Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to stop the corporate welfare.

“Corporate welfare doesn’t bring jobs and only benefits the wealthy,” she said.  Gelzer added that, despite the promise of sustainable jobs and increased incomes with the new Amway Center in Parramore, that didn’t happen.  Instead, the area has lost some 110 homes, and incomes have declined.

Despite some $1 billion invested in the area over the last several years, Parramore has a black unemployment rate in excess of 50 percent.