Fighting the Dolphins on F1, commissioner demands info on free Super Bowl tickets
A Miami-Dade commissioner on Tuesday brought the Super Bowl into her fight against Formula One racing in Miami Gardens, demanding records from fellow office holders who accepted free game tickets from Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.
Commissioner Barbara Jordan interrupted a discussion on traffic-light procurement during the commission’s regular twice-monthly meeting to announce she wanted board members to disclose how they might have secured the hottest ticket in town two days earlier at Hard Rock Stadium. Ross, who wants to bring yearly F1 races to Hard Rock Stadium, offered free Super Bowl tickets to county commissioners and Mayor Carlos Gimenez.
“The public records law gives anyone the right to request public records,” Jordan said. “So I am requesting that all Miami-Dade County elected officials who attended the recent Super Bowl in their official capacity provide my office a copy of all documents and records related to their attendance by this Friday.”
Gimenez is a top Dolphins ally in the F1 fight who has already vetoed one of Jordan’s ordinances designed to stop the race. On Monday, his office said he accepted one $4,000 ticket from Ross for Super Bowl 54. A county commissioner this week confirmed he accepted free tickets, too.
The county’s top ethics lawyer last week cleared Gimenez to accept tickets from Ross.
On Wednesday, a Dolphins spokesman released a statement from Hard Rock Stadium calling Jordan “hypocritical” for implying there was something wrong with elected officials attending stadium events for free when she had been there many times “in her official capacity.”
“It is sad and unfortunate it has come to this kind of negative political posturing and false propaganda,” the statement said, referring to opponents’ claims of health risks from an F1 race. “We are trying to do positive things for all of Miami-Dade County, bringing global events here that create jobs, economic impact and entertainment for everyone.”
In his memo Friday, Ethics Commission director Jose Arrojo concluded the gifts from Ross were acceptable, since Gimenez wasn’t tying them to official action and Ross isn’t a lobbyist. State law restricts gifts from lobbyists to elected officials, including those holding county office, Arrojo wrote.
Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz also said through a spokeswoman he accepted two free tickets from Ross. The value of the tickets isn’t known. Ross had offered to provide tickets worth $3,000 to any commissioner who attended a county ceremony arranged before the game to honor the stadium. Gimenez led the ceremony, and his office said the event was part of his attending the game in his official capacity as mayor.
Commissioner Sally Heyman attended that ceremony as well, but has not responded to inquiries about whether she accepted free tickets from Ross.
On Tuesday, the commission’s press office released emails from Heyman showing she asked to purchase a pair of $3,000 Super Bowl tickets offered to all commissioners by the local Host Committee on Jan. 9.
Heyman submitted a credit card number with her home address for payment, suggesting she was paying for the tickets herself, according to the emails obtained through a Miami Herald public-records request. But Heyman has not responded to questions about whether she later accepted the free tickets Ross offered in connection with the pre-game county ceremony at the Super Bowl.
Jordan’s records request could be setting up her latest attempt to stymie Ross from bringing Formula One racing to his stadium in Miami Gardens by pressuring ticket recipients into recusing themselves from future votes on the race. In a brief interview after the meeting, Jordan said she wanted to see if any free tickets from Ross would trigger violations of the county’s ethics law, which prohibits gifts in exchange for action by an office holder.
Ross’ lobbying team is fighting proposed anti-F1 legislation by Jordan, which was scheduled for a vote Tuesday before the sponsor postponed action until later this month. In her comments, Jordan said she planned to contact the Ethics Commission about the records as well.
“I just want to see the correspondence so I can determine whether or not there is any kind of quid pro quo,” Jordan said.
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 6:00 AM.