Chip Iglesias: Negotiator to lobbyist on Beckham soccer

It escaped me Wednesday, but Genting isn’t the interesting client represented by the lobby firm that stole Miami-Dade Deputy Mayor Genaro “Chip” Iglesias from the county.

David Beckham is.

Iglesias has been the county’s lead negotiator on the talks with Beckham and his group of investors to bring Major League Soccer to Miami — and a soccer stadium that apparently must be built on public, waterfront land — since they began late last year. He’s been entrusted with representing the best interest of us taxpayers.

Now, he’s joining the firm that represents Beckham’s Miami soccer stadium dreams.

The two lobbyists in the Ballard Group’s Miami office, Mike Abrams and Sylvester Lukis, are registered at the county as lobbyists for Miami Beckham United to work on the Miami soccer stadium deal — which went fast from a site at the Port of Miami to a boat slip they’d have to fill in at Museum Park to absolutely nowhere. Or worse: Broward.

Maybe Mr. Soccer Star should have hired this A Team earlier, when they had what most consider a second tier of lobbyists — Niesen Kasdin, Roly Marante and Francois Illas (aka Al Lorenzo) — working on what many thought was a deal way above their pay grade.

Sure, Iglesias can’t (cough, cough) lobby for two years (bull, cough) according to county rules that are broken all the time. But even if he stays clear of the 111 building that long — and he says he might drop by just to say “Hi” — the soon to be former deputy mayor and longtime Gimenez confidant will still be working in Beckham’s firm. The guy who, basically, knows what they need for the county to bite and how to jump over the obstacles in the labyrinth, who knows how to get the mayor and commissioners on board, will be in the same office with the two main lobbyists for Beckham. You’re going to tell me he’s not going to participate in the conversation on how best to get what their clients want?

Cough, cough.

“Yes, I’m going to be on the Dark Side,” Iglesias joked with Ladra by phone Wednesday afternoon, shortly after the announcement was made. By the time I made the joke, he had heard it too often.

But how true is it? I mean, when during the negotiations did Syl Lukis lean over to the Deputy Mayor that was supposed to be getting us the best deal possible and say, “Hey, Chip, you are such a great negotiator. Why don’t you join us?”

Iglesias would not confirm that he was going to Ballard Wednesday, but Ladra now has it from five solid sources. He did admit that the rumors he was eyeing the Coral Gables City Manager position were true and that he had been thinking about moving out of the county for a bit.

“It’s been a while. It’s not abrupt,” he told Ladra, who suspects it’s been since he was replaced as Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez‘s chief of staff by Lisa Martinez in March. Sources say it was a riff caused by labor negotiations and/or the intrusion of lobbyists in the mayor’s decision-making. Iglesias says the job was just too big for him to do and be deputy mayor at the same time.

“I was very interested in the Gables position. It’s a great community and a good fit with my career path,” Iglesias said. “Just that life is funny. A conversation came about and opportunities just take you in a different direction.”

Life is funny, indeed.

Wouldn’t it be funny if the Port of Miami or some other waterfront site was resurrected? Or some other sweetheart deal started trickling its way back to County Hall after the budget is passed?

Because the general consensus is that Beckham is going to come back to the table on the 29th floor eventually, just like the Miami Dolphins did after they lost their first stab at the tourist tax dollars last year. They got them this year without a public referendum like they originally wanted. And Broward? Well, that’s just part of the negotiating tactics to scare Miami-Dade a little.

Ladra wonders if it was Chip’s idea.

lobbyists, MLS soccer, soccer stadium

Chip Iglesias: Negotiator to lobbyist on Beckham soccer added by Ladra on July 24, 2014
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