Palm Beach County Mayor Sara Baxter is drawing scrutiny after it came to light that she attended the college football championship game between the University of Miami and Indiana University in Steve Ross’ private box at Hard Rock Stadium.
She attended the game on Jan. 19, just days before the county commission she presides over considered whether staff should start reviewing Related Ross’ plans for a 400-key Curio by Hilton hotel, the Palm Beach Post reported. Ross is the billionaire chairman of Related Companies, one of Palm Beach County’s most prolific development firms. As part of his plan for the hotel, Ross is seeking to sell the county its site at 900 South Rosemary Avenue for $1, and lease the land back for 99 years to avoid paying property taxes. The annual rent would be about $2 million.
Baxter and other commissioners voted in February to authorize county staff to negotiate with Related regarding the project. When there is a final contract, Baxter will be one of the county officials to vote on it.
Ross owns Hard Rock Stadium, where the championship game was held. It is difficult to estimate the value of a seat in his personal box, but upper-level tickets for the game on StubHub started at nearly $3,000, the outlet reported. Suite packages advertised by the College Football Playoff premium hospitality program ranged from about $115,000 to $500,000.
Baxter told the outlet she paid for the ticket but declined to say how much.
Ben Wilcox, the research director of Integrity Florida, told the outlet that Baxter accepting high-value tickets to the game raised ethical concerns, and he questioned how it would influence her vote on the Curio hotel deal.
Baxter is facing a primary challenge for her seat from Elizabeth Accomando, with the vote set for Aug. 18. Ross and Related entities have also contributed $30,000 to Baxter’s reelection campaign. Accomando has called for Baxter to remove herself from votes and discussions of Ross’ deals with the county.
“She should recuse herself,” Accomando told the outlet. “In addition to sitting in his suite, Ross has made sizable political contributions to her. There is no way she should vote on matters that relate to him and his companies.”
Baxter defended her attendance and voting record in a text to the outlet.
“I’ll never apologize for supporting smart growth that promotes tourism and helps our community,” she wrote.
–– Kate Hinsche