Mayor Gimenez: Marlins' President statement 'insulting'

Samson to appear on new season of "Survivor"

MIAMI ā€“ Miami Marlins' President David Samson is among 18 castaways on the new season of "Survivor."

But before the show even airs, his online biography is raising some eyebrows. His claim to fame? "Got local government in Miami to contribute over 350 million dollars to a new baseball park during the recession," it reads.

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Current Mayor Carlos Gimenez told Local 10 Samson's comment is more than insulting.

"This ownership group just can't keep their foot of their mouth and continues to just poke their finger in our eye," he said. Gimenez was a county commissioner at the time of the ballpark building and was against the deal. "The ownership group is about putting money in their pocket and not putting a quality product on the field."

Samson says the information used in his bio was "but a fragment of my professional career and personal life." In a statement released Friday he continued, "I would certainly say that one of my top professional claims was getting a ballpark built in a public-private partnership that secured the future of baseball in South Florida forever."

Weeks away from the start of the second season at Marlins Park, many of the retail shops within the ballpark remain empty. Hopes that the Little Havana neighborhood would be invigorated appear to be fading.

"I think we need a new ownership group," Gimenez said. "No, I know we need a new ownership group."