Baseball Offers more than just Hot-Dog Jobs for the Community but is a better deal a good deal??
The baseball deal approved by the D.C. Council yesterday significantly limits the penalties the District will face if construction of a stadium takes longer than expected. And it encourages adoption of financing options that could pump $100 million or more into the stadium project from private-sector sources. But the only guaranteed savings for the city, compared to what was submitted to the council by Mayor Anthony A. Williams more than two months ago, is an agreement to split the cost of insurance premiums -- estimated to be at least $4 million -- with the owner of the Washington Nationals, according to officials involved in the negotiating the deal. City officials secured the changes in last-minute talks with Major League Baseball that stretched late into the night Monday, reviving the deal after D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp amended the package to require private financing for half the stadium cost -- an amendment that baseball officials had angrily called a deal-breaker. Critics of the deal, which passed the council on a vote of 7 to 6, applauded Cropp for wresting some concessions. However, they said they were disappointed that neither Major League Baseball nor the future team owners would have to pay a significant portion of the project costs. "These are relatively minor savings in a bill that could cost upward of $600 million," said Ed Lazere, director of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute and a leading opponent of a publicly financed stadium. "The new concessions from Major League Baseball were not enough to persuade the six reluctant members of the council that this was a good deal for the District." Under the new legislation, Major League Baseball agreed to pay half the cost of insuring the stadium project against most construction delays and problems arising from weather-related or other natural events. [more]
Pictured above: Signs posted all over Downtown DC - "Stop the $440 Million Stadium Giveaway." Washington D.C. is a 60% Black city.
Poll Sees Split on Stadium Funding District residents are closely divided on the future of the Washington Nationals, with slightly more than half supporting private financing for a new stadium even if such a requirement means losing the team, according to a new Washington Post survey. The survey found that 56 percent of those interviewed favored requiring private funding to pay for half the cost of building a stadium. Nearly as many -- 53 percent -- backed the D.C. Council's amendment even if it proved to be a deal-breaker with Major League Baseball. [more]