Dewey Wins!: Council revotes and passes lease
7th February 2006
In politics, I have seen stadium legislation die only to be resurrected, involving the Expos derby (Portland got state funding passed in 2003 on a Friday failed vote, followed by a Saturday resurrection), but last night was far more dramatic, and far more critical. If you you went to bed with these headlines in your head after the deadline for many a writer had passed, Council rejects stadium lease, you may have gotten the impression that DC baseball was dead — it was headed for a gravel pit out by Dulles airport in Virginia.
Well, good morning, the council revoted late last night after most of the papers were past deadline, and this time, it passed (9-4).
As the AP reports:
The District of Columbia Council voted to approve a Washington Nationals baseball stadium lease early Wednesday, after rejecting the measure, then returning to session an hour later to reconsider.The unusual move came after the lease was attached to legislation capping the city’s total cost for the stadium at just under $611 million. The final vote was 9-4, hours after an 8-5 vote to reject the lease. Four members flipped their votes after the emergency legislation was attached and following a lengthy debate on the fine points.
Council members Marion Barry, D-Ward 8, Kwame Brown, D-At Large, Vincent Gray, D-Ward 7, and Carol Schwartz, R-At Large, changed their minds.
The members who switched their votes said they wanted to send a message to baseball officials that the city would build a stadium, but not at any cost. The steadfast opponents of the stadium argued that the cost cap would not be binding.
What will be key is seeing if MLB approves the changes. Mayor Williams, at one point, wanted the emergency legislation to fail because he felt MLB would not accept the changes and the lease agreement brokered by MLB, the DCSEC and Williams would be “torn up”.
MLB has until March 6 to approve the cap or the lease agreement is dissolved.
At this point, the District can now sell bonds. What was the key? As Lori Montgomery reported very late last night in ‘No’ Vote Was Only The Start Of Council Ride:
A short while later, Bobb was back in the council chambers. He huddled with an aide to council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D). He huddled with an aide to Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), who had voted no. He huddled with Carol Schwartz (R-At Large), who had also voted no. Then he suddenly sprang up and ran out of the room, his ostrich-leather cowboy boots clicking across the marble floor.”Make sure they don’t leave the chamber yet!” Bobb yelled to a reporter as he caught an elevator up to the mayor’s office.
By 10 p.m., a huge and hopeful crowd had gathered at the dais. In the center, mayoral aide Stephen Green was trying to placate Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6) and Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), who wanted to make no changes in the deal for fear of alienating Major League Baseball officials.
Off to the left, Bobb hunched over a piece of paper with three of the no votes: Schwartz, Barry and Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large). As they talked, Barry adjusted a pair of too-big drugstore bifocals and scribbled revisions.
Cropp dashed frantically between her chair and her office, printing yet another version of the compromise legislation. And Evans sat in the center of it all, looking happy and relieved.
Remember… Dewey Wins!
February 8th, 2006 at 8:00 am
After publishing last night, papers rushed to correct what they had submitted earlier that evening. An example? Look at what Thomas Boswell originally ran with:
Contrast that with what Boz is now running:
Boswell is right. This deal has some distance to travel, still. I suspect that some very measured words will come out of the Commissioner’s Office today.
For all that this deal is, which is certainly not the greatest stadium deal that ever came down the road, it has been none the less, entertaining to watch. A lame duck Mayor and enough jockeying for political position with a number of members on the council running for Mayor, made last night more strategic planning for election purposes than good solid sense. Clearly, DC would have paid far more in binding arbitration than swallowing the bitter pill and moving forward. Beyond the monetary costs, the District would have come across as a poor business partner. Going to binding arbitration over a large public/private works project is like a bad report to the BBB on steroids. Cooler heads or the thought of the hangover the next day won the vote last night.
In the end, there’s some lessons to be learned. Whether MLB will ever go down the conditional award route on a franchise relocation seems to be a near impossibility. I can still hear Jack Evans crowing to baseball in 2003, “Give us the team, and we’ll deliver the stadium.” In fairness to Evans, they did deliver, although I’m sure having the game going this deep into extra innings was not part of the plan.
February 8th, 2006 at 9:27 am
Comments are starting to roll in. Here’s what Bob DuPuy is saying this Weds. morning on MLB.com:
February 8th, 2006 at 10:43 am
WTOP news breaks down what MLB will be required to do via the legislation passed last night by the council.
The deal calls for Major League Baseball: