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| Say 'No' to Mayor Williams' Plan to Soak D.C. Taxpayers for a Stadium. |
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D.C. Statehood Green Party October 25, 2004 Contact: STATEHOOD GREENS TO D.C. COUNCIL: SAY NO TO MAYOR WILLIAMS' PLAN TO SOAK D.C. TAXPAYERS FOR A STADIUM WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Candidates and members of the D.C. Statehood Green Party are urging D.C. Council to reject Mayor Anthony Williams' plan to provide up to $500 million in public financing for a new stadium in Washington, D.C. "We're making this a campaign issue -- either you're for the people of D.C., or you're for the Mayor, the Sports Commission, and some baseball multimillionaires who want to feed at the public trough," said Jay Marx, Statehood Green candidate for the Ward 2 seat on Council, which is currently occupied by Jack Evans, a booster of the Mayor's plan. "Statehood Greens are standing firm with the No D.C. Taxes for Baseball coalition and thousands of other citizens, and we're demanding that councilmembers vote no." Statehood Greens will join other opponents of public funding for the stadium in a 9:30 a.m. rally on Thursday, October 28 outside the Wilson Building (City Hall), 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and then gather at the site of the proposed stadium site, M Street at South Capitol Street SE, at 11:00 a.m. After the rally, Statehood Green candidates and Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb will hold a press conference in front of the Wilson Building. On the same day, Mr. Marx and other Statehood Green Party members will testify at the Council committee hearing on the stadium financing plan. "Mayor Williams can find $500 million for a stadium, but he can't find enough money to repair our crumbling schools, provide school sports equipment and other supplies, restore eliminated teaching positions, and keep libraries open" said Michele Tingling-Clemmons, Statehood Green candidate for Council (Ward 7). "In wanting to soak D.C. taxpayers for the stadium, Mayor Williams is apparently keeping a promise made long ago to big real estate, developers, and other corporate interests." In 2000, Mayor Williams courted Republican politicians during the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia to win support for D.C. baseball. "The luncheon that Mayor Williams hosted for Republicans on August 1, 2000 revealed the real political agenda of D.C.'s leading Democratic politicians," added Adam Eidinger, Statehood Green candidate for D.C. 'Shadow' Representative. "In 2004, when he made D.C. look desperate for baseball, the Mayor enthusiastically gave away the farm in his deal with Major League Baseball, not just for the benefit of baseball owners but for all his big business cronies who'll make a killing." Statehood Greens listed several reasons for D.C. Council to oppose Mayor Williams' plan: ==> The plan makes a stadium the District's top economic priority, diverting up to $500 million that is sorely needed for schools, libraries, public transportation (especially the cost of Metro rides), affordable housing, homeless shelters, revitalization of neighborhoods, Medicaid coverage, and restoration of a publicly funded full-service hospital. A stadium surtax on the D.C.'s largest businesses, as the mayor proposes, would prevent the city from using the same sources of tax money for these more pressing needs. ==> The Mayor's offer for the city to build the stadium, charge only a nominal lease to the new team, and give away 100% of the revenue from naming rights would be an enormous taxpayer-funded handout to wealthy Major League Baseball owners: If D.C. pays for the stadium with taxpayer money, the new team owners can offer high-price bids for the Expos to Major League Baseball, rather than financing the stadium themselves. Major League Baseball paid $120 million for the Expos just two years ago, and now wish to sell it to the new D.C. owners for $300 million or more. ==> The Mayor's plan will not meet the District's economic needs -- especially the needs of impoverished areas in Southeast D.C. Studies of the economic impact of stadiums consistently find that they don't create jobs or boost incomes, don't encourage development in surrounding neighborhoods, and would mostly generate part-time, low-wage jobs with no benefits. More information: http://www.fieldofschemes.com ==> If the Mayor's plan is enacted, D.C. residents will continue to pay for the stadium, through raised prices and layoffs because of the proposed tax on D.C. businesses (especially small, locally owned companies), through necessary expenditures for infrastructure and services for the stadium, and through health problems resulting from traffic congestion and pollution near the stadium, especially further damage to the heavily contaminated and neglected Anacostia River. ==> The stadium plan potentially abuses eminent domain, since it involves the seizure of private property (business sites in the Navy Yard neighborhood) not for public benefit, but to transfer to another private entity (Major League Baseball owners). "It is an attempt that lost its questionable legal justification in late July, when the Michigan Supreme Court overturned its precedent-setting decision in 1981 that allowed Detroit to condemn the neighborhood of Poletown in order to make way for a General Motors factory." ("27 property owners and a 20-acre plot", by Tom Knott, The Washington Times, September 24, 2004 <http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20040924-122610-8382r.htm>) MORE INFORMATION The D.C. Statehood Green Party DCWatch.com's Baseball Issues page: documents, legislation, press releases, testimony, articles on the plan for a D.C. baseball stadium http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/sports.htm#baseball 2004 D.C. Statehood Green candidates: Laurent Ross for City Council, At-Large Jay Marx for City Council, Ward 2 Michele Tingling-Clemmons for City Council, Ward 7 Adam Eidinger for 'Shadow' U.S. Representative
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