THE D.C. STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Contact:
Scott McLarty, DC Statehood Green Party Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
mclarty@greens.org
Debby Hanrahan, DC Statehood Green Party member, 202-462-2054
STATEHOOD GREENS TO COUNCIL: DON'T LET MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL BILK D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Statehood Greens, testifying at a joint oversight hearing of D.C. City
Council's Finance and Revenue Committee and Economic Development Committee on Monday,
November 28, sharply criticized current plans to site and finance a new baseball stadium.
"This is an abuse of eminent domain and a betrayal of the public's trust in the use of
taxpayer money as a handout to billionaire Major League Baseball [MLB] owners," said DC Statehood
Green Party member Jenefer Ellingston, who attended the hearing. "Before the 7-6 Council
vote in December, 2004, authorizing $535 million in taxpayers' money for the new
stadium, a Washington Post poll showed that 69% of D.C. residents opposed public financing for the
project. We want to know why baseball billionaires can't pay for it, when we
desperately need public funds for human needs like health care, public schools, and housing."
Party member Debby Hanrahan, in her testimony, noted that the South Capitol stadium project has
already exceeded the $535 million cost approved by Council in December, 2004, by a 7-6 vote, that
the $165 million cap on infrastructure, land acquisition and environmental cleanup costs has
also been surpassed, and that, by law, Council agreed that if that $165
million cap were exceeded, a less expensive site should be sought.
"Soaring stadium costs and MLB's greed have made it painfully obvious that the South Capitol
Street site should be shelved in favor of a refurbished Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium or
a new stadium on a site near RFK," said Ms. Hanrahan, a prominent neighborhood activist.
"RFK would save $200 million or more, since it
would have no land acquision costs, and has existing parking lots that can accommodate 10,000
vehicles. Unlike South Capitol's tiny Metro stop, RFK has the much larger Stadium-Armory station
that can handle larger crowds. Furthermore, the RFK site would not require the city to seize the
businesses and residences of citizens by eminent domain to benefit the greedheads of MLB and the
team's eventual billionaire owners."
Marc Borbely, DC Statehood Green Party member and a former D.C. Public Schools teacher, said in his
testimony that the Council must minimize costs to the city, void the deal completely if there's a
financial penalty, and redirect the money to modernize schools instead.
"Before businesses are taxed at higher rates to build stadiums, they should be taxed at higher
rates to build schools," said Mr. Borbely, an organizer of FixOurSchools.net. "And before the
District uses its bonding capacity to borrow money to build stadiums, they should use it to
borrow money to build schools."
Debby Hanrahan stressed that:
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Any lease agreed to by Mayor Anthony Williams must be discussed by the Council -- in public --
and voted on by the Council, and not treated as a secret deal involving the Mayor's office and the
Sports and Entertainment Commission, all of whom have proven too willing to give MLB anything it
wants in order to attract and keep a team in D.C.
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MLB must not be allowed to stiff the city by attempting to avoid a guaranteed $6-million
annual lease payment.
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If South Capitol remains the chosen site, the lease must require that MLB and/or the new team
owners pay for cost overruns beyond the $535 million authorized by Council; Council must
examine the negotiated lease closely to see if the Mayor and Sports and Entertainment Commission
have provided new giveaways to MLB.
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No lease should be signed until MLB has selected a new team owner. But if the city does
sign it before a new owner is chosen, the lease should be written to be made applicable to either
the South Capitol or the RFK site. The city should not sign any lease that limits the city to
just the South Capitol site because, since it's quite likely that Council will soon see the
wisdom of having the stadium at the RFK site.
Statehood Greens urged Council to place the interests of D.C. residents foremost in all
negotiations and agreements with MLB, and that the public interest outweighs the desire of Mayor
Williams and baseball billionaires to place a new stadium in the District.
"We are in the driver's seat now, and do not need to capitulate further to MLB as to where we will
put any new stadium or what goes into the lease agreement," said Ms.
Hanrahan.
MORE INFORMATION
The DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
FixOurSchools.net
http://www.FixOurSchools.net
