Nader, League of Fans & coalition to DC Council: Vote against additional public spending for stadium
As reported by WTOP on July 26, 2006, “At a recent stadium task force meeting, DC Council members were told [in the likely event that developer Herb Miller’s parking plan isn’t in place by mid-August] they would need to amend the current stadium legislation to waive the cap on spending and approve the additional costs.”
According to reports on the three fallback parking options from District Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi, the Council would need to vote on raising DC taxpayer costs for the stadium to somewhere between $655 million and $709 million. As the overruns and risks build, the Wall Street bond issuers are sure to take heed.
The DC Council — especially those members who switched positions on the stadium lease under the cover of a spending cap — must reject additional costs to the taxpaying residents of the District of Columbia.
With Council in recess, it has also been reported that the additional spending would not be submitted to the council for a vote until after the September 12 primary. Rest assured, however, that the additional spending will be a major issue in a city whose residents are 70 percent opposed to public spending for the stadium, and who have already been betrayed.
This issue is not going to go away. It’s time to say “No More!” From now on, let the owners of the Nationals invest their own money or raise it in the capital markets.
We ask that you respond, immediately, with a commitment that you will vote against additional spending for the stadium project.
Sincerely,
Ralph Nader, consumer advocate
Ed Lazere, Exec. Dir., DC Fiscal Policy Institute & member, NO DC Taxes for Baseball
John Capozzi, NO DC Taxes for Baseball
Mary C. Williams, Esq., Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner 6D03
Marc Borbely, FixOurSchools.net
Chris Otten, Candidate for Mayor, DC Statehood Green Party
Chris Weiss, Director, D.C. Projects, Friends of the Earth
Parisa Norouzi, Co-Director, Empower DC
Robin Diener, Director, DC Library Renaissance Project
Shawn McCarthy, Director, League of Fans
Jenefer Ellingston, DC Statehood Green Party
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Sent to:
Councilmember Linda W. Cropp (Chairman – At Large)
Councilmember Carol Schwartz (At Large)
Councilmember David A. Catania (At Large)
Councilmember Phil Mendelson (At Large)
Councilmember Kwame R. Brown (At Large)
Councilmember Jim Graham (Ward 1)
Councilmember Jack Evans (Chairman Pro-Tempore – Ward 2)
Councilmember Kathleen Patterson (Ward 3)
Councilmember Adrian Fenty (Ward 4)
Councilmember Vincent B. Orange, Sr. (Ward 5)
Councilmember Sharon Ambrose (Ward 6)
Councilmember Vincent C. Gray (Ward 7)
Councilmember Marion Barry (Ward 8 )
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world, with over 150 camps in 30+ U.S. states and Canada. We discuss problems in youth sports today, including single sport specialization, the growing gap between the “haves” and “have-nots,” the high drop-out rate in competitive sports, and the growing mental health challenges young athletes are dealing with today.
Listen on Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor and others.
Follow on Facebook: @SportsForumPodcast
More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts; PocketCasts; & Anchor
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
Episode #23 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Olympian Benita Fitzgerald Mosley Talks Title IX, Youth Sports and the Olympics.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
Books