“The Washington Nationals stadium deal may be finalized, but … oh, who’m I kidding? Stadium deals are never final until the last shovel of dirt is overturned…. The team is now demanding that the city agree to build aboveground parking for the stadium’s luxury-suite holders, instead of building underground lots…. if you’re still hoping that the city will see a windfall from that ‘ballpark entertainment district,’ … you’d better hope that people can find entertainment in looking at parked cars….
In related news, the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission has already blown through $9.4 million of the project’s $19.3 million in contingency funds in the first month of construction.”
In more stadium-related spending shenanigans, the Associated Press reported that DC Mayor Anthony Williams (the man most responsible for the District’s colossal corporate welfare stadium giveaway) has made a supplemental appropriation request to the DC Council, which includes $750,000 for an “Office of Baseball.”
Even the Washington Post Editorial cheerleaders for the publicly-subsidized stadium see this as waste:
“Does the District really have to have a $750,000 ‘Mayor’s Office of Baseball’ to handle duties already performed by the DC government and its agencies and special entities such as the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission?… City leaders, by now, should have learned the folly of playing Santa Claus with taxpayers’ money. The council should say no.”
There will be a public hearing next Monday, June 12, at 2:30 p.m. before the Council Committee of the Whole. Anyone wishing to testify should call Chairman Cropp’s office, 724-8032. Remember, Mrs. Cropp has said many times on the campaign trail and elsewhere that not one penny of taxpayers’ money is going into the stadium.
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