Stadium Spending Cap Released
The council aides have done a yeoman's job figuring out exactly what was in the final baseball legislation approved by the council early Wednesday. It wasn't easy. One aide told me that a group of them were reviewing videotape to try to figure out what was in and what was out.
The document is four pages. You can read it for yourself in my story posted on the web a couple hours ago.
DC CFO Natwar Gandhi is supposed to be meeting with Mayor Williams this afternoon to review the lease. We'll see what his reaction is, hopefully by the end of today. As for MLB, still no word from them. But we know they must have a copy by now. Stay tuned.
P.S. -- I'm scheduled to be on Mark Stern's baseball show on WTEM-980 AM on Saturday morning at about 10:30 to talk more about all this.
By David Nakamura |
February 9, 2006; 4:26 PM ET
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Posted by: praying mantis jr | February 9, 2006 06:25 PM
1350 Pensylvania Avenue, NW is currently zoned for sleazy business, how 'bout there?
Posted by: cipher | February 10, 2006 02:59 PM
A quick reflection on arbitration, and my staff memo to Bud Selig.
Large organizations do not want to go to arbitration if there is any possible way out of it. The only time they do, is when one side feels it has such an overwhelming advantage that it cannot lose by taking the nuclear option.
This is clearly not the case for MLB. What MLB lawyer is going to sell the case to take this to an extended, extended court battle, with nothing but bad headlines for MLB, for six months, at the end of which they could lose?
I saw lots of members of congress at games last year. I remember--and I'm sure many of you do as well--the Senate hearing when Selig got eviscerated over relocation. What is Selig's legislative liaison telling him now? -- Take the people of DC to court and try to burn them for millions of dollars? No. Any financial penalty for DC will go the Feds to pay anyway; it has been this way since 1800.
My Staff Memo to Selig:
Option One: Long, ugly, public arbitration battle. MLB seen nationwide as trying to extort money from minorities, even as it claims to want to encourage more African American kids to play the game. Congress, which put $20M in to save the deal at the last minute (Navy Metro), grows ever angrier at the daily tide of bad MLB news.
Option Two: You've sent your first angry letter to DC and made plenty of comments about your disappointment with the Council. Now play the role of conciliator, pay the difference, and start rebuilding MLB's relationship with Washington.
Posted by: Wisdom for MLB | February 11, 2006 10:14 AM
Elminiate the anti-trust exemption, and save the entire country billions on baseball.
Posted by: Wisdom for Congress | February 11, 2006 01:49 PM
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can u find out what neighborhood will get all the sleazy businesses that currently are located on the southeast baseball site?