D.C. is about to blow it

[unsonny]

all the work the Mayor did is about to go out the window....MLB and D.C. had a deal now Cropp is about to blow it

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mon/news/mon_news.jsp?ymd=20041105&content_id=910771&vkey=news_mon&fext=.jsp

[unsonny]

11/05/2004 6:15 PM ET
New stadium financing proposed
Council chair's plan to go up against D.C. mayor's idea
By Jeff Seidel / Special to MLB.com


Frank Robinson's team will play its home games at RFK Stadium through 2007. (Ted S. Warren/AP)



• dcbaseball.com


WASHINGTON -- A surprise new stadium financing plan for Washington D.C.'s baseball team was unveiled on Friday, possibly complicating what may happen when the D.C. Council votes on Tuesday.
D.C. Council chair Linda Cropp proposed what will stand as a substitute bill that the council can consider and then possibly vote on this coming Tuesday -- something that could endanger the financing package that Mayor Anthony A. Williams has been working on for several weeks.

The council had planned to vote Tuesday on the bill that Williams backed. The bill made it through two committees earlier this week by 3-2 margins each time. A second vote was then set for Dec. 7.

But Cropp's plan could change all of that. Cropp's proposal calls for an approximately 20 percent reduction in costs from Williams' plan, whose base is $440 million. It also would move the new stadium's site from the Anacostia waterfront to one near RFK Stadium.

The team is scheduled to play at RFK for the next three years until a new stadium opens in 2008.

"Her proposal essentially offers another alternative to Major League Baseball," said Mark F. Johnson, a Cropp spokesman. "She thinks it's fair and would bring a divided city together."

Johnson also said that one big difference between the two plans -- and something that would lower the costs -- is that the District wouldn't have to buy land for the stadium if it goes with Cropp's site. The city would have to purchase land if it goes to the Anacostia site.

Williams was upset that the proposal came about just four days before the council would vote on the financing deal for a stadium that would return baseball to Washington. He said that Major League Baseball and the District had already agreed on a deal.

"If Chairman Cropp's proposal moves forward, there will be no Major League Baseball in Washington, D.C.," Williams said. "Chairman Cropp, Councilmember [Jack] Evans and I negotiated a deal with baseball. We negotiated a deal based on the Anacostia waterfront site. The site made good sense for the city, it made good sense for Major League Baseball, creating jobs and new development."

The question now is what the D.C. Council will do. Supporters of Williams and his bill are worried that this could hurt their chances of getting their bill through the 13-member council on Tuesday -- especially since they had already reached the agreement with Major League Baseball on it.

Jeff Seidel is a correspondent for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Son of a b***h!! If this doesn't work out...we'll never get
a team.

[unsonny]

Originally posted by BRAVEONAWARPATH
Son of a b***h!! If this doesn't work out...we'll never get
a team.

you got that right!!!

our children's children will never see baseball in D.C. and thier children's children

if the council screws this up....i will, for the first time, write a letter to Cropp......vowing never to spend a cent in D.C. again

[Larry Brown #43]

This is really troubling. Without Cropp, I'm just not sure that we have the 7 'yes' votes needed to pass the stadium legislation. If Cropp blows this deal at the last minute, we will look yet again like a bunch of incompetent fools, and MLB will never again waste their time looking in our direction.

[monkey66]

I saw an article about this in the post on Saturday... Very troubling indeed.

If the mayor's plan does not get approved the move is in big trouble.

[ZkinsFan]

that really blows

[ajgnydc722]

hahahah

[BigJasMD]

Originally posted by Larry Brown #43
This is really troubling. Without Cropp, I'm just not sure that we have the 7 'yes' votes needed to pass the stadium legislation. If Cropp blows this deal at the last minute, we will look yet again like a bunch of incompetent fools, and MLB will never again waste their time looking in our direction.



Come on now, D.C. has always been full of incompetent fools, they elected a crack head, what do you expect. Let VA just have the team, they have more money to spend and will support the team.

[champ4888]

I really hope DC does not blow this opne, but they probably will.

[Ancalagon the Black]

Williams wins round one: http://extremeskins.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=83235