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Editorial
Editorial Archives
Friday, November 12, 2004; Page 17
Let’s Play Ball
What is going on with D.C. Council Chairman Linda Cropp? One day she’s a fan of Mayor Anthony William’s plan to return Major League baseball to the District of Columbia and then the next day she’s not. One day she proposes her own plan that establishes the RFK Stadium site for construction of a new baseball stadium and then the next day she withdraws it. One day she prepares for the Council vote on the Mayor’s financing plan and in a flash, she cancels it because she has come up with her own.
Cropp’s flip-flop, bait and switch, peek-a-boo approach to support MLB’s return to the District has even its staunchest opponents scratching their heads while wondering what’s going on in hers.
Critics of the Mayor’s plan have expressed their concerns loud and clear, and in some very significant ways, Mayor William’s return to the drawing board resulted in some attractive amendments. Still, it is unclear whether a guarantee that local small and disadvantaged businesses will receive any benefits proscribed by the contract and whether the contract will set aside a certain number of jobs for D.C. residents as the Mayor promised.
It is apparent that Major League Baseball wants to be in D.C. at the Southeast site and how we pay for it is our concern. It is also apparent that many D.C. residents are reluctant to lose out on this deal. The more Councilwoman Cropp throws flies in the ointment, the more her motives are called into question and the less likely it will result in anything good for D.C. residents.
Let the Council vote and let the chips fall where they may. |
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