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July 11, 2004

D.C. councilmembers pan stadium subsidies

D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams may have said that he can get a stadium-funding bill passed "in a snap," but two city councilmembers have gone on record saying that's not so. Noting that Washington is the likely front-runner to land the Montreal Expos, Adrian Fenty and David Catania write to the Washington Post that this "puts the District in a strong bargaining position, a position that should allow it to compete for a team without offering substantial stadium subsidies. Unfortunately, the mayor is moving in the other direction. Last year, he proposed spending $275 million toward stadium costs. This year, he raised that offer by more than $100 million. ... Bringing a major league baseball team back to Washington would be great for the District, but not if the price is a huge public subsidy." Of course, D.C. is the front-runner in part because of Williams' promises of free stadium money, but given the lackluster proposals by the other candidates, it does appear right now that Williams is effectively bidding against himself.

In any case, this further indication that Williams' stadium finance ducks aren't in anything resembling a row is only likely to mean further delays in MLB's much-delayed decision on what to do with the Expos. While Bud Selig's ruling junta hasn't yet officially admitted that a decision won't be made following this week's All-Star Game, as had been promised, given that MLB has scheduled negotiating meetings with D.C. and Northern Virginia officials in late July, it's a fair bet we won't be hearing anything on the Expos' fate until much later in the year, if at all.

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