Field of Schemes: D.C. stadium hearings online now

November 28, 2005

D.C. stadium hearings online now

If you have Windows Media Player, you can right now watch the D.C. stadium hearings online. Post comments (such as "What's the deal with Jim Graham's tie?") in this item as you follow along!

COMMENTS

Committee chair Jack Evans just shouted: "Everybody calm down! Everyone will get a chance to speak, if we have to be here till 3 in the morning!" Whee!
Posted by: Neil at November 28, 2005 03:19 PM

So far the dialogue mostly seems to be: COUNCIL: "How will you cut costs?" D.C. SPORTS AUTHORITY: "Don't worry, we will cut costs, trust us." Lather, rinse, repeat...
Posted by: Neil at November 28, 2005 03:55 PM

This was a fairly heated debate early on. Certainly Orange, Schwartz, and Catania brought those at the dais to a fever pitch on several occasions.
Posted by: Maury at November 28, 2005 03:58 PM

Catania just dropped what could be a minor bombshell, asking D.C. CFO Gandhi how it can be that it's now a $589m project, and yet the legislation limits city spending to $535m: "We're headed to court, if this goes forward under these terms and conditions." Gandhi didn't have a good answer.
Posted by: Neil at November 28, 2005 04:06 PM

What's the deal with Jim Graham's tie? ;) Well, the Nats could always move back to Montreal.
Posted by: Mike at November 28, 2005 04:14 PM

Jeez, even Orange, who was one of baseball's pals last year, is now saying "we have the carrot" and saying D.C. should renegotiate the entire deal.
Posted by: Neil at November 28, 2005 04:21 PM

Okay, I think Gandhi's lawyer just made clear what's going on here: The original stadium legislation capped city spending on the stadium at $535 million. Earlier this month, the council voted on "technical amendments" that were meant to save the city money, but actually raised the expenditure cap to $584 million. (I assume this was to make the bond payments cheaper down the road, like paying points upfront on a home mortgage in order to reduce your interest rate.) Even if this was legit, it certainly seems to have pissed off the councilmembers to find out that this is what they voted for - Catania (who actually voted against the amendments) just used the word "hoodwinked."
Posted by: Neil at November 28, 2005 05:10 PM

Has anyone thought of the possability that their lives would be better off without more WASPS holding stadium guns to their heads?
Posted by: Bertell Ollman at November 29, 2005 01:53 AM