December 15, 2005
The carrot and the stick
With five days to go before a city council showdown on the Washington Nationals lease, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams is promising goodies for those who back his plan, and lumps of coal for those who oppose it. "I will do everything in my power," Williams told reporters yesterday. "I know the people who will support this, and I'll work tirelessly and mightily to support them. The people who do not support it, I won't forget." Williams said he believes he has five solid votes for the stadium deal - presumably Ambrose, Cropp, Evans, Orange, and Patterson - meaning he'd need to pick up two votes from among Brown, Gray, Mendelson, and Schwartz to secure passage of the lease.
For more on this, see the DCist's excellent rundown of the major players in the Washington stadium mess and where they screwed up.
LATE NOTE: You can also hear me discussing the Nats stadium issue with WAMU-FM's Kojo Nnamdi yesterday afternoon, archived here in both Real and Windows Media formats.
