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December 19, 2004

Populism

Dear Populace:

I’m not a populist, at least in the sense that I’m not motivated by envy and spite toward the wealthy. I don’t want to confiscate anyone’s riches or put legal limits on salaries. But I become a populist when rich people use their wealth, their power, and their political connections to fleece the public. When the members of the Washington Baseball Club and Major League Baseball use their political power to impose taxes on others to subsidize their business expenses, I turn into a flaming, raving, radical populist. Let me be clear, I don’t believe that the influential wealthy, the members of the WBC and the MLB, get their way through political corruption, in the sense of giving politicians direct personal payoffs. Certainly, they will give politicians thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in return for receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds, but that’s legally and socially accepted corruption, and the politicians won’t get personally rich from the exchange.

The wealthy don’t have to pay for favors; politicians vie to do favors for them. A revealing photograph accompanies Roxanne Roberts’ flattering profile of Joe Robert in today’s Washington Post Style section (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10993-2004Dec18.html). Unfortunately the photograph isn’t available online, so I’ll describe it: Mayor Williams rears back in his chair at Robert’s Fight Night charity event, tuxedoed and puffing on a huge cigar, immensely self-satisfied and at ease as he never is when meeting with a group of ordinary DC citizens. He has been made at home, on a complimentary ticket to an expensive charity gala, among the power brokers, the movers and shakers, the impossibly wealthy, an honored pal of Robert and Robert’s best friend Jim Kimsey, both of them members of the Washington Baseball Club. And he is one of them, too, a friend and an equal, for as long as he remains in office and does their bidding. For some people, that’s payoff enough. What do you have to give to Williams, or to the council promoters of unlimited giveaways to WBC and MLB (Evans, Orange, Ambrose, Brazil, Chavous, and Allen, lest we forget), that can compare? A plaque from a neighborhood association?

More recommended reading from today’s papers: the Post and the Times both have comprehensive and generally accurate reviews of the council debate and its background: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10839-2004Dec18.html and http://www.washingtontimes.com/specialreport/20041219-121813-6607r.htm. And from yesterday’s Post, Colbert King’s few hundred words (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9248-2004Dec17.html) is worth volumes to explain what is wrong about this deal. The column ends with a rallying cry for Washingtonians, cited below by Rick Rosendall: “WRC-TV news anchor Jim Vance spoke for many on Wednesday evening when he heard that the owners had rejected the council’s revised baseball stadium financing deal. Vance blurted out: ‘Great. Let them go screw some other city.’”

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Water Main Link
Larry Ellis, cupidity711_sid@msn.com

For several months a water main has been leaking at the intersection of 51st and Jay Streets, NE. With the change of season, the water leaking from the source has frozen over the last couple of days. I fear that this may result in either a pedestrian injury or vehicular accident. WASA crews have been out to the site although the water continues to pour from the main. Is it possible, as a resident in the block, to ascertain the repair status of the main?

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Thanks for Supporting Ross Elementary
Phil Carney, Philandscoop@yahoo.com

The eighth annual Christmas tree sale for Ross Elementary was a cooperative volunteer effort by parents, teachers, and concerned neighbors. PTCA Vice President Dawn Dickerson organized tree elves from the Ross Parent Teacher Community Association and from Friends of Ross. The two-weekend fundraiser was a great success with all wreaths, stands and 300 trees sold.

Zipcar employees volunteered to provide free deliveries on the first weekend, but were unable to help the second weekend. Where there is a will, there is . . . we tied one tree to a skateboard and one man carried his tree home on the back of his three wheeled scooter. The money raised will go to individual teachers to make whatever improvements deemed necessary. Teacher’s requests range from buying dictionaries to repairing air conditioning. Previous tree fundraising was used to renovate the front entrance, library, cafeteria and to buy a flagpole and an American flag! Thanks to DCPS, all the funds raised over the years have gone to cover basics that any self respecting professional American public school system would pay for.

Ross Elementary School is located at 1730 R Street, NW. Thanks to grants and fund raising, the school has new playground equipment. The old playground mixed little children and cars — an idea that could only happen in DC under DCPS. A separate car entrance with parking, new fencing and landscaping will be added, hopefully soon.

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Anacostia Waterfront Corporation Again
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

In the last issue of themail, December 15, I wrote about the quandary facing the mayor and council over membership on the board of the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation. The mayor had promised Joslyn Williams that there would be a labor representative on the board, and then he had filled the board without appointing one. How does a labor-friendly city council resolve the problem? The council’s Committee on Economic Development approved all of the mayor’s nominees, but on Tuesday Committee Chairman Harold Brazil plans to introduce emergency legislation to expand the Corporation board’s membership by two, one to represent labor interests and the other to represent environmental interests.

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Slaughter of a Babe in the Woods
Larry Seftor, larry underscore seftor .the757 at zoemail.net

It is fascinating and appalling that a billion dollar baseball deal was negotiated by someone with no apparent negotiation skills or training. Many years ago, for work, I attended a Karrass negotiation course. The city would have been well served if Anthony Williams had attended such a course instead of taking one of his trips away from the city. Williams’s negotiation with baseball would be a good case study of what not to do. Here are some examples. 1) A true negotiation ends with both sides satisfied, each fully understanding the deal, and each having gained some advantage. If one side has to make unreasonable concessions and leaves with bad feelings, the negotiation has failed. (I believe the lawyers call this a contract of adhesion.) In such cases, subsequent execution of the deal is generally fraught with trouble. 2) Negotiations must be conducted both externally and internally. For example, while I negotiate externally with another company I also have to negotiate internally with my company’s management. Williams needed to negotiate with the council as the deal was being struck, instead of presenting a “fait accompli” to be rubber stamped. 3) To negotiate one needs to know the market. Last week an economics professor stated that Ms. Cropp’s proposal aligned well with the direction that new stadium funding is taking. He also said that the DC market is an attractive one to baseball, and that DC could have negotiated from a position of strength. Williams obviously did no research and negotiated from ignorance. In short, the council is doing their job. Too bad Williams didn’t do his.

Postscript: late Saturday evening (actually early Sunday morning), I read an online version of a story that appeared in Sunday’s Washington Post about the baseball negotiation. I did a double take when an important characterization was missing from the printed edition on Sunday. Online the Post stated: “Major League Baseball is an unregulated monopoly accustomed to bullying public officials, a millionaires’ club that has spent the past year squeezing the District for cash.” While the Post has the right to edit any way they want, the deletion of this important truth provides a fascinating insight into the workings of the media.

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The Future DC Stadium
Tom Matthes, tommatthes@earthlink.net

Now that the DC Council has crossed its Rubicon and the baseball deal will either be negotiated or die, it’s a good time to destroy two shibboleths about big league stadiums. The first is that they must be in a downtown or commercial setting; hence the Anacostia Waterfront plan. But Washington has impossible traffic already and every game at that site would mean disastrous gridlock for hours. The best alternative by far is to build a new stadium adjacent to RFK Stadium and its abundant parking, Metro, and adjacent freeway. The second shibboleth is that the multipurpose stadium is dead. When a stadium for baseball or football costs up to a half billion dollars, the taxpayers should call on their leaders to mobilize the best in modern technology and architecture to find an acceptable design for both, plus soccer, concerts, and even conventions. Perhaps a multipurpose stadium could add a pavilion to recreate some of the commercial setting baseball owners crave.

Should the Washington Nationals leave for Las Vegas or somewhere else, it won’t be the end for DC baseball. Several other major league teams have unlikely futures and are likely to move. The Florida Marlins may already be in a race to beat the Nats to Las Vegas. The long term is also important: a good guess is that the Redskins will be ready to return to the city within twenty years as the gridlock in Landover reaches impossible levels. Even without them, DC should have a stadium big enough for events like college bowl games and World Cup Soccer. With an innovative multipurpose stadium, perhaps with a retractable roof, private financing is more likely and the city will be a sports trendsetter instead of MLB’s lackey.

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Misinformation
Pat Bitondo, pbitondo@aol.com

Your article on baseball contained some misinformation. Linda Cropp was at the table when the original deal was made and she admitted same on the DC Politics Hour. I’m reading your mail less and less because either you or Dorothy manage to slip in false information frequently.

[I’m afraid that you are misinformed. No councilmember, especially Mrs. Cropp, was ever present at the negotiating table with Major League Baseball, and among the councilmembers only Jack Evans was kept even minimally informed of the progress of the negotiations and of the terms of the agreement. The Williams administrations is now trying to construct excuses and spread the blame in case the deal falls through; don’t fall for it. — Gary Imhoff]

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Private Financing
Dennis Jaffe, djworkhome@aol.com

In the December 15th issue of themail, Ralph Blessing asked, “who will step up to the plate, so to speak, and offer to build a stadium, then turn over ownership to the DC government?”

Answer: An advertiser.

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A Golden Opportunity
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

Some may feel that it will be a disaster if DC does not get a major league baseball team. I look upon that event as a golden opportunity. Mayor Williams, who got us into this mess by selling out the city and getting a very onerous “deal,” will surely characterize not getting the Nationals as a disaster and blame Linda Cropp. Linda Cropp, however, has made the right recommendations and decisions for the right reasons as she is watching out for the best interests of the taxpayers and those who do business in Washington and should be lauded for her actions.

As for the golden opportunity: the District should form a team of business and interested sports leaders to develop a plan to build a first class minor league stadium in SW DC on the same site as proposed for the major league stadium. Instead of a behemoth 60,000 seat stadium, however, a 10,000 seat stadium should be built with ample parking for 4,000 or more cars. This will provide a venue that will likely cost only about $100,000,000 and could surely be financed by business and private funds. DC would only bear the costs for the land and infrastructure, only a fraction of the more than $600 million that it was ready to spend. The new stadium would provide the baseball that everyone wants in the city but with ticket prices that will be affordable for families and children. The benefits to the city will likely be tax revenues and neighborhood improvements that would be almost as great as what would have been realized from getting the major league team.

The only losers in this scenario will be Tony Williams, who won’t be able to fill up his bloated ego and that creep from Baltimore, Peter Angelos, who won’t get his tribute from the TV revenue and guaranteed buyout for his woeful Orioles. This is a golden opportunity for DC.

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And I Thought It Was a Done Deal
Rick Rosendall, Dupont Circle, rrosendall@starpower.net

From the outset of the baseball flap, I figured that the usual pattern of District officials getting stars in their eyes over a big development project would overwhelm all objections. Was I ever wrong! I had thought it might be nice to have baseball in the city, as long as some ancillary issues were resolved, such as fair treatment of the displaced businesses. But the awfulness of the Mayor’s giveaway deal quickly became apparent. Kudos to Dorothy and Gary, the protesters, Linda Cropp and the six dissenting councilmembers, particularly Fenty and Catania.

I loved Jim Vance’s comment on WRC, which Colby King quoted in Saturday’s column: “Let them go screw some other city.” Amen. The sports writers can get so mad their heads explode for all I care. I am particularly offended by the arrogance and dishonesty of Boswell at the Post. And boy, you sure don’t have to scratch some folks much before the racial insults come pouring out, along with idiotic slams against the entire District because one ward elected Marion Barry as its councilmember. A number of people on the Post forum Wednesday morning wrote as if the stadium was to be built in Anacostia. Based on the same reasoning, perhaps they think the Kennedy Center is in Potomac, Maryland.

I am glad Linda pointed out that most of her angry callers were from 301 and 703 area codes. On Friday night at the Cafritz Awards reception, someone mentioned that police had been stationed outside several councilmembers’ homes to protect them. Oh dear Lord. If that’s the sort of thug that baseball is going to attract to our city, good riddance.

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Trojan Horse Financing
Ed Delaney, profeddel@yahoo.com

Beware of mayors bearing gifts, specifically the Trojan horse used as window dressing for full financing. Here in the ninth inning of the baseball drama, here are nine critical things we’ve learned this week (besides the fact that the mayor cannot be trusted when it comes to baseball and that baseball cannot be trusted whatsoever):

1) Until their bluff is called, the barons of baseball plan to accept nothing less than their original terms because they want to set a precedent and believe this government can be cowed with enough "do what we say and no one gets hurt" threats into delivering the keys to the city coffers. (I wonder who ever gave them that idea, mayor?) 2) The mayor has admitted he will do anything “within limits” (those limits being only what he can get away with) to get this bad deal through. 3) The baseball boosters from the mayor to the WBC will threaten, intimidate, and attack directly or indirectly anyone they perceive of as in the way until they get what they want. 4) Failing that, the baseball boosters will wipe the snarls off their faces and start sweet talking their opponents, telling them they’ve won and will get what they want. They will promise the moon, the stars, whatever it takes to get the deal done, all while deviously constructing the required changes so that it gives MLB the ability to pass on the changes and revert back to the original sweetheart giveaway of public funds. 5) The promises and deceptions from the baseball boosters will only escalate for every day they don’t get precisely what they want, which they will insist is the only way to go. 6) If MLB is able to get its poison pill passed by their personal deadline, the power of the DC Council over this deal will officially end because MLB will have the final power when push comes to shove to reject any and every part of the deal that deviates from the original boondoggle. They won’t even have to be civil about it, they’ll just do it, and they’ll have been given that power by the DC Council’s actions. 7) The fiscally responsible council members who have opposed and questioned the completely giveaway have the baseball boosters right where they want them and thus have no reason to let the baseball brigade dictate terms and run out the clock like they’re trying to do to keep their sweetheart giveaway alive. 8) If MLB is stood up to and not allowed to get their poison pill in by the deadline, they’ll be forced because of their own time constraints and desire to get the team sold and reap the benefits of this market to come back to the negotiating table ASAP and truly negotiate this time, putting more affordable options like private financing and the RFK Stadium site back on the table. 9) While the baseball boosters suggests that standing up to MLB and not accepting their dictation of terms will send a negative signal to the world, being suckered into accepting the worst stadium deal ever under the guise of “sure, we’ll make private financing worth, but just in case it doesn’t work out. . .” would send an even worse signal that will have all con men looking to steam roll a boondoggle past the DC Council licking their chops.

It is so amazing that the mayor dodged everyone for two full years on this issue (except MLB of course, who he laid down in front of like a subject and practically swore to do their bidding) and now will only give them the time of day when he thinks he can use them politically and then cast them aside after he gets what he wants. The fact is all Williams is interested is delivering to MLB this bad deal they want, and he will do or say or promise anything in the next few days to get it done, but only if the poison pill signing the city’s coffers unimpeded over to MLB — which he’ll pass off as a mere formality just to keep MLB’s attention while everyone knows better (or should) — is ultimately passed and then implemented without those pesky council members able to do anything about it.

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Vote Strategy
Gary Barbour, garybarbour@earthlink.net

I think I’m missing something. [December 16th’s] Post shows that Jack Evans was one of the seven members voting with Mrs. Cropp (six were against) even though he has supported baseball and is the Mayor’ point person on the Council. Had he voted the other way her proposal would have been defeated. What am I missing here? Can you explain this?

[Mrs. Cropp’s most important amendment, requiring some private financing for the stadium, passed by 10-3; and Mrs. Cropp voted with the six solid supporters of the ballpark deal to pass the final legislation. The supporters of the deal voted with Mrs. Cropp on all her amendments because by then they had done the head count on the vote; they knew that they had only six votes and that the six votes against the deal were also firm. That made Mrs. Cropp the all-important swing vote, and she made it clear that she would vote for the final bill only if her amendments were included. If the deal’s supporters voted down her amendments, they couldn’t get the deal at all. — Gary Imhoff]

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The Stadium Deal
Mary C. Williams, Southwest Waterfront/Near Southeast , Mslaw1121@aol.com

While Chairman Cropp did a commendable job at the eleventh hour to save District residents from this ridiculously inequitable MLB deal, and invariably she will take a lot of heat for it, it must be noted that she could not have made that decision nor would she have had the opportunity to act on it without the extraordinary legislative and debating skills of Councilmember Fenty and Catania. As an overwhelmed and outgunned Councilmember Evans later pointed out, his two opponents on this issue, and the real people’s champions for good government, teamed up over the past few months to focus on and highlight the unsavory substantive contractual provisions that made this deal, by all accounts, unpalatable at best, and unconscionable at its worse. Without their commitment, courage, tenacity, and talents, I am afraid that this deal would have soon become just another financial boondoggle that the administration pushed through on the people. Fenty and Catania are the real heroes in this fight. Councilmembers Graham, Schwartz, and Mendelson are also to be commended for chiming in at appropriate times.

Needless to say, I am very disappointed that my own councilmember, Sharon Ambrose, who ignored her constituents and proposed no amendments that would protect Ward 6 residents from the well-documented adverse impacts of the stadium, sat quietly throughout the December 14 debate until the council proposed the RFK site as the backup. When Ambrose did speak out, it was to contend that RFK could not be developed because of federal constraints and, more importantly, neighbors didn’t want baseball there. Really? So what about the thousands of residents in southeast and adjacent southwest neighborhoods near the South Capitol site who also don’t want baseball in their neighborhood? Don’t you represent those residents, too? Or do you really put the interest of developers and big businesses first? Southwest residents elected a councilmember to speak on their behalf. If Ambrose wants to continue to represent big corporations and developers, I suggest that she resign her public service position and seek employment as a lobbyist. It pays better and she may be better suited.

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Reservations About My Reservations
Paul Penniman, paul@mathteachingtoday.com

As much as I think the mayor did a poor job at negotiating the baseball deal, and as much as I think it is disgraceful how much time and energy has been spent on building an essentially unnecessary stadium at such an exorbitant cost, the events of the past week leave me with sadness. The big picture is that with the stadium we would have a huge increase in suburbanites visiting our city, which otherwise won’t happen. The positive effects of this may be huge. Without the stadium, suburbanites and others will write us off as dysfunctional and pathetic, and the negative effects of this would also possibly be significant. I realize that the logic that leads me to this conclusion is rather twisted, but it is based in reality.

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Referendum on Baseball Deal?
Lars Hydle, larshydle@aol.com

It appears to me that according to the “Guide to the Initiative and Referendum Process” published by the DC Board of Elections and Ethics [http://www.dcwatch.com/election/initiati.htm], the baseball deal would not be considered a proper subject for a referendum. The Guide says: “Under the law, an Initiative or Referendum may not appropriate funds, violate the Home Rule Charter, negate a Budget Act, or violate the Human Rights Act. When the Board makes its subject matter determination, it may consider only whether the Measure meets these requirements.”

I would think that the District could conduct an advisory referendum on the deal to find out what the public thinks, but it does appear that a majority of DC voters are opposed to that deal, and that Chairman Cropp and other Council opponents of the deal are responding to public opinion. If Chairman Cropp’s goal was to bring baseball to DC under more favorable terms, not to scuttle the deal, it seems that she has erred. Major League Baseball cares only about maximizing the price at which they sell the team, a price which would be greatly reduced by uncertainty over financing the stadium. If the deal is unfair to the District, it is because MLB is a monopoly that was offering one team to up to six cities. The Supreme Court’s 1920 decision that baseball was a sport, not a business, thus not subject to antitrust law -- an idiotic decision that closely followed the Red Sox’ sale of Babe Ruth’s contract to the New York Yankees and the “Black Sox” throwing of the 1919 World Series — ensured that MLB will always have the upper hand in any negotiation with cities seeking to get or to keep a team.

Had we approved the deal, then worked with the new team owners to obtain private financing and/or to reduce costs by building a new stadium in the RFK location rather than at South Capitol Street, we may have been more successful, because the new owners, unlike MLB, would have an incentive to work with the District and to make the local fans happy.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS AND CLASSES

Guy Mason Classes
Toni Ritzenberg, taritzdc@aol.com

Registration for winter 2005 classes at the Guy Mason Recreation Center (3600 Calvert Street, NW) began on December 1 and will continue through January 9, 2005 when classes begin. This is a District program that “works.” If you have gone out recently, you will have noticed that the cold weather has arrived and this means that it is time to come up with alternatives to locking yourself, friends and family in the house watching television or playing with a computer. There are classes in Dancersize, Pilates, QiGong, Yoga and Ballroom Dancing. You can learn Spanish and/or French.

You can be creative with art, pottery, china painting or copper enameling. Adults and the very young (birth to four years) can participate in Music Together, and those fifty and over can join in Strength and Tone for Older Adults. And, as always there is bridge. The Center is open Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-10 [/,/ and Saturday 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Visit the Center, call Robert Haldeman/Caryl King at 282-2180, or check the web site: http://www.guymasonstudioarts.com.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Motorcycle Helmets
Edward Cowan, edcowan1114@yahoo.com

Three used motorcycle helmets, two with visors. Somewhat worn. $10 each, 3 for $25. 686-6712.

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CLASSIFIEDS — PETS

Two Gorgeous Kittens — Ready for Brighten Your New Year!
Pat Yates, Mt. Pleasant, PatEdCats@aol.com

Is your resolution for 2005 to share your home with loving cats? Then please think about these two: Darla, six months, and Todd, five months, survived the mean streets of Washington and are ready for a permanent, loving home. Both were in the DC Animal Shelter for a couple of weeks, and are now in my foster home, happily romping and playing. Darla is loving and quiet (loves to be petted), and Todd is rambunctious and busy (loves to play). They would make a great pair, or could possibly go singly to homes with other cats or kittens. Both have been "fixed" and tested, and have their shots up to date.

Call me on 265-2855 (or E-mail) if you would like to meet Darla and Todd. See their pictures (and the pictures of other wonderful cats available for adoption) on http://www.washhumane.org  — link to the foster page. And happy holidays.

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