Without promise, Marty Walsh won’t sign Olympic contract

[unhappycamper]

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/07/without_promise_marty_walsh_won_t_sign_olympic_contract



DEAL BREAKER: Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh said he will not sign a contract to host the 2024 Olympics without assurances that taxpayers won’t foot the bill for any cost overruns for development.

Without promise, Marty Walsh won’t sign Olympic contract
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Matt Stout, Owen Boss

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh — fresh off a meeting with the U.S. Olympic Committee — says he won’t sign a bid to host the 2024 Summer Games if a contractually obligated “guarantee” to cover cost overruns would fall on Hub taxpayers.

“I was asked if I would sign the document. I said I’m not signing anything unless we assure that the guarantee doesn’t fall back on the taxpayers,” Walsh told reporters outside City Hall yesterday, adding that he met with nine to 10 USOC board members Monday during a dinner meeting in California, where they met the following day for a quarterly board meeting.

Walsh flew into San Francisco from Aspen, Colo., where he was attending a conference, before flying back hours later to Colorado.

“I said we’ll work something out to make sure we have the proper insurance and the proper protections to ensure — whether it’s the construction of venues or building of whatever it might be — that there’s going to be a guarantee just in case something happens,” Walsh said. “But I said the city of Boston is not going to take that responsibility.”

[orpupilofnature57]

1. That's taking responsibility over applause and fanfare, after the TPP Olympic Commitees will be

able to sue cities in to submission financially, it will be like the Grand Inqusition when they come to your town, just kidding I hope .

[A Simple Game]

2. Good for him, more cities need to start doing this.

But not just the Olympics, professional sports teams need to start paying their own way. Why should taxpayers have to foot the bill for venues they have no interest in or can't afford to attend? If all cities took this stand the owners would still stay where they could fill the stadium every game.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

5. Some years ago, the owners of the Chicago White Sox

Told the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois that unless they built a new stadium for the team, they were going to move the team to Florida. The city and particularly the state knuckled under and spent millions on a new stadium and gave the White Sox a sweetheart deal on the rent. A few months later, the public schools went to the state and asked for more money, but were refused on the grounds that there wasn't any.

[A Simple Game]

6. How does a city board and/or state legislature justify that kind of thinking? n/t

[MannyGoldstein]

7. The Red Sox and Patriots both tried the same thing some years ago

Both were basically laughed at

The Red Sox gave up quickly. The Patriots went so far as to announcw that they were definitely moving to Connecticut, and had a deal lined up, but finally caved when Mass wouldn't budge. I think they got a service road to their parking lot as a face-saving measure.

[CentralMass]

3. He's an idiot for lobbying to have the Olympics in Bstonnto begin with.

[Paper Roses]

4. I hope he sticks to this. We don't want this boondoggle!

Perhaps if the committee will not sign, it will be the end of this $$$ mess.

[MADem]

8. The GOP wants this--Baker is all over it like a cheap suit.

I think the only promise that sounds good is a promise that they'll hold the clusterfuck somewhere ELSE.

Boston doesn't need this hot mess.