The latest saga in the Expo's move from Montreal to DC:
Council Chairwoman Removes Mayor's Plan from the Council Agenda.
Actually, she postponed the vote for two weeks; after not getting enough votes to table it outright, she simply exercised her powers as chair to set the agenda and yanked it off the agenda. Go Linda!
The baseball deal is controversial for two big reasons (for me). 1. It's a $530 million (at least!) giveaway to Major League Baseball. They want the DC taxpayers to plop down public funds to build them a new stadium. Like we couldn't use $530 million to do a lot of other things in this town that'd help the residents a lot more. I object to giving public money to a group of people who certainly have no need for additional subsidies from my lowly pocket. 2. The mayor's current proposed site displaces the entire gay "adult entertainment" district and provides no alternate location for these businesses. We were shoved down into this warehouse district in the early 70s by the then police chief, who told the businesses if they'd relocate down there the police would leave them/us alone. The plan shoves them all out
en masse, and I can assure you that no neighborhood in this city will allow them to come in singly, much less as a group. Long story short, if baseball comes in, no more gay strip bars in DC. Which is not the easiest argument to make to the council, lemme tell you.
[Edit]Well, now it appears that while the Chairwoman's original counterproposal to the Mayor's plan, which put the stadium down near RFK Memorial Stadium (where we own most of the land to be used already), is now moot. Her new alternative once again puts the damned thing right back on top of the entertainment district. Grrr! Any of you in DC, please contact your councilmembers, as well as the at-large members and Chairwoman Cropp, and let them know what you think of the various plans.
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