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CLT UPDATE
Monday, July
27, 2015
Taxpayers Win
— Boston Olympics Boondoggle Dead!
|
There will be no Boston Olympics in 2024.
Due to continued low public support, the United
States Olympic Committee and officials from the local bid group,
Boston 2024, “have reached a mutual agreement to withdraw Boston’s
bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” the
organizations said in a joint statement Monday.
The USOC will now explore alternative cities,
which many experts believe would be two-time Olympic host Los
Angeles.
“The USOC would very much like to see an American
city host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024,” said USOC
chairman Scott Blackmun, in a statement. “We will immediately begin
to explore whether we can do so on a basis consistent with our
guiding principles, to which we remain firmly committed.
“We understand the reality of the timeline that
is before us,” he said.
The USOC faces a September deadline to name a US
bid city....
An opposition group, No Boston Olympics,
celebrated the death of the bid: “We are a city with an important
past and a bright future,” the group said in a statement. “We got
that way by thinking big, but also thinking smart. We need to move
forward as a city, and today’s decision allows us to do that on our
own terms, not the terms of the USOC or the IOC. We’re better off
for having passed on Boston 2024.”
The unraveling of the local bid comes shortly
after Mayor Martin J. Walsh said at a press conference that he was
not yet ready to put city taxpayers on the hook for any
Games-related costs if local Olympic organizers ran out of money.
“I strongly believe that bringing the Olympic
Games back to the United States would be good for our country and
would have brought long-term benefits to Boston,” Walsh said in a
statement Monday afternoon. “However, no benefit is so great that it
is worth handing over the financial future of our City and our
citizens were rightly hesitant to be supportive as a result.
“We always anticipated having the time to do our
due diligence on the guarantees required and a full review of the
risk and mitigation package proposed last week,” he said. “This is a
monumental decision that cannot be rushed, even if it means not
moving forward with our bid for the 2024 Summer Games.”
The Boston Globe
Monday, July 27, 2015
Boston 2024 Olympic bid is ‘over’
The US Olympic Committee and Boston 2024 are
dropping Boston as the nation's potential host city for the 2024
summer Olympics, ending a months-long debate over what Gov. Charlie
Baker called a "ten-year drill" with major economic and fiscal
ramifications.
Word of the decision began circulating
mid-afternoon on Monday, after Boston Mayor Martin Walsh in the
morning said he had declined to sign a host city agreement, and
Baker confirmed the decision during a State House press conference
just after 3 p.m.
In a statement, the US Olympic Committee said
Walsh's comments on Monday were a consideration in its decision as
well as the inability to convince a majority of people locally to
support the Boston bid....
Leaders of a planned ballot question banning the
use of public funds on the Olympics started celebrating on Monday
afternoon.
"The many elected officials in Boston 2024's
corner looked the other way for months, even when it became clear
that Boston 2024 had been less than truthful about what it wanted
from taxpayers. What those officials couldn't ignore was the real,
credible threat of a binding vote, which is what ultimately led to
the USOC pulling the bid," Evan Falchuk, a 2014 candidate for
governor, said in a statement. "If Boston 2024 could have produced a
plan that did not rely on a taxpayer bailout, they would be still in
the running for the 2024 games."
"This is good day for Massachusetts taxpayers,"
added Rep. Shaunna O'Connell of Taunton. "The Boston Games would
have resulted in a multi-billion taxpayer funded bailout. It would
have hurt our state's bond rating, taken tax dollars from
necessities and forced huge tax increases. We are a world class
state without the Olympics. We don't need to spend billions of tax
dollars to prove that fact."
No Boston Olympics announced plans for a
celebration Monday night at The Beantown Pub.
"Boston is a world-class city. We are a city with
an important past and a bright future. We got that way by thinking
big, but also thinking smart. We need to move forward as a city, and
today's decision allows us to do that on our own terms, not the
terms of the USOC or the IOC. We're better off for having passed on
Boston 2024," No Boston Olympics said in a statement.
State House News Service
Monday, July 27, 2015
USOC drops Boston as Olympic host city
Mayor Martin J. Walsh said Monday he is not
ready to immediately sign an Olympic host city contract that
would make taxpayers the final backstop for Olympic cost
overruns, despite pressure from the US Olympic Committee to
confirm he would sign the document.
Walsh said at a hastily called City Hall
press conference that the USOC is pushing him to sign a host
city contract soon. But he said he will not sign until he knows
more about the financial picture of the proposed Games.
“I cannot commit to putting the taxpayers at
risk," Walsh said. “If committing to sign a guarantee today is
what’s required to move forward, then Boston is no longer
pursuing the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
The standoff between Walsh and the USOC has
raised questions about the fate of the Olympic bid, which was
already in peril due to low poll numbers.
Asked if this marked the end of Boston’s bid,
Walsh said: “You’ll have to ask the USOC that. They want us to
sign the contract as soon as possible and in good faith we can’t
sign the contract.”
The mood was grim at City Hall, where the
mayor expressed resignation and frustration.
“I think it’s unfortunate that it’s come to
this point,” Walsh said....
Walsh said he will not yield to pressure from
the USOC to put taxpayers on the hook to guarantee the 2024
Olympic Games take place in Boston.
“I refuse to mortgage the future of the city
away," he said. “This is a commitment that I can’t make without
ensuring the city and its residents will be protected.”
Walsh said he will not have any regrets if
the city does not host the Olympics, in part because it has
spurred a conversation that led to the creation of plans to
redevelop Widett Circle and expand housing options in
Dorchester’s Columbia Point neighborhood.
Walsh said that the city is facing an
International Olympic Committee deadline of submitting a signed
host city agreement by this September. But the IOC won’t choose
a host city until 2017, which he said means there is time for
the issue to be fully examined.
“This is a big decision and I think you need
to have the time to process it," Walsh said.
The Boston Globe
Monday, July 27, 2015
Boston won’t yield to USOC pressure on Olympics, Walsh says
[Mayor Martin J. Walsh} said until he sees
the the scope of the IOC guarantee, he can't be sure the city
can indemnify itself through insurance. The head of the city's
Olympic planning office is reviewing a multi-layered insurance
package released by Boston 2024 Thursday night.
"We are unable to conclude our analysis
without knowing the full scope of risk contained within the
guarantee of the 2024 games," Walsh said. "I refuse to mortgage
the future of the city away, I refuse to put Boston on the hook
for overruns, and I refuse to commit to signing a guarantee that
uses taxpayers dollars to pay for the Olympics."
The Boston Herald
Monday, July 27, 2015
Walsh won't sign Olympic contract, may end bid for games
Under pressure from the US Olympics Committee
to sign a host city agreement, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said
Monday he could not at this time sign a taxpayer guarantee
because the risks of hosting the games are still not fully
known.
The mayor's decision, along with Gov. Charlie
Baker's continued wait-and-see approach to the games, could
potentially contribute to the demise of the city's bid to host
the 2024 Summer Games.
"This is me letting the taxpayers of Boston
know where we stand on the Olympic bid," Walsh told reporters at
a mid-morning press conference. He said he had "made it
perfectly clear" he would not sign an agreement that put
taxpayers' money at risk.
Walsh said it would be up to the U.S. Olympic
Committee whether the bid moves forward even without a taxpayer
guarantee....
Citizens for a Say & Tank Taxes for Olympics,
two groups pushing a ballot initiative aimed at preventing the
use of tax funds to pay for the Olympics, said Walsh's
announcement "smacks of a staged crisis."
"Mayor Walsh was never in a position to sign
a guarantee, because of the scope of the Olympic bid financially
and geographically," the groups said. "As before the press
conference the decision is up to the Governor, as the state
would have to be the one on the hook for the guarantee for the
Olympics."
State House News Service
Monday, July 27, 2015
Walsh declines to sign Olympics host city contract
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh refused to cave to
pressure; he asserted this morning that Boston taxpayers will not
bail out Boston 2024 for cost overruns.
Boston 2024 and the U.S. Olympic Committee folded
their tent and slithered away.
The Lords of the Rings didn't say "No problem,
there won't be any cost overruns we can't handle. We'll go ahead
with our plans on our own without putting taxpayers at risk."
They just folded their tent and slithered away.
I'd say the plan was for Massachusetts taxpayers
to bail out the Olympics in the end —
and without that guarantee their plan wouldn't work.
No taxpayer liability, no tax increases to cover
their boondoggle, no years of traffic gridlock.
Today the citizens and taxpayers of Massachusetts
and especially greater-Boston won —
BIG TIME!
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Chip Ford |
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The Boston Globe
Monday, July 27, 2015
Boston 2024 Olympic bid is ‘over’
By Mark Arsenault
There will be no Boston Olympics in 2024.
Due to continued low public support, the United States Olympic
Committee and officials from the local bid group, Boston 2024, “have
reached a mutual agreement to withdraw Boston’s bid to host the 2024
Olympic and Paralympic Games,” the organizations said in a joint
statement Monday.
The USOC will now explore alternative cities, which many experts
believe would be two-time Olympic host Los Angeles.
“The USOC would very much like to see an American city host the
Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024,” said USOC chairman Scott
Blackmun, in a statement. “We will immediately begin to explore
whether we can do so on a basis consistent with our guiding
principles, to which we remain firmly committed.
“We understand the reality of the timeline that is before us,” he
said.
The USOC faces a September deadline to name a US bid city.
Pagliuca, in the statement, said the “Boston 2024 Partnership will
offer our support and the extensive knowledge we have gained in
developing our Bid 2.0 to any American city that may choose to
participate in the 2024 bidding process going forward.”
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti expressed interest in resuming a bid for the
Games.
“I continue to believe that Los Angeles is the ideal Olympic city
and we have always supported the USOC in their effort to return the
Games to the United States,” he said in a statement. “I would be
happy to engage in discussions with the USOC about how to present
the strongest and most fiscally responsible bid on behalf of our
city and nation.”
An opposition group, No Boston Olympics, celebrated the death of the
bid: “We are a city with an important past and a bright future,” the
group said in a statement. “We got that way by thinking big, but
also thinking smart. We need to move forward as a city, and today’s
decision allows us to do that on our own terms, not the terms of the
USOC or the IOC. We’re better off for having passed on Boston 2024.”
The unraveling of the local bid comes shortly after Mayor Martin J.
Walsh said at a press conference that he was not yet ready to put
city taxpayers on the hook for any Games-related costs if local
Olympic organizers ran out of money.
“I strongly believe that bringing the Olympic Games back to the
United States would be good for our country and would have brought
long-term benefits to Boston,” Walsh said in a statement Monday
afternoon. “However, no benefit is so great that it is worth handing
over the financial future of our City and our citizens were rightly
hesitant to be supportive as a result.
“We always anticipated having the time to do our due diligence on
the guarantees required and a full review of the risk and mitigation
package proposed last week,” he said. “This is a monumental decision
that cannot be rushed, even if it means not moving forward with our
bid for the 2024 Summer Games.”
The Boston bid has been in peril for months, due to a string of
controversies and low poll numbers.
“Notwithstanding the promise of the original vision for the bid, and
the soundness of the plan developed under Steve Pagliuca, we have
not been able to get a majority of the citizens of Boston to support
hosting the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Blackmun said.
“Therefore, the USOC does not think that the level of support
enjoyed by Boston’s bid would allow it to prevail over great bids
from Paris, Rome, Hamburg, Budapest or Toronto.”
USOC members chose Boston in January as the US bid city for the 2024
Games, over Washington, D.C., San Francisco and LA.
State House News Service
Monday, July 27, 2015
USOC drops Boston as Olympic host city
By Michael Norton and Andy Metzger
The US Olympic Committee and Boston 2024 are dropping Boston as the
nation's potential host city for the 2024 summer Olympics, ending a
months-long debate over what Gov. Charlie Baker called a "ten-year
drill" with major economic and fiscal ramifications.
Word of the decision began circulating mid-afternoon on Monday,
after Boston Mayor Martin Walsh in the morning said he had declined
to sign a host city agreement, and Baker confirmed the decision
during a State House press conference just after 3 p.m.
In a statement, the US Olympic Committee said Walsh's comments on
Monday were a consideration in its decision as well as the inability
to convince a majority of people locally to support the Boston bid.
In January, on the same day that Baker took office, Boston was
chosen by the US Olympic Committee as the nation's host city,
surprising many locally and leading to the expectation that plans
for the games would become more detailed in the ensuing months.
"I strongly believe that bringing the Olympic Games back to the
United States would be good for our country and would have brought
long-term benefits to Boston. However, no benefit is so great that
it is worth handing over the financial future of our City and our
citizens were rightly hesitant to be supportive as a result," Walsh
said in a statement. "We always anticipated having the time to do
our due diligence on the guarantees required and a full review of
the risk and mitigation package proposed last week. This is a
monumental decision that cannot be rushed, even if it means not
moving forward with our bid for 2024 Summer Games."
Boston 2024, the group leading the charge to host the Olympics, was
the target of criticism during the process both from skeptics of a
Boston Olympics and others who complained the group's plans lacked
detail or were too often kept secret. Steve Pagliuca, a co-owner of
the Boston Celtics and former U.S. Senate candidate, has led Boston
2024's recent efforts after taking over for John Fish.
Public opinion polling has consistently shown low levels of support
for a Boston Olympics and many elected officials in Massachusetts
have opted against coming out strongly in favor of a Boston
Olympics, saying repeatedly that they hoped to safeguard tax
dollars.
Leaders of a planned ballot question banning the use of public funds
on the Olympics started celebrating on Monday afternoon.
"The many elected officials in Boston 2024's corner looked the other
way for months, even when it became clear that Boston 2024 had been
less than truthful about what it wanted from taxpayers. What those
officials couldn't ignore was the real, credible threat of a binding
vote, which is what ultimately led to the USOC pulling the bid,"
Evan Falchuk, a 2014 candidate for governor, said in a statement.
"If Boston 2024 could have produced a plan that did not rely on a
taxpayer bailout, they would be still in the running for the 2024
games."
"This is good day for Massachusetts taxpayers," added Rep. Shaunna
O'Connell of Taunton. "The Boston Games would have resulted in a
multi-billion taxpayer funded bailout. It would have hurt our
state's bond rating, taken tax dollars from necessities and forced
huge tax increases. We are a world class state without the Olympics.
We don't need to spend billions of tax dollars to prove that fact."
No Boston Olympics announced plans for a celebration Monday night at
The Beantown Pub.
"Boston is a world-class city. We are a city with an important past
and a bright future. We got that way by thinking big, but also
thinking smart. We need to move forward as a city, and today's
decision allows us to do that on our own terms, not the terms of the
USOC or the IOC. We're better off for having passed on Boston 2024,"
No Boston Olympics said in a statement.
No Boston Olympics Co-Chairs Kelley Gossett, Chris Dempsey, and Liam
Kerr will be available to speak with media at 4 p.m. on the State
House steps.
State officials hired an independent consultant to review the bid,
and The Brattle Group's report is due in mid-August.
Gov. Baker said Monday that he still looked forward to the
consultant's report and called the decision to drop the bid "their
call."
"We would like to see the US properly represented in this whole
thing," Baker said during a televised press conference outside
Senate President Stanley Rosenberg's office with Rosenberg, House
Speaker Robert DeLeo and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito.
DeLeo said the process showed that people looked at Boston as a
"world-class city" capable of hosting the Olympics and said the
discussions about hosting the Olympics fed thinking about improving
operations in Massachusetts and were "valuable."
Rosenberg said he was "very excited" that Massachusetts was the
initial choice but wondered about issues that would "make it real,"
including the level of support for a Boston Olympics from the
federal government.
DeLeo said he had not spoken with the US Olympic Committee and Baker
said he hadn't felt pressured.
"I don't feel like I was strong-armed or bullied at all," Baker
said, asserting state officials had stuck to their timetable for
reviewing the bid and that it hadn't synced up with the US Olympic
Committee's timeline.
The Boston Globe
Monday, July 27, 2015
Boston won’t yield to USOC pressure on Olympics, Walsh says
By Mark Arsenault and Andrew Ryan
Mayor Martin J. Walsh said Monday he is not ready to immediately
sign an Olympic host city contract that would make taxpayers the
final backstop for Olympic cost overruns, despite pressure from the
US Olympic Committee to confirm he would sign the document.
Walsh said at a hastily called City Hall press conference that the
USOC is pushing him to sign a host city contract soon. But he said
he will not sign until he knows more about the financial picture of
the proposed Games.
“I cannot commit to putting the taxpayers at risk," Walsh said. “If
committing to sign a guarantee today is what’s required to move
forward, then Boston is no longer pursuing the 2024 Olympic and
Paralympic Games.”
The standoff between Walsh and the USOC has raised questions about
the fate of the Olympic bid, which was already in peril due to low
poll numbers.
Asked if this marked the end of Boston’s bid, Walsh said: “You’ll
have to ask the USOC that. They want us to sign the contract as soon
as possible and in good faith we can’t sign the contract.”
The mood was grim at City Hall, where the mayor expressed
resignation and frustration.
“I think it’s unfortunate that it’s come to this point,” Walsh said.
Before the press conference, Walsh said he spoke to Governor Charlie
Baker and Scott Blackmun, the USOC’s chief executive officer.
Also Monday, Baker spoke to USOC officials, according to an aide,
and reiterated that he will not take any position on Boston’s
Olympic bid until a consulting firm hired by the state issues a
report next month on the bid’s finances.
“As the governor stated on Friday, he informed the USOC that he
needed to review the Brattle Group’s findings before making any
decision on the Olympics,” said Baker’s spokesman, Tim Buckley.
USOC members are set to discuss Boston’s status at a board meeting
Monday. At the news conference, Walsh thanked bid organizers for the
hard work they’ve put in so far, and said, “we’ll see what happens”
going forward.
Walsh said he will not yield to pressure from the USOC to put
taxpayers on the hook to guarantee the 2024 Olympic Games take place
in Boston.
“I refuse to mortgage the future of the city away," he said. “This
is a commitment that I can’t make without ensuring the city and its
residents will be protected.”
Walsh said he will not have any regrets if the city does not host
the Olympics, in part because it has spurred a conversation that led
to the creation of plans to redevelop Widett Circle and expand
housing options in Dorchester’s Columbia Point neighborhood.
Walsh said that the city is facing an International Olympic
Committee deadline of submitting a signed host city agreement by
this September. But the IOC won’t choose a host city until 2017,
which he said means there is time for the issue to be fully
examined.
“This is a big decision and I think you need to have the time to
process it," Walsh said.
Walsh said Baker supported his views when the two spoke.
Asked whether he had underestimated the opposition, Walsh showed a
hint of frustration.
“The opposition for the most part is about 10 people on Twitter and
a couple people out there who are constantly beating the drumbeat,”
Walsh said. “This is about the taxpayers and what I have to do as
mayor.”
The comment immediately elicited several follow-up questions from
reporters, who pointed to Boston 2024’s sagging poll numbers.
“I don’t view the 40 to 50 percent who aren’t for the Olympics
today” as the opposition, Walsh said. “I view the 10 people who are
doing hundreds of thousands of tweets on Twitter.”
Walsh continued, “As you go out and talk about the Olympic
potential, there is still some interest out there. People still are
opposed, but there’s been a little movement in the last few days.
“The opposition in the polls, I don’t think it’s strong opposition,”
Walsh said. “I think it’s concerned opposition. I think one of the
main concerns is taxpayer dollars going into the Olympics, and
that’s what we’re addressing here today.”
The Boston Herald
Monday, July 27, 2015
Walsh won't sign Olympic contract, may end bid for games
By Matt Stout and Jack Encarnacao
Mayor Martin J. Walsh said today he will not bow to pressure to sign
a host city contract committing taxpayer dollars to cover cost
overruns for the 2024 Olympics, and if it's needed, he's willing to
give up the city's pursuit of the bid.
"This is a commitment that I cannot make without assurances that
Boston and its residents will be protected," Walsh said at a hastily
scheduled morning press conference at City Hall.
"We have met every demand and every challenge, but I can not commit
to putting the taxpayers at risk," Walsh said. "If committing to
signing a guarantee today is what's required to move forward, then
Boston is no longer pursuing the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games."
Walsh said until he sees the the scope of the IOC guarantee, he
can't be sure the city can indemnify itself through insurance. The
head of the city's Olympic planning office is reviewing a
multi-layered insurance package released by Boston 2024 Thursday
night.
"We are unable to conclude our analysis without knowing the full
scope of risk contained within the guarantee of the 2024 games,"
Walsh said. "I refuse to mortgage the future of the city away, I
refuse to put Boston on the hook for overruns, and I refuse to
commit to signing a guarantee that uses taxpayers dollars to pay for
the Olympics."
Walsh said the city does not have to sign a document as the official
U.S. bid city until September, and has until the IOC's September
2017 vote on which city will host the games to finalize a guarantee
pact.
The mayor, who has repeatedly vowed to protect city taxpayers from
being on the hook for overruns connected to the bid, said he was
reacting to reports and "rumors" about the United States Olympic
Committee stepping up its pressure that the city agree to backstop
costs for the Games. He also cited a flood of opposition on Twitter,
which he attributed to "about 10 people."
Walsh said the USOC pressure to commit doesn't give the city enough
time to ensure proper protections for taxpayers, such as a liability
cap.
"If we had another month, we possibly could, but the rumors I keep
hearing by reading the papers of some of the USOC board members
coming out in their statements, they concern me," Walsh said,
referencing recent calls from board members for Gov. Charlie Baker
and Walsh to commit to backing the pursuit of the games.
The USOC was scheduled to hear from Gov. Baker in a morning
conference call, though he has repeatedly said he will not shift
from his neutral position on hosting the games until he gets a
report from the Brattle Group, an outside firm his office hired to
analyze Boston 2024's bid.
A Baker aide said the governor spoke to USOC officials on a "brief"
10-minute call this morning while he was traveling to Springfield to
attend the funeral of Marine Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, who was
one of the Marines killed in a shooting attack at a Chattanooga,
Tenn., facility earlier this month.
USOC officials asked Baker for an update, to which he repeated his
intent to wait on the Brattle Group, according to the governor's
office. A Baker aide said there were three USOC officials on the
call, in which the governor also praised Boston 2024 chair Steve
Pagliuca for producing a more detailed version of the bid
committee's plans.
The Herald has reported that USOC members have been anxious for an
answer on the political support behind Boston's bid, particularly
Baker.
"We need to know how (Boston) is doing and if the people of the city
are interested in hosting the games," Anita L. DeFrantz, a member of
the USOC and the International Olympic Committee, told the Herald
over the weekend. "We need to get a report. I need to know."
State House News Service
Monday, July 27, 2015
Walsh declines to sign Olympics host city contract
By Andy Metzger
Under pressure from the US Olympics Committee to sign a host city
agreement, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said Monday he could not at this
time sign a taxpayer guarantee because the risks of hosting the
games are still not fully known.
The mayor's decision, along with Gov. Charlie Baker's continued
wait-and-see approach to the games, could potentially contribute to
the demise of the city's bid to host the 2024 Summer Games.
"This is me letting the taxpayers of Boston know where we stand on
the Olympic bid," Walsh told reporters at a mid-morning press
conference. He said he had "made it perfectly clear" he would not
sign an agreement that put taxpayers' money at risk.
Walsh said it would be up to the U.S. Olympic Committee whether the
bid moves forward even without a taxpayer guarantee.
According to a Baker aide, the U.S. Olympic Committee asked Baker
for an "update" during a Monday morning conference call and the
governor said he was waiting for a report on the Olympics bid from a
consultant hired by the state. The report from The Brattle Group is
due in mid-August.
Baker spokesman Tim Buckley said the USOC did not give any
indication during the "short call" that it planned to pull its
support for Boston or reaffirm the city as its choice to bid for the
games.
"Even though we're only a few months into the Olympic process, I'm
being asked to commit to signing the guarantee of the host city
contract - language of which ... will not be released until
September," Walsh said.
Walsh said he "always anticipated" being able to negotiate the
contract with the International Olympic Committee. He said, "If
committing to signing a guarantee today is what's required to move
forward, Boston is no longer pursuing the 2024 Olympic and
Paralympic Games."
Walsh, who has been the most high-profile political supporter of
Boston's Olympic bid, said he had spoken to USOC CEO Scott Blackmun
about his stance and Blackmun asked "if I could think about what I
would say here" at the press conference, Walsh said.
"I don't think we're doing anything to damage the bid. We're talking
the truth," Walsh said. Asked if his decision spelled the end for
the Boston bid, Walsh said, "You'll have to ask to the USOC that."
Maintaining that there is still great appeal to hosting the
international sporting event in Boston, Walsh appeared to move past
that potentiality, saying, "I look forward to continuing these
conversations as we move forward with Imagine Boston 2030" - a
city-led planning process.
Walsh said the Olympic bid process had highlighted the potential for
transformative development at Widett Circle, an industrial area
outside of downtown.
"There's a potential there now regardless of what happens with the
Olympics," Walsh said, suggesting efforts to build housing at
Columbia Point and refurbish Harambee Park could also move forward
separate from the games. He said he would not regret the Olympic
process even if Boston is dropped by the USOC.
While Walsh was an early proponent, the Olympics effort in Boston
was led by Boston 2024, a non-profit led by Richard Davey, the
state's former transportation secretary, and Stephen Pagliuca, a
businessman who ran for U.S. Senate five years ago.
Reports of U.S. Olympics officials looking toward Los Angeles as a
potential alternative as well as reports of a pending ultimatum from
the USOC in recent days appeared to weigh on Walsh.
"I'm hearing too many other voices talking about L.A.," Walsh said.
Asked if he expected on Monday to hear a final verdict on whether
the USOC would stick with Boston, Walsh said, "According to what I
read in the paper today, I guess so."
Cities have until Sept. 15 to declare to the International Olympic
Committee their intention of whether to pursue the 2024 games.
Walsh said he would "absolutely never" put taxpayers on the hook for
any liabilities associated with hosting the games and said he
thought privately financed insurance policies could be sufficient to
provide Olympics organizers with the requisite protections.
Citizens for a Say & Tank Taxes for Olympics, two groups pushing a
ballot initiative aimed at preventing the use of tax funds to pay
for the Olympics, said Walsh's announcement "smacks of a staged
crisis."
"Mayor Walsh was never in a position to sign a guarantee, because of
the scope of the Olympic bid financially and geographically," the
groups said. "As before the press conference the decision is up to
the Governor, as the state would have to be the one on the hook for
the guarantee for the Olympics."
Matt Murphy contributed reporting
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only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
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