The mayor's staff worked on rewording the legislation throughout the day, consulting with top baseball officials by phone.
Cropp left the John A. Wilson Building at 7:45 p.m. to dine at a steakhouse with her husband and some friends who were celebrating a wedding anniversary.
Council member Harold Brazil receives a hug from Kathy Chamberlain, an ANC member, after the deal's passage.
(Preston Keres -- The Washington Post)
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_____Baseball Answers_____
Who is paying for the new baseball stadium under the legislation approved yesterday by the D.C. Council?
Even after almost three months of public debate, those details have not been resolved. It's clear that much of the funding will come from a gross receipts tax on the largest D.C. businesses, a utilities tax on D.C. businesses and federal offices, a tax on tickets and concessions, and rent payments from the team's owner. City officials also are looking at private financing options, including a private company's proposal to charge for curbside parking near the stadium. If any of the private financing plans turn out to be viable, the city would use that revenue to reduce the gross receipts tax on businesses.
Why were Major League Baseball officials pleased with this outcome, after they objected so strongly to the legislation approved by the council a week ago?
From baseball's perspective, the key difference is that the council dropped language saying that the stadium legislation would expire if private financing could not be found. Baseball officials wanted a guarantee that the city would build the stadium even if no private money was available.
A new council takes office Jan. 1, with three members who voted for the stadium bill being replaced by people who oppose the agreement. What is to prevent the new council from changing the legislation, which passed on a vote of 7 to 6?
Because of the parliamentary procedures followed at yesterday's meeting, the new council cannot reconsider yesterday's action. Members could try to block individual contracts for stadium construction work, but the city would eventually face penalties for project delays.
What about Baltimore Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos? Could he take legal action to stop Major League Baseball from moving the former Montreal Expos to Washington?
Baseball officials are trying to reach a deal with Angelos that would compensate him for having to share the Baltimore-Washington market with another team. The deal would probably give Angelos a large percentage of revenue from a regional sports network. Angelos could decide to file a lawsuit if those negotiations break down, but independent legal experts say it's unlikely a court would rule in his favor.
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About 9 p.m., aides to Williams went to Cropp's office to review potential wording of amendments with Rob Miller, her legislative aide. Cropp was paged to return to the office and arrived about 10 p.m.
Fifteen minutes later, Cropp, Williams, Tuohey, Bobb, council member Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5) and several aides were crowded around a speakerphone in the mayor's sixth-floor office suite.
DuPuy was on the line from his home on New York's Upper East Side. Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, a lead negotiator in the deal with the District, listened in from his vacation home in Phoenix. Baseball attorney Rick Weiss participated from the Georgetown offices of his firm, Foley & Lardner.
DuPuy confirmed that he would provide a letter outlining baseball's concessions. Cropp pledged to move the amendment at the next day's council session, with the wording to which all had agreed. Each side said an e-mail confirming the deal would be forthcoming.
Cropp then made one more demand of Williams: Rather than hold a news conference in his press briefing room, which the council chairman felt would symbolically favor the mayor, they would talk to reporters in the council meeting room on the fourth floor.
The promised e-mail exchange took place at 12:30 a.m. yesterday, in congratulatory messages between Williams and DuPuy.
Staff writers David Nakamura and Thomas Heath contributed to this report.
