At the start of the hearing, the council chamber and an overflow room were filled to capacity, leaving only standing room. But as the day wore on, many people were able to find seats.
Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), chairman of the Finance and Revenue Committee, presided over the hearing. Council members Kevin P. Chavous (D-Ward 7), Sandy Allen (D-Ward 8) and Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6), whose ward would include the new stadium, did not attend.
Tony Stover of the District and Pete Glass of Waldorf debate whether public money should be spent on a stadium.
(Melina Mara - The Washington Post)
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At one point, council member David A. Catania (I-At Large) called the mayor's stadium plan "madness, nonsense."
Although more than 250 people had signed up to speak, the council spent the first four hours grilling government witnesses. Eight hours into the hearing, only about 30 nongovernment witnesses had testified.
Sarah Sloan of Southeast became outraged by the pace. "This is an incredibly undemocratic process," said Sloan, eating a sandwich while waiting for her turn as No. 172 on the list of speakers. "The politicians are afraid to hear from the people, because they know people are opposed to the deal."
At one point, several students from Eastern Senior High School pleaded to move up in the order because they were late for football practice and other activities.
"You always say children first, but I get the feeling the baseball stadium is more important than children," said Toney Stover, one of the students. "Whatever millions you spend on the team, why can't you match that and give it to recreation centers and after-school programs and books?"
In fact, the mayor proposed just such an idea Wednesday: a community investment fund worth up to $400 million that would be funded through a portion of taxes on businesses near the new stadium. The plan has received mixed reviews.
Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D), who has generally been supportive of the stadium plan, told the crowd that "the money spent on a stadium does not exist for any other program."
A council committee will mark up the stadium legislation Wednesday, and the full council is to take the first vote Nov. 9.
As the hearing approached its 12th hour, more than 60 people remained in the council chambers. Some napped; others read the newspaper or took their shoes off and tried to wait it out.
But Richard B. Westbrook, a former Ward 6 advisory neighborhood commissioner, had had enough.
"I've been here 12 hours," he said as he packed up his briefcase and walked out of the council chambers about 7 p.m. "They're not going to listen to what I say anyway."
Westbrook was 138th on the list of speakers, and he had come to push for the council to put the new stadium near the site of the D.C. General Hospital campus in Southeast as a way to revitalize that neighborhood.
A couple of hours later, Westbrook was back at the hearing, after "a drink and a sandwich." He said it was worth the wait to be able to support the idea of building the stadium near D.C. General.
Evans told the crowd that he was prepared to continue the hearing until 3 a.m., although he added that he would not extend it into a second day. By nearly 1 a.m., the crowd had dwindled to fewer than 25. Hours earlier, Evans had seemed exasperated when he addressed his colleagues.
"You know, guys, we're going to have to do something different here," he said about 9 p.m. "We're only on witness 55.''
About an hour and a half later, Frazer Walton, from the civic association in Kingman Park, an area near Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium that would be heavily affected by the team's play there next spring, testified: "We welcome the team to our neighborhood; that's where it should be.''
But Walton said he feared that building the new stadium proposed by Williams could leave D.C. residents bearing the financial responsibility if the franchise fails.
"The team should be named the Washington Outlaws for the deal that's being pulled on this city," he said.
