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Ballpark 'Hurdles' Are Cleared, Cropp Says
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Council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), who opposed the baseball financing package last year, said baseball officials' reported concessions make it easier for her to consider supporting the package.
"Absolutely, we are moving in the right direction, no question about it," she said.
Some political observers saw recent weeks as a frame-by-frame repeat of last year's cliffhanger over the stadium financing deal, which Cropp held up for two weeks to get private financing for the $535 million project, to be largely paid for with public funds. They say Cropp used the debate last year to establish her populist credentials and take credit for improving what many called a bad deal for the city.
Cropp acknowledged the parallels between this year and last. This time, observers wondered whether putting RFK on the table was a ploy to get more money from Major League Baseball.
"While it may have helped in strategy," Cropp said, "we were extremely serious that the District wasn't going to put up any additional dollars."
During the meeting with Reinsdorf, Cropp and the council aimed to impress upon Major League Baseball just how much concern there was about rising costs. Council members warned that baseball officials' early position on the lease was a non-starter and that the council would reject it and go to arbitration or move the stadium to the RFK site.
With progress on the lease, Evans predicted that the council vote on the lease will have an outcome similar to that of the stadium financing package last December: a close but affirmative vote that will allow the stadium to be built at the South Capitol Street site.
Cropp said a public hearing on the finalized lease agreement will be held before the council vote, which could come as early as Dec. 20.
