In D.C. Drama Over Baseball, It's Hard to Tell Who's on First

By David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 24, 2005

The public spectacle is a deadlock between Major League Baseball and the D.C. government, but the drama behind the scenes is a tale of three mayors -- the current mayor, a would-be mayor and the city's famous former mayor.

It ended in chaos this week, with plans for a new stadium temporarily derailed and whispers that the people who run professional baseball might pull the plug on the city's dream of big-league play.

Amid the confusion, one thing is clear: The politics of baseball have created a leadership vacuum at city hall.

Mayor Anthony A. Williams has lived up to his reputation as a better policymaker than politician. D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp has faltered in trying to broker a stadium deal that would buttress her aspirations to succeed Williams. And former mayor Marion Barry has vaulted back into the spotlight, trying to negotiate a secret deal that would dictate the team's new ownership.

None of the three has been able to seize control and bring closure to the city's fitful efforts to land and keep a baseball team -- a standoff that worries baseball supporters as time runs out to seal the deal. Some said the impasse over the proposed ballpark and entertainment district near the Anacostia waterfront, one of the biggest city-subsidized projects in the District's history, reflects a free-for-all political atmosphere as the city heads into an election year with a lame-duck mayor.

Just a week ago, Williams (D) made confident predictions that the D.C. Council would take the final step to ensure baseball's future here by approving a stadium lease agreement Tuesday between the league and the District. Then, on Monday, he abruptly announced that the vote would be postponed until early January, acknowledging that he had been out-flanked by opponents worried about the project's rising costs. Major League Baseball's president threatened to take the city to arbitration if the council did not act by a Dec. 31 deadline.

Since then, to the bewilderment of several council members, the mayor has not put forth a new proposal to sway the stadium critics.

After working for years to bring baseball back to the city and prompt economic development along the neglected Anacostia River, Williams has been just as ineffective in lobbying for the biggest part of his legacy as he has been on less important issues, members said.

Cropp, meanwhile, has wavered between supporting the stadium deal and holding out for a less expensive alternative -- a cautious approach that has hampered her lobbying. Approval of the lease requires seven votes on the 13-member council, and five members support it. But despite her reputation as a savvy council leader, Cropp (D) has been unable to persuade anyone else to vote for the agreement.

The ineffectiveness of Williams and Cropp created an opening for Barry, the District's most famous political rainmaker, and he seized it. Barry, now the Ward 8 council representative, tried to break the stalemate through his trademark combination of bargaining, bluffing and bullying. At one point, he said, he even called baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

"Marion has got his own agenda going," said Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6), a stadium supporter. "It's about control for him. . . . As usual, he's playing both ends against the middle. He's a fabulous politician, and unlike some others, he's willing to play hardball."

A Lame-Duck Mayor

Williams, awkward at backroom deal-making under the best of circumstances, acknowledged this week that his lame-duck status has reduced his influence.

"That's always a factor," he said. "But there's more that we can do. I still have a lot of leverage as mayor."

Council members have not been impressed.

After his announcement in September that he would not seek reelection, he had barely a conversation with some of them until last week. And now, they said, Williams seems unable to grasp the magnitude of what he's asking them to do.

Even council members who endorse a publicly financed stadium are worried about how their support for the city's enormous investment will play with voters. Although the council approved a budget of $535 million last year, a recent estimate by city financial officials put the price tag at $667 million.

Last month, Williams pledged to roll out a major public relations campaign with local business leaders to gain support. But the campaign never got off the ground. Instead, the mayor made vague promises that cost overruns would be funded by developers or the federal government. Yet when pressed for details at a public hearing Dec. 13, Williams acknowledged he had no offers.

Some members said another key misstep by the mayor occurred Dec. 1, when he invited the entire council to meet with baseball's top negotiator, Jerry Reinsdorf, before any lease agreement had been reached. After the tense session, some said they were more inclined to move the stadium site than they had been before.

Williams was simply trying to be inclusive, his aides said.

The mayor's one-on-one meetings with council members haven't gone any better.

Over coffee at the JW Marriott Hotel, Williams told Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7), who is seen as one of four swing votes, that he could help persuade Major League Baseball to build a youth baseball academy in Gray's ward.

But, "it's so much more right now than a baseball academy," Gray said. "This is about who is going to protect the city against the costs of this stadium."

Williams tried a more hardball approach with Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), telling him he would campaign against him next year unless Mendelson supported the lease. But Mendelson told the mayor no.

"The mayor does not have very much clout at this point," Ambrose said.

A Would-Be Mayor

With Williams struggling to win supporters, the job fell to Cropp, the powerful chairman, who had orchestrated the council's narrow approval of the stadium financing package last December.

But as the stadium costs rose, Cropp found it increasingly difficult to support the project. And Cropp's chief rival in the 2006 mayoral race, council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4), had denounced the project long ago.

To solve her problem, Cropp re-floated a trial balloon she tried last year: How about moving the project to a cheaper site near Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium?

Cropp worked the phones and believed she had nine members willing to support the RFK option. But Baseball President Robert A. DuPuy ruled out such a move in a sharply worded letter. Then, on Dec. 12, Natwar M. Gandhi, the city's chief financial officer, said the RFK plan would cost $606 million -- too steep for most council members.

Somewhat reluctantly, Cropp again threw her support behind the mayor and joined his lobbying campaign. In a half-dozen calls to Mendelson, Cropp warned him to think twice before aligning with Barry in an election year.

But Cropp was unsuccessful in her efforts to bring anyone else on board. In particular, government officials were stunned that Cropp was unable to convince Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large), who is her co-campaign manager.

"People put the spin on it that Cropp was going to force me to vote to make her look good," Brown said. "But I don't change my view from what I promised the residents."

A Smooth Former Mayor

As the mayor's support waned, Barry saw his opportunity.

The four-time former mayor has his well-known flaws, but he remains a master in the areas where Williams is weak. Barry (D) is quick with a quip, loves to schmooze with the public and relishes cutting backroom deals.

"The mayor is stuck on stuck," Barry said. "This billion-dollar stadium is the worst stickup since Jesse James was robbing trains."

Several of Barry's colleagues on the council have long political ties to him, which worked to his advantage as he swung into action. Brown grew up watching him. Gray once worked for him as head of the city's human services department. And Ambrose was a council staffer during Barry's mayoral years.

"Barry called me and said, 'I'm working on something,' " said Brown, who joined others in Barry's office Dec. 15. "Marion does not want to see baseball leave. He wants to figure out how to make this happen."

Barry's plan was to keep the stadium alive by pressuring baseball to award the team to his favored bidder -- D.C. entrepreneur Jonathan Ledecky. Ledecky, Barry said, had told him he would pay all stadium cost overruns.

Barry said he even called baseball's Selig directly. "I know Bud from way back," Barry said. "I told him, 'Think about it.' "

He tried to bluff in his dealings with DuPuy, telling him that eight council members were prepared to vote against the lease agreement. If Ledecky were awarded the team, Barry said, he and others would join the five stadium supporters.

Never mind that the council members who Barry said were in his camp now say they had never promised him anything.

"You know how Marion is," Brown said. "He's talking to everybody, or at least he's telling everyone he's talking to everybody."

DuPuy told Barry that there would be no such deal.

Asked about Barry's subsequent statement that Williams was "fumbling and bumbling" the stadium debate, Williams said: "I have treated the former mayor with respect and done nothing to [criticize] him or his behavior. I've been nothing but positive. It's too bad it has not been reciprocal."

The mayor made his comments Thursday as he shopped for Nationals apparel at a Gallery Place sports store, a photo opportunity set up by aides. Williams picked up a blue Nationals cap.

"Maybe I should get one for all the council members whose votes I need," he said with a chuckle. The caps were about all the mayor had left to offer.