Steeped in TV, Politics, Business

9 Minority Investors Join 'Once in a Lifetime Opportunity'

The country's former top transportation official, a prominent sports broadcaster and the president of Washington's first black-owned bank are among nine minority investors who have joined Theodore Lerner's family buying the Washington Nationals.

The accomplished investment team includes a former assistant secretary of defense, a well-established lobbyist, two CEOs and a high-ranking Black Entertainment Television executive.

"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity," said investor George Munoz, a former assistant treasury secretary. Munoz, an investment banker, declined to specify how much money he put up, except to describe it as substantial. But two of the nine investors said each was required to contribute at least $1 million.

Earlier this week, D.C. Council members Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5) and Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) criticized the Lerner family for not being more aggressive in recruiting black investors to buy the team. Yesterday, Orange declared the issue over. He and Barry showed up at a news conference at which Lerner introduced the partners and posed for photographs with the ownership team.

The investors praised the Lerners and waved off any suggestion that their roles would be insignificant. "That's the last thing anybody on this stage will be -- window dressing," said investor Paxton Baker, an executive vice president and general manager at BET.

"There will be significant minority representation, not just fans but business," said investor James Brown, host of CBS's "NFL Today." "It will be something we can all be proud of," he said.

The group joining with Lerner -- six black men, one black woman and two Hispanic men -- is steeped in politics, business and sports broadcasting.

While Brown, who attended DeMatha High School in Hyattsville and lives in Bethesda, may be the best-known, the investors also include several high-ranking government officials, such as Rodney E. Slater, who was President Bill Clinton's transportation secretary.

Another investor, Alphonso Maldon Jr., a former assistant secretary of defense, also served in the Clinton administration. At least one partner is a prominent Republican -- Raul R. Romero, a Panama-born engineer, is a top fundraiser for President Bush.

The woman is Faye F. Fields, president of Integrated Resource Technologies Inc., a Falls Church consulting company. Another partner is B. Doyle Mitchell Jr., president of Industrial Bank NA, the District's first black-owned bank. The group also includes Jarvis C. Stewart, the chairman and managing partner of Stewart Partners LLC, a District-based government and public affairs firm.

Although the investors spoke of actively participating in promoting the team across the region, they were short on specifics. "It's important that we make an impact on the community," Fields said, declining to elaborate on how she would make that happen. "We're not there yet."

Slater said he might focus on transportation issues, particularly Metro access to the new stadium, as well as encouraging youngsters to become interested in baseball. Asked how much he had invested in the team, Slater smiled, put his hands up and walked away.