Don't Doff the Spending Cap
Controlling rising costs for stadium parking requires a full-time mayor.

Saturday, October 7, 2006

FIRST, A BIT of baseball stadium history: On Feb. 8 the D.C. Council, alarmed by rising costs, voted 9 to 4 to limit public spending on the stadium project to $611 million. That spending cap was reaffirmed by a 9 to 4 council vote on March 7. At the time of the first vote, council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D) hailed the decision, declaring that the vote "caps the city's investment." Asked whether Major League Baseball would support the stadium construction contract with a $611 million cap, Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said: "We're going to get them on board . . . . They should appreciate what Chairman Cropp has done." That was then.

Now, with the ink hardly dry on the spending cap legislation, Mr. Williams wants to remove the cap and spend an additional $75 million in public funds to help pay for stadium parking garages. He's hoping the council will do an about-face at its Oct. 18 meeting and open the spigot. In furtherance of that goal, the mayor has enlisted Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) to carry his water on the council. So what's wrong with this picture? Plenty.

Relying on Williams administration numbers is risky business. Recall when the mayor told the citizenry in September 2004 that a major league baseball team was on the way? The price tag announced for the stadium and parking was $435 million. Three months later, the administration boosted the estimate to $535 million. That, too, was way off. With the total climbing, the council put its foot down, crunched some numbers of its own and capped spending at $611 million. The mayor let it be known he could live with the ceiling.

Now, with a straining budget and the mayor's desire to have a ballpark project with restaurants, shops and condominiums, Mr. Williams and his ally, Mr. Barry, want the council to change its mind. The council should be wary.

Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), who voted against the stadium, predicted from the outset that the project would be far more expensive than the administration promised. He was right. He now says that the administration is "a minimum of $100 million over budget in the first six months" since the council approved the stadium financing. If true, that is alarming. The District's overarching obligation is to build the new stadium on time and within budget.

The Williams administration will not be around when the stadium is due to open. Nor is Mr. Barry the person to see it through. Besides, the entire baseball saga has suffered from the mayor's inconstancy. In July, when the Zoning Commission approved Mr. Williams's ambitious proposal for a stadium entertainment district -- which subsequently collapsed -- the mayor hailed the vote in a statement issued from South Africa. With this latest stadium parking proposal on the ropes, where's the mayor? At noon yesterday, he went wheels up again to South Africa for 10 days. A word to the council: Keep the spending lid on tight until a full-time mayor arrives on the scene.