Weblog
02/08/06 04:34 AM: Baseball in DC
Before I went to sleep last night, I wrote a column for this week’s Georgetown Voice discussing how the D.C. Council was being stupid by rejecting the stadium lease for the Washington Nationals. Well, lo and behold, a mere four hours after I wrote the column, and amazingly enough before anyone else, save my editor, read it… the city council reversed their decision and approved the stadium deal.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that last season I didn’t particularly care about the good old Nats. When I wasn’t too busy ignoring baseball in general, I was rooting for my hometown favorites, the White Sox. Well, I mean I always liked the Cubs but that got me in some hot water a few years ago.
In any case, the stadium deal is good for the city. While the price tag is fairly high, with the city kicking in some $611 million, voters and the council should remember that it is an investment. The city isn’t just going to go to the bank and take out $611 million in cash. Instead, the city will finance that cost by issuing bonds. Put all of that into the magic black box that is economics, and eventually the city will reap more profit via taxes than it will have paid financing the bonds. Also add in the fact that President Bush has put $20 million in the federal budget to overhaul the Navy Yard Metro Stop for gameday crowds, and it’s not a bad deal at all.
Now the MLB just has to agree to the whole thing, which I’m fairly sure they will.
The whole problem began when the idea of baseball in the District became a political talking-point. Arguments that the $600+ million would be better spent on schools or libraries or sewers is ridiculous—if the stadium wasn’t built, there would not magically be $600 million to spend elsewhere. Stadiums and schools are apples and oranges. But, in the future, the gains in tax revenue can be used to help schools. Who are we kidding though, the schools need a lot more than just money. We’ve been throwing money at them for decades with little improvement.
Adrian Fenty is close to losing my support for his mayoral bid by voting against the stadium deal. There is really no good reason to reject the offer. And Mayor Williams has now cemented his place in D.C. history as the man who brought baseball back to the District. Tough act to follow in 2007? Maybe. What’s next? How about casinos? For the schools, of course.
