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Cropp, Mayor to Meet as D.C. Baseball Debate Continues
Linda W. Cropp: "I am not trying to kill the deal. I'm putting some teeth in it."
Mayor Anthony Williams: ''We had a deal. I believe the deal was broken."
Two prominent politicians who will have a significant say in whether the Expos move to the nation's capital plan to meet Monday to try to save the suddenly wobbly deal.
Mayor Anthony Williams will meet with Linda Cropp, chair of the District of Columbia Council, who earlier this week introduced an amendment that could endanger the move.
The proposed move hinges on the city having a stadium financing package acceptable to major league baseball in place by Dec. 31. Cropp's amendment to the mayor's stadium financing plan requires that at least half the stadium funding come from a private source. The amendment was approved late Tuesday night.
Major League Baseball, calling the amendment "wholly unacceptable," responded to the adoption of Cropp's provision by shutting down the team's business and promotional operations.
Williams and Cropp will meet Monday at Cropp's request, her spokesman, Mark Johnson, confirmed Friday night. Cropp has asked for a meeting with major league officials "as soon as possible," Johnson said.
Both Cropp and Williams took to the airwaves Friday, appearing on several live radio shows.
"I'm willing to do anything to get a team here, within limits," Williams said on WAMU radio.
Cropp said she is not worried that the delay could tarnish the city's image as a place to do business.
"I take exception with people who say the district is doing anything unusual," Cropp said. "Debate, dialogue and lots of different opinions" are to be expected.
"I hope it's saying that the district won't just take anything" from Major League Baseball, she said.
Several private financiers have pitched funding schemes that could pay for as much as the full cost of building the stadium, city officials said. Cropp said she is talking to a coalition of banks that would like to work with the city, but she offered no details.
Washington businesses also weighed in Friday, sending a letter to Williams, Cropp and baseball commissioner Bud Selig.
"We concur that partial private financing for the stadium would be optimal," William A. Hanbury wrote on behalf of the D.C. Business Coalition. "However, the business community has already committed to play a defining role in funding the new ballpark and our commitment to that objective remains firm."
Hanbury asked baseball and city officials to work to resolve the crisis.
Businesses earning more than $5 million have agreed to pay between $5,000 and $16,000 per year to help pay for stadium construction bonds. Their maximum payment is down from $48,000 annually in the original legislation.
Source: AP