RFK or No Way

While Washington's baseball fans and media think that the deal for a new stadium for the Nats is a good one – and a done deal – the RFK or No Way Coalition stands against the use of public funding for a Major League Baseball scam. The group says the proposed site in Southeast DC will lead to gentrification, disbursement of businesses and workers, low-paying seasonal jobs, increased traffic from the suburbs, more polluted runoff into the Anacostia River and a demoralized public.

The RFK or No Way Coalition is made up of community-based organizations and individuals who have been concerned about the baseball stadium deal since it was introduced by Mayor Williams in 2004. The mayor's office was not forthright in its estimation of cost overruns for a public-financed stadium in Southeast Washington – with the dispossession of homes and businesses, retrofitting a Metro station for crowd capacity, and moving and rebuilding a Metrobus depot among the major costs that were underestimated. Now we are facing the reality that costs will skyrocket $100 million to $200 million or more beyond the already $535 million public giveaway.

The DC City Council's economic development committee will hold a hearing on the proposed lease for the South Capitol Street baseball stadium on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at 10 a.m. in the council chambers. Here's a link to the lease agreement (it's 109 pages). The vote by the full council – which no longer has three of the seven members who voted in favor of public financing for this stadium – is scheduled to take place Tuesday, Jan 20, 2006. You can help inject some citizen oversight into this project by joining RFK or No Way for a press conference and a "speak out."

When: Thursday, Dec. 15, at 8:30 a.m.
Where: City Council of the District of Columbia, just outside the front door (inside if too cold) of 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
More Info: Chris at 202/234-7075 or betterdeal4dc@yahoo.com

Statehood Greens to Council: Don't Let Major League Baseball Bilk D.C.