The Commish Set Me Up

WWN points to an interesting City Paper article on the grassroots effort against the stadium. While the beginning focuses on one man's allegedly self-funded quest to derail the project, it's truly a story about the political failings of Tony Williams. What could've been a slam dunk has turned into, to mix a metaphor or three, a street fight.

the mayor has rejected mounting a high-profile, in-your-face assault to stir up the pro-baseball rabble and win over councilmembers. And it’s not as if the pro-stadium forces don’t have resources at their disposal. “[Williams] could get on the phone to 10 people and have all the money we would need for a great campaign in one afternoon,” says one operative. “And lots of top-flight people are ready to provide their services at cost.” But no one will step up and start a big grassroots campaign without the blessing of the team now working out of the executive suite’s dugout.

Instead, Williams is relying on the highbrow approach. He’s trying to show individual councilmembers the wisdom of the Southeast stadium plan. The mayor has chosen to pursue a free media blitz rather than hit up a few pals in the business community and craft a message that might change the public perception of the stadium deal. He must figure that councilmembers are swayed more by stories in the Washington Post than by calls and e-mails from constituents. Williams now has almost nothing to offer in terms of chits and has never built a political machine that can crank out votes or make things miserable for any ambitious pol who crosses him.

The final nugget of the column notes the latest scuttlebut going around town. Apparently, Marion Barry is being sentenced for tax evastion not because he didn't pay taxes (not everyone pays taxes according to the quoted yahoo), but because he opposed the stadium. Uh yeah. Of course if that's true, then the unconfirmed reports of Bud Selig being spotted on the New Orleans levees makes a whole lot more sense now.