Nice Pitch: MLB Hires Ray To Lobby For Nats Ballpark

MLB has hired former DC Council member John Ray to “lobby current council members in an effort to smooth over bruised relations and ensure that a plan to build a new stadium for the [Nationals] is not derailed,” according to David Nakamura of the WASHINGTON POST. Baseball sources said that MLB and its teams “regularly hire lobbyists to work with municipalities when they are building stadiums.” Nationals President Tony Tavares said MLB “understood there was criticism of the relationship with the council when this deal got started, and they figured this might be a good way to make sure that it isn’t rocky in the future.” Council member Adrian Fenty said, “The approach of meeting with everybody and not thinking this has to be contentious is the right approach.” But Fenty added, “It does not matter if my mom came in. I’m not going to vote for public funding.” Council member Jack Evans suggested that Ray’s role “could become a political issue in itself because of his long history with the council” (WASHINGTON POST, 2/25).

ASSIST: Also in DC, Eric Fisher writes that DC Mayor Anthony Williams said that he has talked with Washington Sports & Entertainment (WSE) Chair Abe Pollin about assisting in the construction of the Nationals’ ballpark. WSE officials said that Pollin “would do anything he can to help.” Williams: “It’s folks like Abe Pollin we should be looking toward to build this (stadium)” (WASHINGTON TIMES, 2/25).