Boston Mayor Martin Walsh yesterday "threw the city’s 2024 Olympic bid into turmoil," saying that he "wouldn’t oppose voters trying to secure a public referendum on the project, a move that could complicate or even endanger the city’s chances," according to Kamp & Futterman of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Walsh said if local residents wanted a vote, “I wouldn’t stand in the way.” That was a "shift from Jan. 9," when Walsh said that there "would be no referendum on the bid because the public would welcome the games once they understood the benefits." The USOC "would likely view even the prospect of a referendum as a major obstacle to the U.S. hosting the Summer Games for the first time since 1996 and could decide to nominate another city." USOC officials "fear even a nonbinding referendum could signal a lack of public support" to the int'l community. Meanwhile, a new poll yesterday "showed 51% support for the games among Boston-area residents, with 75% of respondents wanting a local vote on the games." The results, conducted by the MassINC Polling Group for radio news station WBUR-FM, "included about 500 people" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/21). In N.Y., Katharine Seelye notes Walsh holding a referendum "could be a deal-killer regardless of the results." Public votes on hosting the Olympics "can pose hazards." Perhaps the "most infamous case occurred in Denver, which in 1970 was awarded the 1976 Winter Games." In '72, Colorado voters "overrode local officials and passed an amendment to the state Constitution banning the use of public money for the Games, effectively driving the Olympics from Denver." Also, nearly 70% of residents in Krakow, Poland, "voted last year against hosting the 2022 Winter Games, forcing the city to withdraw from the competition." No Boston Olympics co-Chair Chris Dempsey said that his opposition group "had not yet decided whether to gather the signatures necessary for a referendum." Dempsey: "It’s clear from the history in Denver and in a number of European cities that a ballot could be a threat to the bid advancing. When put to a public vote, Olympic bids tend not to fare that well" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/21).
HEADED TO THE POLLS: In Chicago, Philip Hersh writes if the referendum happens, the U.S. "might as well give up on the idea of hosting the Summer Olympics for the foreseeable future." A negative result in such a referendum could lead the USOC either to "abandon a 2024 bid or to beg one of the three cities it rejected" -- L.A., DC and S.F. -- "to step in." A referendum approving the idea by a "less than impressive margin would be a big albatross for a Boston bid, since the IOC worries that lack of public support will compromise Olympic preparations" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/21).
