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Boston City Councilor Calls For Olympic Bid Vote, Which May Put Mayor Walsh In A Bind

Boston City Council member Josh Zakim on Monday proposed putting the '24 Summer Games bid "to a citywide vote," which would "include four nonbinding referendum questions on this November’s ballot," according to Andrew Ryan of the BOSTON GLOBE. That could put Boston Mayor Martin Walsh "in a difficult position," as he has said that he is "against a referendum on the Olympics." Walsh last month, however, did acknowledge that he "supported citizens’ right to collect signatures to put the issue on the ballot." If the measure "passes the 13-member council, the ordinance would go to Walsh’s desk." It would "force the mayor either to sign the measure and allow the questions to appear on the ballot, or block the effort and quash a vote." Zakim’s proposal "includes four yes or no questions: Should Boston host the Games? Should the city commit public money to support the Olympics? Should the city make financial guarantees to cover cost overruns? Should Boston use eminent domain to take private land on behalf of the Games?" The measure is "expected to be formally introduced" tomorrow at a City Council meeting. City Council President Bill Linehan yesterday said that the proposed ballot questions "will be referred to a committee newly formed to vet the Olympic bid" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/3). Zakim said, "I think in the last few months, and certainly the last few weeks, really, wherever I’ve gone in my district, the No. 1 question is, 'Are we going to be able to weigh in on this?' I think it’s important that on a project this big -- we’re talking almost 10 years from now -- I think people need to have a voice and be heard, officially and on the record." In Boston, Cassidy & Encarnacao note opposition group No Boston Olympics "still is considering city or state ballot questions, a lawsuit, a bill at the State House -- or a combination" (BOSTON HERALD, 2/3).

TALKING BAD? In Boston, Mark Arsenault reported IOC President Thomas Bach on Saturday "downplayed" any notion that the city's "noisy public debate" would harm its bid. Bach said of the situation surrounding the '24 Games, "If somebody is asking a question, that does not mean there is opposition." Bach "offered his endorsement of the public campaign local organizers began in late January to explain venue and transportation plans." He said, "What we can see there is the bid leaders in Boston have taken the right approach, speaking with the people, offering information, being open for questions." Bach said building public support is essential “because the IOC does not want to send the athletes to a place they’re not welcome." Meanwhile, Bach said that he believes it is "important for the Games to rotate among continents, which also would bode well for Boston because Europe and Asia have hosted recently," and the '16 Rio Games will be in South America. But Bach said that he "does not favor a formal quota system for spreading the Games around and endorsed the current method of using competition among cities to produce the best plans" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/2). Bach said of meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Saturday, "We talked about how do you select cities, how do you ensure that the host cities deliver what they've promised?" (AP, 1/31).

BOULEVARD OF BOSTON DREAMS: In Boston, Dante Ramos wrote if the city wins the '24 Games bid, it will be "because of ideas like Olympic Boulevard, a 'pedestrian spine' that would connect the harbor to a temporary stadium tucked between South Boston and the South End." The Olympic Boulevard concept "would fill in a longstanding gap in the city’s street grid." Spectators could "walk toward the stadium from the Seaport and the Financial District." If cost overruns "are the downside" of Boston's bid, the Olympic Boulevard plan "shows the dazzling upside -- the possibility that a nondescript strip of water and land, a dingy afterthought in Boston’s history, will emerge as a pulsing new artery through the middle of a resurgent city" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/2). Also in Boston, Erin Smith reported officials "crafting Boston’s new long-term transportation plan say they are coordinating with the group pushing to bring the 2024 Summer Games to the Hub but deny the Olympic bid is controlling transit strategy -- despite close ties between the two boards." Boston Olympic Committee Chair John Fish serves on Mayor Walsh’s steering committee "overseeing the Go Boston 2030 campaign, which is soliciting feedback from residents to envision the transit system and transportation on the city’s 400th anniversary." A Better City President & CEO Richard Dimino said, "There’s no tax dollar relation in those two efforts. We’re certainly going to be coordinating with the Olympic effort. It would be silly not to." Fish insisted Olympic organizers "are not influencing the city’s long-term transportation plan." He said, "I think the opposite. I think the Olympic effort is being shaped by the city’s plan for 2030" (BOSTON HERALD, 2/2).

LONE SURVIVOR: In Boston, Bob Ryan wrote the Boston '24 leaders, the governor, the mayor and all others who are committed to bringing the '24 Games to the city "are not off to a good start." Ryan: "There is no doubt in my mind we would be a great site." But there is "the issue of money, and lame-duck venues, and a million and one complications." Ryan: "They say no public funds will be used. Right." In a "better world," once a city is selected by the USOC to represent the country, that "should mean a total governmental commitment." The burden "should not all be on that city." If America wants medals, it "should be willing to finance the Olympic bid" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/1).

IMPORTANT COMITTS: Boston '24 CEO Richard Davey said that Mitt Romney, who was President & CEO of the Salt Lake City '02 Organizing Committee, "has been a 'tremendous asset' to organizers aiming to bring the Summer Games to Boston in 2024 ... and may have an opportunity to get more involved now that the former Bay State governor has announced he will not be running for president" in '16 (BOSTON HERALD, 2/1). In Boston, Shira Springer wrote by making Paralympic athlete and sports medicine physician Cheri Blauwet -- who competed in the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Games -- part of "planning and pitching the bid," the committee "automatically raises the profile of Paralympic sport." That "gives the bid another dimension that could appeal to IOC members." Boston '24 architect David Manfredi said Blauwet "can be a symbol of what we can do that maybe nobody else in the world can do at this point in time, and that is to really elevate the Paralympic Games" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/2).

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