The Washington, DC-Baltimore regional bid for the 2012
Summer Games "suffered a potentially serious setback
yesterday" when Greater Washington Exploratory Committee
(GWEC) Founder Elizabeth Ganzi filed a 37-page lawsuit in
U.S. District Court and "accused" former Mayor Marion Barry,
several business leaders and the USOC of "stealing her right
to bid" on the event, according to Scott Wilson of the
WASHINGTON POST. The group was "designated" DC's official
bid organization, but was replaced last year by a new
committee combining the DC and Baltimore groups, a "process
that left Ganzi without a role." In the lawsuit, Ganzi
claims that she "shared fund-raising lists, planning studies
and marketing strategy on how to bring the" Games to DC.
Ganzi "suggests" that she "did so based on the understanding
that she would lead or be part of any Olympic bid." Miller
reports that Ganzi is "seeking more than" $10M in damages
and an order reinstating the GWEC as the city's official bid
group. Miller writes that the suit could hurt the chances
of the DC-Baltimore bid, and group members "acknowledged the
potential damage" and said that they "have worked with Ganzi
for months to settle the matter but never received" the
financial statements "needed to settle her debts." Miller
added that in "perhaps the most pointed accusation" in the
lawsuit, Ganzi claims that Barry "switched his allegiance
after business leaders agreed to contribute to his
retirement" (WASHINGTON POST, 12/21). Ganzi's attorney
Larry Klayman: "She feels she has been treated badly by the
good old boys of the Olympics" (USA TODAY, 12/21).
