Mayor Martin Walsh yesterday "delivered his strongest and most passionate case for Boston’s pursuit of the 2024 Olympic Games, tying the bid to a pledge to overcome years of political inertia to modernize a failed public transit system, and casting the Olympic effort as a rare chance to 'create the first new vision' for Boston in generations," according to Mark Arsenault of the BOSTON GLOBE. Walsh, speaking at the Boston Municipal Research Bureau's annual meeting, said, "Make no mistake, we are in this to win it: to bring the Olympic Games to Boston." Walsh "seemed eager to reorient the public campaign for the Olympic bid." Polling suggests that local support for hosting the Games fell during the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s "snow-induced meltdown this winter." Walsh "sought to build a case for the Games directly on the commuter crisis, something local Olympic backers were hesitant to do in the throes of the MBTA’s February failure." UMass-Boston professor Maurice Cunningham said that Walsh’s "tight embrace of the bid ensures that the city’s quest for the Olympics will be 'a big part of his legacy.'" Walsh yesterday acknowledged that he "was originally 'skeptical, even dismissive' of making an Olympic bid, but came to understand the private-financing model used to pay for the Games in the United States, and now sees the bid process as 'an incredibly powerful tool.'" Walsh suggested that Boston’s "modest plans" for the Games fulfill the IOC’s call for a "more affordable Olympics." He added that should the city "lose the Olympics" to another market, Boston "would still benefit from more than two years of intensive planning" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/5). The AP noted Walsh yesterday disputed assertions from the group No Boston Olympics that Massachusetts taxpayers "could be left footing portions" of what could be a $15B price tag for the Games and that "hosting the Olympics would not produce any lasting economic benefits for the city." Walsh: "In other countries, governments bankroll Olympic bids and Olympic Games. That is not the case in the United States. Here, games are privately funded and ... have been fiscally sound" (AP, 3/4).
KEEPING 'EM HONEST: In Boston, Jon Chesto reported while Boston '24 execs "promise that the state’s coffers will not be tapped for the billions of dollars needed" to run the Games, the state’s top government leaders are now indicating that they "will consider hiring an outside consultant to ensure the Boston 2024 Partnership lives up to that pledge." State House Speaker Robert DeLeo: "What I don’t want to see is to come up three months before the start of the Olympics and have someone say, ‘By the way, the state has to kick in $1 billion for this to work.’” Mass. Senate President Stan Rosenberg hopes that he will "have documents crafted within the next few weeks to set the stage for bringing on a consultant." He added that the goal "would be to ensure that the state does not end up on the hook for an operating subsidy for the Games or any debt associated with the event." He said that he "also does not want the state to pay for transportation projects that will not otherwise happen" if the IOC does not pick Boston. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's administration "did not directly address whether the governor is on board with the idea of hiring an independent consultant" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/5).
