Boston Mayor Martin Walsh yesterday "strongly suggested" that John Fish, the chair of the city's Olympic bid group, should "accept a diminished role ... and instead be an 'ambassador' to help keep alive the bid" for the '24 Games, according to Smith & Encarnacao of the BOSTON HERALD. Walsh said, "It’s an opportunity now -- I wouldn’t say necessarily push him aside -- but I think it’s time now to grow as a unit with 2024 and the USOC." Fish in a statement said he is going to "do what’s best for the city of Boston." But Smith & Encarnacao note Fish would "not comment on hitting the reset button at a time when the city’s Olympic bid is coming under attack from critics across the nation." Walsh's press office last night "issued a statement attempting to walk back" the earlier comments. The statement quoted Walsh as saying, “I said today that John Fish should be an ambassador for Boston 2024, which is a position he holds now as chairman. I want to be very clear, I did not call for John to step down from his role." USOC CEO Scott Blackmun "pledged his support for Fish yesterday." He said, “We have the highest possible regard for John Fish. His passion for the Olympic movement was a significant factor in our decision to work with Boston, and his continuing leadership will be critical to our success going forward" (BOSTON HERALD, 4/2). Meanwhile, Fish said that he would "welcome independent experts hired by city and state governments to continually review the committee’s books and its plans to mitigate risks to taxpayers." Walsh in a statement said he had been discussing in recent weeks a plan to establish "an office of Olympic accountability at City Hall," and was "pleased that John Fish is on board." In Boston, Mark Arsenault notes local opposition group No Boston Olympics yesterday "praised the mayor's plan" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/2).
LET'S GO TO THE POLLS: The AP's Stephen Wilson notes IOC members are "watching with a mixture of surprise and puzzlement as Boston, reeling from a lack of public support, struggles to keep its bid afloat." IOC member Dick Pound said of the statewide referendum on the bill that will be voted on in November '16, "It's a calculated risk. It means you're going ahead, making all these plans and carrying all these expenses without knowing whether somebody's going to suddenly pull the plug on you." IOC Exec Board member Anita DeFrantz, who is also a USOC board member, said, "The USOC made a decision and we are moving forward with that. There's going to be a referendum. That's OK. The people are taking their time to learn the facts." Wilson notes low polling results, political controversy and public relations missteps "have beset Boston," and the "stumbling start has raised questions: Should Boston have been picked in the first place?" IOC member Denis Oswald: "The USOC probably had some indication of the level of support of the population in different candidate cities they had nationally and I'm surprised they did not take this more into consideration." Wilson notes after "stinging defeats" for N.Y. and Chicago in bidding for the '12 and '16 Games, respectively, the timing "had seemed right for the U.S. this time." Boston, Rome and Hamburg are the declared '24 candidates so far, and Paris "is expected to join the race soon." Other potential contenders include Istanbul; Budapest; Baku, Azerbaijan; and Doha, Qatar. The IOC "will choose the host city" in '17 (AP, 4/2).
