Boston 2024 Chair Steve Pagliuca and USOC BOD member Daniel Doctoroff on Thursday in a "sometimes testy debate" over the possibility of hosting the Games "ardently defended their budget and commitment to transparency, and said Boston should use the Olympics to spark long-needed improvements," according to Michael Levenson of the BOSTON GLOBE. Pagliuca: "We need to move Boston forward. The Olympics can be a catalyst to do that." But the pitch "came under near-relentless attacks" from No Boston Olympics co-Chair Chris Dempsey and economist Andrew Zimbalist. Zimbalist said Boston 2024’s budget figures were fueled by "drunken optimism." Dempsey: "We have an important past and a bright future. We got that way by thinking big but also thinking smart. We’re better off passing on Boston 2024’s risky sales pitch." Levenson notes the hour-long debate "drilled deeply into the minutiae of Olympic finances" but also "featured some pointed and personal barbs, reflecting how divisive the Olympic bid has become in Boston since the city was chosen by the USOC in January." Zimbalist "was often the aggressor, persistently skewering what he described as Boston 2024’s sloppy budgeting." Pagliuca "repeatedly accused Olympic opponents of using 'scare tactics' and 'hyperbole' in their attempt to scuttle what he called a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity'" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/24).
WORTH MISSING? In Boston, Dan Shaughnessy writes viewers "tuned in hoping for one of those famous debate moments" but "the best we got was Zimbalist saying, 'Most of the numbers I look at reflect drunken optimism.'" This "was a debate dominated by skull-imploding talk about the all-important financial issues." Both sides "bombarded us with numbers." Boston Globe reporter and debate co-host Sacha Pfeiffer "scored points when she moved the topic from economics to good old-fashioned traffic." Shaughnessy: "That’s when Doctoroff said traffic jams disappeared in LA during the 1984 Games and told us, 'People adjust.'" Zimbalist: "What about the seven years leading up when all the construction happens?" Shaughnessy: "Bingo. Big point for No Boston Olympics." It "got worse" for Pagliuca and Doctoroff in the closing minutes. Every time the No Boston reps "raised legitimate points, the Boston 2024 guys would charge hyperbole" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/24). Also in Boston, Shirley Leung writes Boston's Olympic bid "is on life support." Pagliuca "has put out the best plan he can under the circumstances, yet public support remains lackluster." Boston Mayor Marty Walsh "has been the public sector’s biggest Olympic cheerleader, but he can’t go it alone." Leung suggested rhetorically to Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker: "So, governor, either pull the plug -- or breathe new life into this thing. Don’t let us muddle along in a coma-like state" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/24).
MAYOR HAVE SOME MORE: In Boston, Smith & Chabot report some mayors in Massachusetts who "could bear the brunt of hosting [Olympic] events are raising concerns Boston 2024 hasn’t been keeping them in the loop." Lowell Mayor Rodney Elliott "wants Olympic officials to provide more details quickly because the city is expected to host rowing and taekwondo." He said, "It would be nice to have some definitive answers as soon as possible, so we can start planning." Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said that Olympic planners "should have more direct contact with area leaders, even in communities without proposed venues." Melrose Mayor Robert Dolan said that he "was invited to a public meeting with a few other local mayors but has had no direct contact with Boston 2024" (BOSTON HERALD, 7/24).
