Rhode Island state House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello on Wednesday called on the Triple-A Int'l League Pawtucket Red Sox to "take their case for a new ballpark to the meeting halls, front steps and kitchen tables of Rhode Island before coming back to the State House with a more generous proposal for taxpayers," according to Patrick Anderson of the PROVIDENCE JOURNAL. Mattiello "ratcheted up criticism" of the ballpark plan passed by the Senate last month. He said that team owners "should put more of their own money into the deal and make a better effort to explain it to the public." Mattiello: "We are asking the public to be a partner in a public-private partnership and they are saying no, we don’t want to be partners in this deal. Is there a way we can get to yes? We can look at the deal." He added that the Senate bill is "effectively dead in the House" because it is "unpopular based on a public poll taken last fall." The deal passed by the Senate calls for $85M in "borrowing to finance construction of a ballpark on the Apex department store site in Pawtucket," with the team paying off $41M, the state $26M and the city $18M. The team has pledged another $12M upfront. PawSox spokesperson Guy Dufault "disputed Mattiello’s description" of the ballpark plan, the team’s "public outreach and finances." He said that the team "expects to hold six town-hall style meetings" on the ballpark plan over the course of February. Dufault also "disputed the suggestion that the team was 'only putting in $12 million,' saying it has agreed to increase its annual lease payments" from $39,000 to $1M per year (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 2/1).
