D.C. misses a chance to strike a blow for cities everywhere

By the thinnest of margins, the Washington, D.C., city council stood up to Major League Baseball, but its demonstration of backbone was short-lived.
Mayor Anthony A. Williams had negotiated a deal with the Major League Baseball owners to move the Montreal Expos to Washington, where they would be called the Nationals. Williams managed to craft a deal in which the city put up all the money and took all the risk, in exchange for MLB agreeing to the move.
His negotiating technique apparently involved telling MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, "Please, pretty please, gives us a team; we'll give you whatever you want."
Whatever was a deal that called for the city to finance renovation of the old RFK stadium so it would be ready for opening day in the spring and to immediately begin work on construction of a new stadium. Total cost, about a half billion dollars. MLB's investment, the same as the score at the beginning of a game, 0-0.
Reasonable demand
At that point, City Council Chair Linda W. Cropp stepped up to the plate. She insisted that at least half of the cost come from private financing. By a 7-6 vote, council agreed.
The outcry was deafening. How dare anyone suggest that private investors absorb some of the risk in building a baseball stadium? The response from Selig's office was quick and clear: Major League Baseball would not be bringing any of its money to the table, and it would not extend its Dec. 31 deadline for Washington to put together a new package that would include council's requisite amount of private financing.
Less than a week later, based on no more than a letter from Mayor Williams saying he would include private financing in the stadium package, Cropp switched her vote. The Washington Nationals will get a refurbished temporary home and a brand new stadium and the citizens of Washington, D.C., will be potentially liable for the entire bill.
It's too bad that Cropp couldn't or wouldn't stand her ground.
Problems abound
While a baseball team is something that helps define a city as major league, the nation's capital is hardly a town in search of an identity. It has survived the 33 years since the Washington Senators left town. And while it has had its problems -- corrupt politicians, a dysfunctional school system and a homicide rate that was sometimes among the highest in the land -- none of its problems can be attributed to not having a major league baseball team.
We hope that Washington actually puts together a private investment plan for its stadium, but we wouldn't count on it. The second piece of legislation passed by council allows the city to revert to publicly financed bonds if private financing falls through. Investors have until Jan. 17 to submit proposals along with nonrefundable $10,000 deposits.
Washington had an opportunity to send a message, not just to Major League Baseball but to all sports franchises, that cities know that sports facilities are not really engines for economic development. They had a chance to say that the billionaire owners of professional teams should not be using taxpayers as cash cows. And they had a chance to say that a city like Washington, D.C., has better places to invest its money than stadiums and the like.
Alas, Washington City Council dropped the ball.