Plutocracy and its discontents

Do Boston city councilors have what it takes to block Menino's Red Sox scheme?

by Ben Geman

Despite Saturday's last-minute, gun-to-the-head state legislative approval of a financing plan to build a new ballpark for the Red Sox, the $665 million stadium scheme is not a done deal. Although the ruling elite have mobilized -- FleetBoston's Chad Gifford, John Hancock's David D'Alessandro, and advertising executive Jack Connors helped complete the deal, the legacy-hungry Mayor Tom Menino is a huge proponent, and Governor Paul Cellucci, Senate president Tom Birmingham, and House Speaker Tom Finneran are on board -- the plan faces significant obstacles.

A legal challenge is brewing from opponents who plan to fight the needed land-takings. The private financing may not materialize. And then there's City Hall. For Menino, making a deal with the likes of Gifford and Sox CEO John Harrington could prove easier than getting the Boston City Council to accept the ridiculous plan.

Menino needs to corral support from two-thirds of the city council -- which means nine of the 13 members -- to approve $140 million in city borrowing for the land takings and site preparation. Total city financing for the plan comes to $212 million, which will pay for land acquisition, site preparation, and garage construction. The plan calls for the city's investment to be recouped through new revenue streams built into the deal. As the focus shifts from Beacon Hill to City Hall, Menino insiders have already started working on the councilors.

Although a majority of them have declared their opposition, Menino plainly feels he can get the deal done in City Hall, and a lot of insiders agree. "I have very little doubt that eventually the city council will

approve this thing," says former councilor John Nucci. "They may drag it out, they may try to get some concessions at the margins of things, but eventually they are going to approve it."

Will councilors prove him right? So far, they have been feisty and skeptical. As of press time, the Boston Herald reported that the city council was planning to use parliamentary tactics to scuttle the entire plan. According to the article, council president Jimmy Kelly and District Eight councilor Mike Ross planned to file a motion approving the land-takings. The council would then kill the motion -- which would bar the city from taking the land at all.

In the meantime, according to the Herald, the Sox have announced that their plans to open a new ballpark have been pushed back a year. Such a move is sure to increase the price of the project in interest rates and construction costs. The Sox are already struggling to raise their $352 million share of the project as it is. Additional costs will make the project that much more vulnerable.

The council move means that there will be quick deliberation on the land-takings, even though Menino had hoped it would be months before the council explored the issue. "There's a perception out there that people will fold," says Councilor Mike Ross, who represents the Fenway and opposes the deal. "And the pressures will be very strong. I hope city councilors remember why they are here and who they represent."

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