Mayor Anthony Williams has quietly established an Office of Baseball that will provide “one-stop strategic guidance” for the many entities with an interest in the Washington Nationals stadium and its associated development, Williams said Wednesday.
The office was created May 9 by executive order and will be funded initially with $750,000 that Williams hopes to receive through a supplemental budget request. It is designed to provide continuity, mediation and streamlined oversight as the multiyear venture unfolds.
“I love this project,” the mayor said. “It’s my baby. I want to see it successful.”
Between the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, Anacostia Waterfront Corp., the Lerner group and numerous D.C. agencies, coordinating all the organizations with an interest in the project demands a single contact point, Williams said.
Williams said he’d like to install Stephen Goldsmith, chairman of the Waterfront Corp. board, as the initial chairman of the office’s four-member advisory committee. The office will be led by a yet-unnamed director.
The office could provide an efficient method of monitoring stadium construction, said Council Chairman Linda Cropp. But the council, she said, should be represented on the advisory committee, where it currently has no say.
Council Member Phil Mendelson, D-at large, said he hadn’t heard of the new office until Wednesday.
“I think anytime there’s a proposal to spend three-quarters of a million dollars, there ought to be an explanation,” he said.
The Office of Baseball advisory committee
» City administrator
» Chairman of Anacostia Waterfront Corp.
» Chairman of Sports and Entertainment Commission
» Team ownership representative
