A D.C. Council member on Tuesday proposed ending the standoff with Mayor Adrian Fenty over Nationals tickets by publicly auctioning the District’s ballpark suite, and its related tickets, to generate much-needed revenue.
What D.C. gets in the lease
(regular season only)» Sports and Entertainment Commission suite» 25 additional box seats on the infield» Related parking passes
The clash over tickets is symbolic of the ongoing feud between the executive and legislative branches, one that observers say threatens to stalemate D.C. government operations.
“I believe the staff will work this out,” Fenty said Monday of the ticket quarrel.
At-large Councilman Kwame Brown wasn’t willing to wait, however. He introduced legislation, titled the “People’s Stadium Act,” that would authorize the auction to the highest bidder of the D.C. government’s suite, plus roughly 80 tickets and parking passes for all events at Nationals Park.
The proceeds, which Brown estimated at about $500,000, would be used to meet gaps in services caused by the economic downturn. His bill was co-sponsored by council members David Catania, at-large, Michael Brown, at-large, and Mary Cheh, Ward 3.
“People are losing their homes,” Kwame Brown said. “People are losing their jobs. People are suffering, and here we are talking about where tickets are in the District of Columbia.”
The final lease between the District and the Nationals makes no mention of the D.C. Council. The suite belonging to the city is in the name of the Sports and Entertainment Commission, a quasi-independent agency under the mayor, as are the 25 box seat tickets in “mutually agreed locations on the infield.”
Fenty sparked the controversy, as he did last year, when he refused to turn over suite tickets that the council says belong to the legislative branch. The mayor has kept them for himself instead.
But unlike last year, D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles has not been called in to mediate the dispute. The executive-legislative relationship, meanwhile, has steadily deteriorated. The two have repeatedly clashed in recent months over Fenty’s nominees to boards and commissions, his education reforms, and his plans for the parks department, among other issues.
Fenty was announcing a new parks and recreation director Monday when he was, once again, peppered with questions about the baseball tickets, and why he has steadfastly refused to release what the council members contend is their allotment.
