Bravo to those who stood tall with the FACTS and COSTS.
Fix the infrastructure. Fix Public Transportation first among numerous other issues.....
Boston’s Bid for Summer Olympics Is Terminated
BOSTON — After a tortuous seven-month public process, the United States Olympic Committee on Monday acknowledged that it had failed to win over the people of Boston to host the 2024 Summer Games and it officially pulled the plug on its bid to put forth Boston as America’s host city.
“We have not been able to get a majority of the citizens of Boston to support hosting the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Scott Blackmun, the chief executive of the U.S.O.C., said in a statement. “Therefore, the U.S.O.C. does not think that the level of support enjoyed by Boston’s bid would allow it to prevail over great bids from Paris, Rome, Hamburg, Budapest or Toronto.”
The decision followed a bombshell announcement Monday morning by Mayor Martin J. Walsh that he would not sign a host city contract with the U.S.O.C. if it wanted him to do so by the end of the day.
“It’s taking the long view,” said Richard A. Davey, the chief executive of Boston 2024, the private group that is overseeing Boston’s bid."
In Boston Olympic Bid Vote, More Is at Stake Than Games
“This is me letting the taxpayers of Boston know where we stand on the Olympic bid and where we stand on the guarantee – that I will not sign a document that puts one dollar of taxpayers’ money on the line for one penny of overruns for the Olympics,” the mayor said.
The host city contract includes a guarantee that the International Olympic Committee would not be held responsible for any cost overruns. The contract essentially moved that burden to the host city and state — a burden that the mayor said he was unwilling to assume, certainly not without a further examination of the bid’s financials.
Congratulations to the mayor. He will get a great deal of flak for his correct decision. It may sound great to hold an Olympics, but the...
“I refuse to mortgage the future of the city away,” the mayor added. “This is a commitment that I can’t make without ensuring the city and its residents will be protected.”
The U.S.O.C. said it would consider other options for a 2024 bid. Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington were the other finalists for the American bid. It is uncertain whether the U.S.O.C. would find more support in any of those cities.
The U.S.O.C. must formally submit its host city bid by mid-September to the International Olympic Committee, which is holding a board meeting Monday in Malaysia. Organizers now must decide whether to try to scramble a last-minute bid from Los Angeles or allow the United States to forgo a chance at hosting the Summer Games, which it has not done since 1996.
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