Public funds for the Sox? Menino balks
IT'S MORE than baseball. It's power ball.
Theo Epstein, the Boston Red Sox prodigal GM, has baseball deals to close. Larry Lucchino, the Sox president and CEO, has real estate deals to finalize. Whose fastball still smokes?
Besides trying for the Cleveland Indians' Coco Crisp, the Sox continue to vie for $55 million in public money for transportation and other infrastructure improvements in the Kenmore/Fenway/Longwood neighborhoods. However, getting a glove on the money means getting around the reservations that Mayor Tom Menino continues to express. Asked about the Sox proposal at an event on Tuesday night, Menino wondered anew why state legislators can find money for the Sox, but not for other needs.
And, as goes Menino, so, too, may go Governor Romney. ''We'll wait to see what hits the governor's desk, and at that time we'll probably seek to get the perspective and input of the mayor," Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said yesterday.
After a long Sox front-office soap opera, Epstein and Lucchino appear to have retained the responsibilities they always had. For Lucchino, that means maximizing revenue.
One piece of the revenue puzzle involves expanding Fenway. The ball club is investing about $100 million to preserve Fenway Park and enhance the Fenway experience. The second piece involves improving the neighborhood so it is more attractive for development. Enhancing property values around Fenway also increases the ballpark's values. To accomplish that, the Sox are involved with various developers around Fenway.
The public money for which the Sox are lobbying is part of a pending economic stimulus package filed by Romney a year ago. The ball club wants $55 million to convert the Yawkey Way commuter rail station from a part-time to a full-time stop, improve four nearby MBTA subway stops, and upgrade the traffic rotary near Landmark Center. The ball club also hopes to garner game-day revenue from two proposed 900-car garages that would be financed with tax-exempt bonds.
To accomplish this, the Sox executed a careful lobbying blitz, which at one point brought the World Series trophy to a luncheon for Senate President Robert E. Travaglini. Right now, Menino seems to be the biggest obstacle. He can't stop it, but he is letting legislators know he wants to. There is talk of a new coolness between the mayor and the Senate president over the issue of money for the Red Sox. Lucchino attended Menino's inaugural festivities. Travaglini did not.
The House and Senate passed their own versions of an economic stimulus package. The Senate proposal gives the Sox the full amount they requested. The entire package (ranging from $350 million to $473 million) is currently in conference. So, too, is a still-thorny healthcare reform measure.
Fehrnstrom said the governor sees no need to resolve the healthcare legislation before taking up the entire economic stimulus package.
But legislators are, wisely, reluctant to dole out money for various projects across the state without, first, knowing the full cost of any healthcare legislation. Doug Bailey, a Sox spokesman, said, ''We're told nothing's going to happen on it until they deal with healthcare, which probably won't come until just before February vacation."
Legislators are smart to first finalize healthcare reform legislation before tackling any economic stimulus proposal. Then, they would be smart to scrutinize the spending it calls for and earmark it for the most important transit needs.
With all the talk of surpluses and proposed tax rollbacks, there are still haves and have-nots in Massachusetts. Some spending proposals are fast-tracked; others end up in eternal limbo. Beacon Hill regularly fast-tracks requests from powerful institutions like the Boston Red Sox on the theory that the ball club is a big economic driver. But why should the needs of the average, daily commuter take second place to the Sox (17 percent of which is owned by the
Because of the fallout from the Epstein saga, there will be extra pressure on Lucchino to perform on the real estate development front. The radio jocks at WEEI are openly questioning his manhood. And much of the media analysis presents a winner -- Epstein -- and a loser -- Lucchino.
Baseball is fun to follow and power is always fascinating to track.
But for Beacon Hill, this should be about priorities.
Who's your daddy?
Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com.
