Dear Chairwoman Cropp and DC Councilmembers:

As a resident of the area and a strong supporter of the District, I am writing
to express to you my strong support for the baseball stadium that you agreed to
last year on the Anacostia Waterfront. It is necessary to pass the lease in
order to keep the Nationals in Washington.

The Nationals are putting millions of dollars into DC's economy, and much of it
comes from suburbanites. Baseball shifts spending, and thus tax revenues, from
the suburbs to the city. It is a revenue generator that generates revenue to
make up for that commuter tax Congress won't let you enact.

A special taxing district around the ballpark could raise even more suburban
money for the District, but you need to keep the agreement you made last year
and pass the stadium bill so that Washington can continue to enjoy -- and make
money from -- baseball. Don't blow this significant revenue source. Do you
want baseball or not?

If we don't pass the lease agreement, there is a real danger of losing the team
to another city or to contraction. Contraction, the act of eliminating two
teams, is on the table following the 2006 season when the collective bargaining
agreement expires. Don't give Major League Baseball the opportunity to make
Washington fans the victims of this scheme.

Washington fans worked too long to bring baseball back to lose it now.

This can be a major boon to the District and its finances, long term. But in
order for this to happen, you MUST accept the deal that you agreed to last year.

The deal the City concluded with baseball specified this site - moving now will
jeopardize the return of baseball entirely. And Major League Baseball ahs made
it clear that building at RFK is unacceptable.

Moreover, giving up on the Anacostia Waterfront will mean missing a historic
opportunity to revitalize an entire section of the City. A new ballpark could
do for the Waterfront what the MCI Center did for the 7th Street area.

Do you want to be the person responsible for losing the Nationals?

For the sake of saving a few million now, several councilmembers are proposing
that D.C. make the same mistake Chicago made in building their Southside stadium
next to old Comiskey. As is the case in Chicago, they are proposing that D.C.
build in a location that is not at all conducive to peripheral development. The
proposed sight along the Anacostia waterfront could easily mushroom into a
downtown mecca such as that enjoyed by Cleveland, Baltimore, San Francisco and
other cities that have had the vision to spend a little more up front in order
to build something worthy of the grand vision to which Mayor Williams has often
referred. Even if MLB went for the proposed site next to RFK, it will remain a
stadium and nothing more. Something that people like me will scurry into and
away from - to spend our disposable income back in Northern Virginia or suburban
Maryland.

Do you want to risk being known as the person who killed baseball in DC after so
long a struggle? If so, please tell the people of greater Washington that.
Don't hide behind the pretense of "saving money."

Please do not break the signed agreement with Major League Baseball.

Please do not risk the loss of baseball again. If you do, it may be three
strikes and you're out.

Respectfully,
Tim Phares


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