PawSox Stadium Winners and Losers: The 2nd Bloodless Revolution
GoLocalProv News Team
PawSox Stadium Winners and Losers: The 2nd Bloodless Revolution
Call it Rhode Island’s 2nd Bloodless Revolution - the defeat of the proposed PawSox stadium in Providence maybe a seminal moment in Rhode Island’s political history.
SEE SLIDES OF WINNERS AND LOSERS BELOW
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn 1935, Rhode Island’s political power was wrestled away from the Republicans and firmly placed in the hands of the Democrats through a series of political procedure moves that shifted the control of the State Senate and the Courts, to mark Rhode Island's first Bloodless Revolution.
Fast forward eighty years -- the proposed Providence stadium supporters included the ownership group of some of the regions most wealthy and powerful men - the Chair of TJX Corp, the former CEO and Chair of CVS, the former Chair and CEO of the once dominant Fleet Bank, to name just a few. Combined, the ownership group's net worth is in the billions.
The ownership group also included the Boston Red Sox ownership.
The owners hired the most powerful lobbyist in the state, numerous public relation consultants, former legislators, and stadium consultants. The building trades unions, close allies of Governor Gina Raimondo, strongly supported the project.
When first announced earlier this year, the project received the support of the powerful Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, Council President Luis Aponte, and positive remarks from Raimondo.
Immediately after the proposed Providence Stadium was announced, Pawtucket residents and Mayor Don Grebien complained about the proposed move, but when the financial plan was unveiled in April by Jim Skeffington, a politically diverse coalition of opponents came forward led by progressive activists, Republicans, taxpayers from around the state, and Raimondo raised concerns about the proposed cost.
Never before in Rhode Island history has a coalition of the disenfranchised ever defeated the most powerful political and economic interests.
PawSox Stadium Aftermath: Winners and Losers
Winner
Coalition Radio -- A small group of libertarian activists relentlessly advocated against any public financing for a private venture. Pat Ford, Dave Fisher and Tony Jones leveraged internet radio and social media to pound the project and the costs.
Loser
Speaker Nicholas Mattiello -- The Speaker was all in for the project. He repeatedly voiced his strong support for the project. Some said it was a project for his legacy and others said he supported the project as a result of influence of the ownership group and their lobbyist Bob Goldberg.
It wasn't long ago that the Speaker said the Providence Stadium would be revenue positive. In a few short weeks, the project somehow went from supposedly financially advantageous to taxpayers to DOA.
Winner
GOP -- The Rhode Island Republicans came out against the project early and kept raising questions about the cost and the approval process. Despite being in the political minority, the Republicans used their thorn-in the-side status to play the spoiler.
Loser
Old School Top Down PR Strategy -- Renderings, fact finding trips for leaders and listening tours were all the strategies embraced by the ownership team and each came back and burned them. The listening tour had higher attendance at many sites by taxpayers who were opposed to the project -- and the fact they had to write their questions down, and be lectured to in response, did not go over well by opponents.
Winner (maybe)
Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien -- It looked like the Mayor was a loser for sure with his city's most valuable asset moving from Pawtucket just 6 miles away to a gleaming new $100 Million project in Providence. With the Providence Stadium dead, Pawtucket has a window to try and create a proposal that improves McCoy, is financially viable and acceptable to the ownership group.
The window is very short, and Grebien will move from the winners' column to the losers' bracket if the PawSox leave RI.
As the Mayor wrote in a GoLocal MINDSETTER™ piece, "We remain hopeful that the new owners will see the value that Pawtucket has given their brand and that the growth we are experiencing will only strengthen it. We hope they will Join the Evolution here in Pawtucket."
Loser
Jorge Elorza -- The Providence Mayor was unable to put together a deal and a location that worked for taxpayers. There was -- and still may be -- an opportunity to bring hundreds of thousands of new visitors into the city annually at the 195 site.
Elorza needs to change the present narrative from crime, a decrepit recreation system, and visits to meet with Guatemalan corrupt leaders to where the city needs to be.
Winner
Taxpayers -- A coalition of taxpayer groups and activists scored their most significant political victory to date. This may spark an empowered effort to take on other issues with enthusiasm.
Loser
Public Financing of Stadiums in the US -- The dramatic defeat of the proposed stadium in Providence may cause other cities, counties and states to take a harder look at the economics of public financing of stadiums.
There is now a blueprint for how taxpayers and progressives can build a coalition to oppose a professional sports team, organized labor and billionaire ownership interests.
The PawSox defeat and the Boston Olympics collapse may speak to a broader grassroots movement opposed to the spending on public funds on private projects.
Winner
Grassroots Activists -- Multiple grassroots efforts sprang up to oppose the stadium move, and perhaps none as vocal - or visible -- as "Organizing for Pawtucket" and David Norton.
Even when a new stadium looked like it was on life support, Norton and supporters utilized both social media and traditional boots-on-the-ground techniques (read: canvassing the Speaker's neighborhood -- in Cranston) to keep the pressure on until the deal was dead.
