Coalition key to grounding Boston 2024 Olympics bid
Former United Independent Party gubernatorial candidate Evan Falchuk joined Boston Herald Radio’s “Lone Republican Report” program yesterday, where he took a look back at Boston’s failed 2024 Olympic bid — a megaproject he fought against.
Q: What do you think was the ultimate reason why the U.S. Olympic Committee pulled out of Massachusetts on the Olympics?
A: Well, the whole thing is a scam to get taxpayer money. ... And what we had built working together with state Rep. (Geoff G.) Diehl and state Rep. (Shaunna L.) O’Connell was a coalition to have a vote on the use of taxpayer money for the Olympics. And in the end there was all the noise on whether this was a good idea — but the folks pushing the Olympics knew they couldn’t beat a vote. They knew they couldn’t stop the voters and they wouldn’t be able to get their hands on that taxpayer money, and that’s what ended up killing the bill.
Q: Didn’t Boston 2024 send something to the U.S. Olympic Committee saying there would be no ballot question?
A: They did. They promised that in the bid book. And people forget this history, but Marty Walsh in particular had made all kinds of promises to the folks at the U.S. Olympic Committee. If you remember, there was the unredacted version of the bid book that they were trying to keep secret from the public and we had all been saying let’s get it out there. ... I think everybody really looks at what happened with the Olympics and says, “We dodged a bullet on that thing.” But we’ve got to remember that there’s this whole old-guardconnected establishment, Marty Walsh in particular in this case, who fired that bullet and it was only because of the efforts of voters who had to organize and fight against this to be able to protect taxpayers.
Q: I always felt that other people who were protesting the Olympics had no end game plan other than protesting it. And you and Rep. Diehl had a game plan.
A: We did. And I have to say, he was the first representative, the first elected official to stick his neck out on this. He introduced a bill that said no taxpayer money on the Olympics, which was voted down on a voice vote. They didn’t even let it have a hearing to talk about this really important issue. And then of course we all came together and built this coalition against the use of taxpayer money on the Olympics, and it was bipartisan.
And I think that that kind of leadership is the kind of thing we need if we’re really going to protect taxpayers.