Gray to Fenty: Gimme Tickets; Fenty to World: Eat It was originally published on City Desk on May. 14, 2009, at 5:50 pm
Baseball tickets: Remember them?
That insubstantial issue indicative of much larger problems reappeared Thursday when Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray wrote Mayor Adrian M. Fenty a terse letter asking, in effect, what’s up with this?
“We are at a loss to understand why you and the Nationals have allowed this absurdity to happen again,” Gray writes, referring to last year’s similar conflict. “We look forward to you putting an end to this unnecessary distraction by immediately providing my office with the remainder of this season’s tickets that belong to the Council for our constituents.”
Gray closes, “You have never communicated with us to explain why you chose to take the tickets and then to keep them. We await your immediate response so this situation, once and for all, can be resolved.”
LL asked both Fenty and Attorney General Peter Nickles about the letter this afternoon. Nickles simply ignored LL; Fenty tried a classic move: “We’re still working on the budget!” he said.
LL asked if that meant things stood exactly the same place as they did the last time anyone asked; Fenty said, “Yes.”
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
May 13, 2009
The Honorable Adrian M. Fenty
Mayor of the District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20004
Dear Mayor Fenty:
As you know, once again the Council of the District of Columbia has not received baseball tickets this season for the suite provided by the Nationals for use by Councilmembers and their constituents.
This is a repeat of what happened last year, a situation which went on for weeks without resolution. The Council finally received the tickets from you in mid-May last year, even though they should have come directly to us in the first place. We are at a loss to understand why you and the Nationals have allowed this absurdity to happen again.
You have 67 tickets available to you for your use. The Council has just 19 tickets that are then divided among thirteen members. Our constituents look forward to the opportunity to attend games, and many members also give them to non-profits to facilitate their fund-raising efforts, especially important to them in this difficult economic climate. We look forward to you putting an end to this unnecessary distraction by immediately providing my office with the remainder of this season’s tickets that belong to the Council for our constituents.
It has now been one month since the Nationals’ home opener. You have never communicated with us to explain why you chose to take the tickets and then to keep them. We await your immediate response so this situation, once and for all, can be resolved.
Vincent C. Gray
Chairman
cc: Councilmembers
DC Sports and Entertainment Commission
Washington Nationals
