Baker Presses Boston Olympic Bid Organizers On Planning
BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Charlie Baker again appears to be showing impatience with the progress of Boston's Olympic bid organizers in completing a detailed plan for hosting the 2024 Summer Games.
The governor told reporters at the Statehouse on Thursday that the Boston 2024 group needs to release the plan within the next month to allow enough time for public discussion of it. He noted the group faces a mid-September deadline to formally notify the International Olympic Committee of the city's bid, with a formal presentation to the IOC due in January.
"If you work the clock back from when the final presentation has to be made and you allow an appropriate time for the public to vet this issue, I think it's important that sometime soon there be a plan that people can review and then discuss," Baker said.
Boston 2024's chief executive, Richard Davey, has said the group expected to release next month a revised plan that will include specific details on key items such as the Olympic Stadium and athletes' village as well as other smaller venues where events could be held if Boston hosts the games.
"We've been working really hard on the detailed plan," Davey, a former state transportation secretary, told The Boston Globe on Wednesday.
In March, Baker also complained of "unanswered questions" and slow progress by Boston 2024, a nonprofit group, in finalizing key elements of the Olympic bid, including venues.
The Republican governor and Democratic legislative leaders later announced plans to hire an outside consultant to independently analyze the Olympic bid and advise state government on whether the effort could place an unfair burden on taxpayers.
Baker indicated on Thursday that a consultant would be named shortly.
Boston was tapped by the United States Olympic Committee in January as the U.S. bid city for the 2024 Olympics. Public opinion polls have pointed to some skepticism among Massachusetts residents about the wisdom of hosting the games, and organizers have promised to abide by the results of a statewide referendum likely to be held in November 2016.
The IOC is scheduled to make its selection in 2017, with Rome, Paris and Hamburg, Germany, among other likely contenders.
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