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‘Upsetting and frustrating’: Revs’ president responds to Mayor Wu over stadium negotiations
Following Wu's Charlestown press conference, the Revolution responded with one of their own on Monday at the site of the proposed stadium in Everett.
The Revolution’s response to Mayor Wu: On Monday morning, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu spoke at a park in Charlestown on the subject of the proposed Revolution soccer stadium in Everett. Specifically, the Kraft Group came under intense criticism.
Wu said that the team’s proposed offer for the state-mandated mitigation agreement was “unserious,” claiming that the figure ($750,000) was far lower than the $68 million fee that Boston received from a similar arrangement prior to the building of the Encore casino.
In addition, Wu cited a lack of transparency in negotiations, claiming that the Kraft Group had to be “dragged kicking and screaming to include the City of Boston in these conversations.”
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Later on Monday, Revolution president Brian Bilello and Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria responded to Wu in a hastily-arranged press conference of their own (which took place on Alford Street at the site of the proposed stadium).
Bilello addressed Wu’s claims, countering with the charge that it was the City of Boston that had been slow to respond.
“Once [stadium proposal] legislation was passed, we reached out in November to Boston to start the process of negotiating a community impact agreement,” Bilello said in his remarks. “From that point, it took multiple correspondences to even receive a response from the City of Boston, and that response was they were unwilling to start discussions at that time.
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“After pushing over and over, we finally got the city to meet with us to begin conversations. This did not occur until February 14th of this year,” Bilello continued, “over two months from when we initially reached out. I think it’s important to be clear: From the very beginning of this process, the Revolution have been pushing expeditiously to develop a fair community impact agreement from the very beginning of this process.”
In Bilello’s view, the ongoing talks between the team and the city have been quietly productive.
“Since that first meeting in February, our team has met with the city over a half-dozen times, and throughout the entire process, I can only describe the tenor and tone of those meetings as cooperative and cordial,” he explained. “So you can understand why it’s upsetting and frustrating to us that the only thing being said publicly about these meetings is negative.
“It has become abundantly clear to us that despite what progress we are making in our discussions with the city, another version of events has apparently and will continue to be told publicly that will prioritize politics over getting a fair agreement done in order to complete this project for the benefit of the city of Everett, and the region at-large.”
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As for the claim from Wu that the team has withheld or not provided necessary information, the longtime Revolution team president again denied that that was the case.
“Any time we’ve been asked to provide information, we’ve provided it,” he said flatly. “In cases where we didn’t have the information, we launched the study to get the information. The city is well aware of this, and we are currently working on a number of studies on traffic and mitigation.”
The two groups will now work together through a recently appointed mediator (per the legislation from last fall) to try and broker a deal. If mitigation agreements aren’t signed and agreed to by the end of the year, the two sides will enter forced arbitration.
Scores and schedules:
The Red Sox defeated the Royals 8-5 on Monday, extending the team’s wining streak to six.
The two teams play again this evening at 7:10 p.m.
More from Boston.com:
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- Wu calls Kraft Group’s proposed agreement over Revolution stadium an ‘unserious offer’
- Patriots rookie report: How are New England’s 2025 picks faring in training camp?
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- Jeff Passan: Red Sox came ‘close’ to trading for Joe Ryan at deadline
- Red Sox rookie Roman Anthony scratched from Monday’s game due to back tightness
- Red Sox promote top pitching prospect Payton Tolle to Triple-A Worcester
- New Patriots WR Mack Hollins explains his shredded practice gear during training camp
- ‘It was a trying time’: Matt Turner discussed Lyon ‘limbo’ prior to Revolution move
- Boston Fleet sign stars Frankel, Müller, and Keller to 2-year extensions
Jarren Duran’s praise of the Fenway Faithful: The Red Sox outfielder cited an Alex Cora maxim about the home crowd, saying that “when we’re rolling, this place is another weapon for us.” Boston has now won 15 of its last 17 at Fenway Park.
Matt Turner is here to work: The U.S. international was officially welcomed back to the Revolution in a Monday press conference. He noted that while it’s good to be back, he’s intends to prove his value to the team amid a difficult situation (New England is winless in its last nine games).
On this day: In 2018, the Red Sox scored three times in the 9th inning (off of then-New York closer Aroldis Chapman) to send the game against the Yankees to extra innings. Andrew Benintendi won it with a 10th inning walk-off single, handing Boston a 5-4 win a four-game sweep of their longtime rivals.
Daily highlight: Wilyer Abreu stopped a Royals rally dead in a its tracks with a great defensive play on Monday, throwing out the runner from right field (credit also to catcher Connor Wong for making the tag at home plate).
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