When D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a $3.7 billion deal to bring the Washington Commanders back to the District, she set a deadline for the council to approve the deal July 15.
Now, with a timeline for approving the city’s fiscal 2026 budget and supplemental 2025 budget out, the mayor’s office is indicating the mayor is OK with the council taking a little longer to decide.
On Monday, Council Chair Phil Mendelson announced a first vote on the budgets is set for July 14, with the second vote set for July 28.
The mayor’s office told WTOP that Bowser’s position is that the deal to redevelop the RFK Stadium campus must be a part of the budget, but said she’s fine with approval coming with a second vote on the budget.
In announcing the budget timeline during a media briefing Monday, Mendelson said he has had talks with the team and is “anxious to carry through discussions as quickly as possible,” but many “issues” still need to be addressed.
“A couple of weeks ago, I sat down with the Commanders’ leadership and asked a number of questions of them to better understand the deal and asked for documents or analyses. And they have been very responsive,” he said.
Mendelson said Mayor Bowser hasn’t been responsive, and said the council has not seen the data about how much revenue the redevelopment of the RFK campus will bring in.
“The mayor wants the council to act quickly, but she’s not sharing information,” Mendelson said.
The mayor’s office did not comment on that claim, but the mayor has said in the past she is working closely with the council on the project.
For Mendelson, he said his concerns include the more than $1 billion price tag for taxpayers in the deal, and also that the deal does not include the Commanders paying rent to the city — something he said the Nationals do for Nats Park and Monumental Sports, the owner of the Wizards and Capitals, does for using Capital One Arena.
“I think the deal can be made much better for taxpayers,” Mendelson said.
Mendelson also raised concerns about plans to turn to a private-public partnership for the rebuilding of the D.C. jail, in which a private company would build the jail, and the city would operate the facility.
“There’s no question in my mind that this is one of the capital projects that is being expended to accommodate for the RFK Stadium,” Mendelson said.
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