Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Shut Up, Mr. Mayor
Former Mayor Campbell calls Braves departure from Atlanta “blasphemous”
ATLANTA — The Braves decision to leave Turner Field is still a bitter subject for boosters of Atlanta’s urban core – and former mayor Bill Campbell is one of them. The Braves took over Turner field on his watch in 1997 – a stadium he thinks is far from outdated after only twenty years.
More from Tomahawk Take
- Braves News: Braves sign Fuentes, Andruw’s HOF candidacy, more
- The Weakest Braves Homers Since 2015
- Atlanta Braves Sign Joshua Fuentes to Minor League Deal
- Braves News: New Year’s Eve comes with several questions about the 2023 Braves
- Braves News: How the Braves got their name, mailbag, more
“It was a mistake by the Braves and I think a very serious fiscal mistake by Cobb County” to help fund the team’s new stadium with taxpayer money, Campbell told 11Alive News, in his first sit-down interview since he was sentenced to prison for tax evasion 10 years ago.
…
“The Braves were given this marvelous stadium that had this great history with the Olympic movement. I still believe it’s one of the great stadiums anywhere in baseball,” Campbell said, incredulous that the Braves are abandoning Turner Field so soon after moving in.
“I think it’s blasphemous, quite honestly, the shocking amount of money that’s being paid by the people of Cobb County — many of whom somehow proclaim that they are fiscal conservatives — and yet they’re paying half a billion dollars for the Braves to move a few miles north, with the incredible traffic problems that will occur inevitably there. And without public transportation, it seems a waste,” Campbell said.
…
“You’re going to find different people with different relations and different emotions attached to Turner Field. And we understand that. We have those same types of emotions that are attached to Turner Field. We like Turner Field a lot. Ultimately, it was a 20-year lease,” said Derek Schiller, Braves President for Business, when asked about Campbell’s remarks during a recent media tour at SunTrust Park.
Campbell says the Braves jumped the gun by abandoning a neighborhood that was slowly transforming organically into something that could have been more economically supportive of the ballpark.
“There was a lot of new housing that was being built there,” Campbell said. “It would have worked very well. And I think it’s a very sad moment for Atlanta.”
…
Campbell has been living quietly in Atlanta for most of the last decade after spending two years in federal prison on tax evasion charges. Over the years, Campbell has declined repeated requests for an interview about his prosecution and incarceration. The 1996 Olympics, and the Braves move from Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium to Turner Field were among the bright spots of his administration 20 years ago.
[ Ed. note: More at the link above, but this demands a detailed response.
Interesting that the article notes Campbell living in Atlanta. Wikipedia declares that after leaving office in 2002, he moved to Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
What’s good for the goose wasn’t good enough for the gander, eh, Bill?
Also, let’s look at that tax-evasion conviction. More from Wikipedia:
"In August 2004 Campbell retained high profile lawyer Billy Martin to defend an indictment by a federal grand jury on racketeering, bribery and wire fraud charges after a five-year federal investigation into corruption during his years as mayor of Atlanta. Campbell was acquitted of the racketeering, bribery and wire fraud charges. On March 10, 2006, a federal jury convicted him on three counts of tax evasion. On June 13, 2006, he was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Story to 30 months in prison on charges of tax evasion and also ordered to serve a year on probation, pay a $6,000 fine, and pay more than $60,000 in back taxes. He reported to prison in Miami, Florida, on August 21, 2006, after having several attempts to remain out on appeal bond denied by the court."
He served 26 months of that sentence and was disbarred as a lawyer in Florida.
Regarding his comments, though: it’s hard to take him seriously when:
- (a) he misrepresents the facts surrounding the Braves’ move – offering only a single viewpoint;
- (b) he criticizes Cobb County while completely ignoring the expenses the city of Atlanta has incurred to help build Mercedes-Benz Stadium – now projected to nearly $600 million;
- (c) also ignores the fact that the Georgia Dome is also still a new stadium… just 4 years older than Turner Field;
- (d) ignores the attempts by the city to reduce or eliminate public transportation to the stadium, decisions on his watch to keep MARTA rail away, and non-support for later plans to try and resolve this;
- (d) fails to acknowledge the slow growth of ‘new housing’ in the area doesn’t support a ballpark, doesn’t resolve access issues, doesn’t resolve maintenance issues, and most importantly doesn’t resolve on-going future revenue issues.
He also ignores the fact that the Braves reached out to city leaders for support on all of those issues and never got traction on any of them.
“Blasphemous” is a word also reserved for misuse of the name or character of deity. So who exactly is being blasphemed here, Mr. Campbell?
I don’t believe that the city leaders of Atlanta should ever be mentioned in that specific context on their best days… but certainly not by a man who broke the public trust sufficiently to be indicted and then imprisoned for those sins.
Shut your mouth, Bill Campbell. ]