Exploratory Process for Ballot Initiative Against Costly Boston-Hosted Olympics Underway
Boston – Plans are underway to launch an exploratory process on a statewide ballot initiative regarding the proposed 2024 Olympics, Evan Falchuk, Chairman of the United Independent Party, announced today.
According to a January 12 poll of 1600 respondents conducted by Sage Consulting, 61% of Massachusetts’s residents oppose the Olympics if tax dollars are used to back the bid, with the majority of voters believing the Olympics will mean that other worthwhile priorities take a back seat.
“That finding, combined with the utter lack of transparency and concrete details we’re all seeing so far, are of great concern,” Falchuk said. "Like so many people in Massachusetts, I’m a sports fan and enjoy the competition of the Olympic Games. Yet we cannot avoid the reality that the Olympics are a business, and one with a track record of massive cost overruns where taxpayers end up stuck with a huge bill.”
Falchuk cited the woeful financial history of the Olympic Games as among the reasons why this exploratory process is needed. According to one comprehensive
study of Olympic Games costs from 1976 to 2012, he noted, the average cost overrun from cost estimates initially presented was more than 200%. The findings come from Dr. Will Jennings, a researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science’s Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation.
"The Olympic bid represents the most important public policy decision facing the people of the Commonwealth in 2015 and beyond. Based on everything we have seen so far, one thing is certain: the public ought to have a right to vote on this,” Falchuk said. “As taxpayers and residents who will be directly affected, we all have a right to have our voices heard and heeded, and in the current circumstances, a ballot initiative may be the only way for that to happen."
The United Independent Party, officially created on Election Day 2014 as a major party in Massachusetts, continues to collect signatures for its
“No Boston Olympics” petition drive from residents throughout the state who want their voices heard.
“In the years this quiet plan has been pushed by what one newspaper called a ‘Power Elite,’ taxpayers were not once asked if they want these games in Massachusetts – and certainly not whether they want the Olympics more than priorities like addressing underfunded services for seniors, veterans and kids in school," according to Falchuk. "At a time when we face a half-billion dollar budget gap, it would be a diversion of the public interest to use taxpayer money in this way. We plan to review closely the information released by Boston 2024 in the coming days and weeks, and will freely share what we find and our next steps."
波士頓華埠獅子會十六日晚在龍鳳酒樓舉辦週年慈善餐舞會，以即席揮毫，功夫示範，舞蹈表演，樂器演奏，財神出馬等節目，和將近一百五十名獅友，賓客同歡，向西方賓客介紹了中華文化。
波士頓華埠獅子會現任會長伍國光，副會長謝如鍵，丁慧明，余麗媖等人，當晚分頭招呼賓客，請獅子會區長（district
governor）卡莉琪（Pat Kalicki），創辦波士頓華埠獅子會的司徒彥鏗分別致詞。地區主席李源沛介紹到會嘉賓。蔡倩婷領唱美國國歌。
會長伍國光的父親，本地書法家伍育俊特地到會擺攤，即席揮毫，應賓客要求寫春聯，送上好意頭的新年祝福。
為了增加新年喜氣，波士頓華埠獅子會當晚還在抽獎環節中，請出財神爺來給大家帶好運。其中的現金獎包括李源沛和卡利琪各捐出的二百五十元，司徒彥鏗捐的五百元，伍國光捐的一千元。由於金額不小，會場氣氛被帶動得非常熱絡。
