Commanders’ RFK stadium deal draws urgent response from DC councilmember

Councilmember Zachary Parker says the RFK stadium deal will get done—but not before DC vets the biggest development agreement in its history.

Oct 22, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Fan tailgate outside Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium prior to the game between New York Red Bulls and D.C. United. It is the final game at RFK Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The new deal that is going to allow the Washington Commanders to move back home to the site of RFK Stadium is very exciting.

So exciting, in fact, that fans can't wait to see what is going to be built and to see the Commanders reclaim the famous site and home to the best years in the franchise's history.

Fans, as it turns out, aren't burdened with making sure the deal is right for the team and for Washington, D.C. That burden falls to people like Councilmember Zachary Parker, who took to social media to explain a few things about the process.

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A screenshot from a video posted by Councilmember Zachary Parker on X. / @CMZParker5/X

Firstly, on the timeline for a vote to approve the plans proposed by the Commanders and the DC Mayor's office, Parker states, "We are being asked now to vote on the commander's deal by July 15th. ...It would be unprecedented for the council to take merely weeks to vet a multi-billion dollar deal, the largest in the district's history."

Parker points to the fact that this deal will be the largest in DC's history as justification for why an expedited timeline is not feasible and cites the timelines for other, smaller, projects that took months and in some cases years to vote on and approve.

But the councilmember also wanted to make clear in the video that this unwillingness or inability to vote as quickly as desired is not an attempt to block the deal. In actuality, Parker says, it is the complete opposite.

"I want to make clear that (the) council has every intention to vote on this deal to protect this deal and move it forward," he says in the video. Parker then states emphatically, "It is my belief that this deal will get done. We will safeguard the money and vote on this project sometime this fall."

Parker then goes on to list off several items that need to be "wrestled" with including rent and taxes that the team will or will not be responsible for, rights of both the organization and Washington itself, revenue sharing, and the impact on both current and future operating and capital budgets.

Not to mention, Parker says, the fact that "We are on the brink of tens of thousands of Washingtonians potentially losing their housing benefits, their TANF benefits, (and) their healthcare benefits."

The good news for Commanders fans who want to see the plan finalized so that further progress can be made is the councilmember's confidence that the deal will get done. It is just going to take further discussions, and may not get done as quickly as fans, the team itself, and the Mayor want it to.

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