Governor Wes Moore is in Angelos’ pocket
I am surprised that no one in the Baltimore press seems to have a problem with our new Governor taking a walk off the map with John Angelos regarding the new, yet-to-be-signed lease for Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
The Maryland Stadium Authority officials clamored for Mr. Angelos to sign the lease first, get the $600 million allotted to the team for improvements to the park, and then discuss plans for future development.
But Governor Moore scuttled those plans and undermined all of the previous groundwork by capitulating to Angelos’ desire for more from the taxpayers of the state. The billionaire owner wants more and our governor is on board with that and negotiating to that end with Mr. Angelos. And everyone in the local media seems fine with that outcome except for a couple of sportswriters. But not one political writer has criticized Moore for trying to appease Mr. Angelos, who purposely waited for our Governor to take office before signing the lease. Angelos realized he could not squeeze Hogan for more state money so Mr. Angelos waited until a “softer touch” became governor. The plan worked because Governor Moore announced that he too had bought into Mr. Angelos’ money grab.
Can you imagine the outcry from local media if our previous governor, a Republican, had decided to unilaterally give away state money to a billionaire? The local media would have had a feeding frenzy. But I have yet to see one critical word from any political writers or editors or editorial boards in the Baltimore Metro Area regarding Moore’s decision to appease a “shakedown artist” as one local sportswriter characterized Mr. Angelos.
Governor Moore recently accepted John Angelos’ “shared vision” for a “live-work-play environment” for Camden Yards. Did the people of Maryland also accept Angelos’ “shared vision?” I think not. But you won’t read about this because it is a political decision(not sports) and the local press will not say anything negative about Governor Moore. Thou shall not criticize a Democrat seems to be the order of the day amongst the local press.
In Mr. Angelos’ recent interview with the New York Times, he strongly indicated that the Orioles will not be able to sign any of our rising young stars because the Orioles are financially unable to pay them. It was just another ploy to extract more concessions from the taxpayers. According to Forbes, the Orioles are amongst the top 4 money-making teams but Mr. Angelos wants more.
Governor Moore is in Angelos’ pocket and that is going to cost all of us money.
Whether you attend games or not, think of it as your gift to a billionaire who cries poor mouth all the time.
Dudley Thompson lives in Girdletree, MD., population 106. He was born, raised, and lived most of his life in Baltimore. He worked for the News-American on the advertising side until it closed in ‘86. His second career was teaching in juvenile jails for the Maryland State Department of Education. He holds a Masters in Liberal Arts from Johns Hopkins University, ‘77, and a B.A from the University of Maryland,’74.