Grand Prix of Boston

[mvulch]

Joan sounds like a real stiff.

Also pretty cringeworthy that she references the artificial turf at City Hall. That stuff was strange.

 

[West]

The Mayor’s office has issued a two-week ultimatums to the IndyCar organizers to get the state agencies on board and achieve buy-in from community groups.

The Herald:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2015/11/mayor_gives_ultimatum_to_indycar
Commonwealth Mag (pulling mostly from the Herald):
http://commonwealthmagazine.org/uncategorized/is-grand-prix-of-boston-about-to-hit-the-wall/

I don’t care much one way or the other on this Indycar idea so long as no state $ are used. It's way less significant than the Olympics would have been, so the parallels are pretty weak from a planning and development perspective.

But it is fair to describe a pattern now between Olympics and this Indycar thing. Big event, promoted by private players, to be set in Boston? Sure, Walsh will sign something. No need to talk to anyone at any state agency in advance, and springing it on the public will work out fine, too.

So it gets sprung, there are of course NIMBYs, but more pressingly there are various state agencies saying "hold on a sec". It becomes clear the event can't happen without those state agencies playing a big role. And it also becomes clear that those private entities promoting the event have real $$ up-front expectations of city and state, so the "role" is way more than permits. In the background, NIMBYs do their thing. Mayor sees which way wind is blowing, shifts over to drawing a hard line in the sand to put a stop to it and save the day.

Like I said, I don't care about the car race itself, though I don't want my money paying for it. But Walsh's pattern here is not good. He's sure as hell not the first politician to do a weathervane imitation, but he is really nakedly transparent in it. How about next time something like this comes along he works the phones a bit before making the big public announcement.

 

[underground]

The best thing my old boss told me was, "don't get out in front of the clients." This is the second time Walsh has broken the rule.

 

[West]

Indycar Racing News pushes back, asserting the Herald badly misreported the email exchange (no!! I am shocked, shocked!). They manage to get the entire email:

http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/123267-indycar-boston-mayor-s-hardline-stance-misrepresented

OK, I'll agree that the email in its entirety sounds much more congenial than the Herald made it sound with "ultimatum" in their headline. Imagine, the Herald being sensationalist! What next, will the sun rise in the East tomorrow?

However, having said that, there's still some serious positioning going on in the closing paragraphs:

Outside of the City's purview, yet equally important to the success of your proposed event, is the progress of negotiations with our partners in the federal, state and quasi-public agencies. It is expected that your team will finalize agreements with all interested parties within the next two (2) weeks. Please be advised that the Mayor grows increasingly concerned with the progress (or lack thereof) of those discussions.

Please let me know how your negotiations with USPS, MassPort, MCCA & MassDOT progress.

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation and I look forward to your timely updates.

OK, so the tone didn't sound like an ultimatum semantically, which means we have example the umpteenth of The Herald sensationalizing. But it was still "expected" that they're to have everything finalized in two weeks with all other government agencies.

Boston.com cites a statement from the organizers (without providing a link to it):

Grand Prix of Boston responded in a statement Monday afternoon.

“This request from the Mayor is an impetus to get the agreements in place and put everyone at ease on the future of the Grand Prix of Boston. We are in complete agreement with the Mayor and his wishes for all contracts to be finalized,” said the group in an email.

Yeah, I bet they do agree with Walsh's wishes for all contracts to be finalized. But I haven't seen one hint that MassPort has even begun taking it up seriously. To the contrary, their only public statements have been negative. And in this little flurry of media activity, we've got an email from a Walsh aide, a response from the organizers, and nada from any of the state agencies. Even with the low standards of the media, I'm sure someone has tried to reach them for comment.

And apparently the organizers need something from the USPS, too, good luck with that on a two week turnaround. I lose track of what all the USPS owns out there so I can't gauge how important this piece is.

If the Mayor is serious about the two week thing, then polite tone notwithstanding, this email was a way to pull the rug out from under the organizers while positioning them to take the blame for having been on the rug. Maybe that shouldn't be called an ultimatum, but it's something close to it.

 

[West]

Well, two weeks have come and gone, and all I hear about this race on the Internet is crickets.

I can't remember who said, "The best part about deadlines is the whooshing sound they make as they go hurtling past unsatisfied." This is more applicable in politics than in business, and it's plenty often applicable in business.

Hopefully I'm not violating the rule about bumping a thread when there's no news. After all, a deadline DID just go whooshing past unmet, did it not? Doesn't that count as news?

I await my judgment at the hands of those who enforce the site's rules.

 

[Hutchison]

I'll have to find it, but there was an article earlier (probably from the globe) which cites the Mayor or one of his reps as saying that 2 weeks was more of a soft deadline...

 

[West]

I'll have to find it, but there was an article earlier (probably from the globe) which cites the Mayor or one of his reps as saying that 2 weeks was more of a soft deadline...

You're right, I missed one. Damned quirky search engines. Found this after seeing your post:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...ton-culture/OGtCfSy1ztkc4ppAerB5DJ/story.html

So as the deadline went whooshing past unmet it got redefined as "an unofficial kind of deadline." No harm, no foul, good for a laugh.

However, the Mayor's comments ring badly: kind of a whiny tone. Someone from the race promoter is quoted as saying they're close to nailing down those other agreements with the state and BCEC and USPS, and the Mayor's office added that Walsh is encouraged by the progress. So, why the complaining? If the race negotiations are on the brink of reaching the finish line, be gracious in victory. Nothing worse than a sore winner.

 

[dwash59]

In the globe on the 20th: Indycar reaches agreement with Seaport condo residents

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/11/19/indycar/4jyAnKW2vF2sUobapicViN/story.html

So, 17 days instead of 2 weeks?

 

[West]

In the globe on the 20th: Indycar reaches agreement with Seaport condo residents

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/11/19/indycar/4jyAnKW2vF2sUobapicViN/story.html

So, 17 days instead of 2 weeks?

Well, for this one, yes. However, they've sill got DOT, MassPort, MBTA, BCEC, and USPS to go. They are cited in this article as heading towards conclusion on those in early December, so they're farther behind than just a few days.

This agreement with the condo association is an important one for general political optics, insofar as that matters to anyone in any agency still negotiating. That might not matter to them much, not a lot of constituents in that building. For the people trying to pull this together, though, it's a substantial PR hurdle as it turns one loud source of negative noise into a win. I'm guessing everyone there gets a hotel voucher for the weekend.

There was an article that pointed out that the BCEC was already booked for a convention on Memorial Day weekend in 2018. So the BCEC deal might be a fraught conversation: either the Indycar folks would have to pick a different weekend in 2018 (might be a problem with the rest of their schedule), skip 2018 (which I bet they'd really hate to do), or buy out that other convention (often near-impossible to do, and never cheap).

 

[JeffDowntown]

Rather than Indy Cars (very last century), this is what we should be racing in the "Innovation District" in Boston:

Formula E plan driverless championships from the BBC:

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34942691

 

[West]

Rather than Indy Cars (very last century), this is what we should be racing in the "Innovation District" in Boston:

Formula E plan driverless championships from the BBC:

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34942691

I like this idea.

An article from before Thanksgiving that I hadn't seen:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/lo...lsh_caught_off_guard_by_indycar_hazard_report

This article and one from the day before make reference to a warning from the MCCA's public safety director to then-MCCA director James Rooney back in May; the issue was structural risks to the BCEC from an accident on that pat of the race that goes under the BCEC. Not sure how seriously to take that risk to the structure. It seems Mayor Walsh and Baker were just hearing of the issue last week.

More generally, Governor Baker described discussions between the state and the race organizers as "robust" and also said that as of 11/24 "there's still a lot of work that has to get done" on getting agreements in place.

 

[Arenacale]

Rather than Indy Cars (very last century), this is what we should be racing in the "Innovation District" in Boston:

Formula E plan driverless championships from the BBC:

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34942691

As a racing fan, this concept sounds interesting for about one race, to see how they handle overtaking and avoidance, and to see if it's a massive cluster, but long term it's not going to hold my, or anyone else's, interest. A large part of racing's appeal is in the humans that control the cars, both their personalities and the very real risks they take in pursuit of victory. Without them, you might as well be watching model trains.

IndyCar Boston tweeted about their free Friday passes for servicemen and women, which is awesome, but I was also impressed with how many sponsor decals are on the car - Davio's, Leader Bank, BHC, even New Balance - that's a lot of sponsors there haven't been official announcements for and that's also pretty damn good this early in the game.

 

[chmeeee]

Organizers say they're expecting to sign letters of intent with four key agencies today. Tickets may go on sale within the next weeks.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...ing-indycar/gdwjuKGYawKhhTsqCqruwL/story.html

 

[Arenacale]

The race organizers had a booth at the Auto Show this weekend, I went over to check it out. Everything was very professional and, talking with PR people, everything seems to be going as planned. As an IndyCar rep told me, the first year is easy, it's the second year that's the litmus test. Simon Pagenaud was also there signing autographs and answering questions: http://www.indycar.com/News/2016/01/01-18-Notes-Pagenaud-Boston-Chili-Bowl-Plowman-Harkey

 

[West]

As an IndyCar rep told me, the first year is easy, it's the second year that's the litmus test.

I'm curious what the argument was for second year being tougher. I would think sorting out the logistics for year 1 would be tougher, but maybe the litmus test he's talking about is financial success, not logistics? As in, maybe they can count on a bump in year 1 attendance due to the novelty effect, and then have to hold their breath to see how many fans stick with it into year 2?

 

[Arenacale]

I'm curious what the argument was for second year being tougher. I would think sorting out the logistics for year 1 would be tougher, but maybe the litmus test he's talking about is financial success, not logistics? As in, maybe they can count on a bump in year 1 attendance due to the novelty effect, and then have to hold their breath to see how many fans stick with it into year 2?

Exactly that. There will be a big curiosity factor in the first year, and it will be a much wider base of people coming. The second year will be more reliant on the core racing fanbase and how many people they were able to grab in the first year. One thing that does help is race fans from other regions who might be considering a trip to the city in general now have a reason to go. I remember talking with someone in Pocono who was asking me about hotels in the area of the track, he'd always wanted to go to Boston and now had the race as an excuse.

 

[West]

ok, that makes sense.

 

[JohnAKeith]

"Coalition" of anti-Indy Car race opponents has formed. No idea who is behind it, since it doesn't have any names attached. Which is suspicious in this case.

http://www.noindycarboston.org/

 

[deh74]

"Coalition" of anti-Indy Car race opponents has formed. No idea who is behind it, since it doesn't have any names attached. Which is suspicious in this case.

http://www.noindycarboston.org/

Probably a lot of seaport residents mixed in with the No Boston Olympics people. Just look at the title of their site "Boston deserves better" it's pretty much the same thing NBO said.

 

[rinserepeat]

the nixing of the cycle tracks from summer street in the seaport transportation plan seems very suspicious (as the city has already gone through design). anyone have any idea what is going on? If it has anything to do with this race they've just opened up a hornets nest.