COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ‘THE JOHN A. WILSON BUILDING 1350 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004, David Grosso Committee Member Councilmember At-Large Govemment Operations Ce litte on Education - Chairperson, Committee on Educat rece Labor and Workforce Development June 23, 2019 Max Brown, Chairman Board of Directors, EventsDC 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW Washington, D.C. 20002 Mr. Brown, ‘We write today in preparation for a vote on your re-nomination as Chairman of the Board of Directors for EventsDC. We believe you have served the city well and we have a few questions for you to help us prepare. You are likely aware that we are unequivocally opposed to any effort that would support the construction of a new stadium for the Washington Professional Football Team here in the District of Columbia. Our opposition is two-fold. First, we oppose the Washington Professional Football Team due to their continued use of an offensive mascot and racist team name. Secondly, research indicates that NFL stadiums do not generate the local economic growth promised and cities rarely recoup their significant financial contributions through increased revenue. Itis for these reasons that the Council has considered resolutions urging the renaming of the team and permanent legislation prohibiting public incentives or financing for the construction or maintenance of facilities for or associated with the football team. These efforts culminated in the Council, earlier this week, approving the FY2o budget with language prohibiting EventsDC from spending or obligating funds to purchase all or a portion of the RFK stadium or inducing an NFL team to locate in the city in either FYa9 or FY20. While this two-year prohibition is significant, it does not negate the vital role EventsDC will continue to play in the city's advancement of sports and entertainment. We remain concerned that EventsDC will, in the future, resume efforts to bring the football team back to Washington, D.C. Additionally, we are interested to know to what extent EventsDC was in active negotiations with a professional football team. The prospect that the District of Columbia would ever welcome a team whose name reinforces harmful stereotypes and promotes prejudice runs counter to the ideals of inclusion, diversity, and equality for all that our city has long embodied. Further, given the enormous needs of the residents of the District of Columbia, we do not believe funding a new stadium, particularly with any investment of public dollars, is ever in the city’s best interest.In your capacity as Chairman of the EventsDC Board of Directors, we have included below a number of questions for you to answer 2. What is your position on the current Washington Professional Football Team name? a. Ifyou oppose the name, what steps have you taken—whether directly or indirectly—to advocate for a name change? 2. To what extent has EventsDC studied the economic benefitjutility of a professional football team locating in the District of Columbia? a. Who completed the study, if such research was conducted by a third-party vendor? b. When was any such study/analysis completed? c. What were the findings and are those findings publicly available? d. Ifa study was completed, please submit a copy with your responses to this letter 3. Was EventsDC in active negotiations with the Washington Professional Football Team and if so, when did those negotiations commence? a. Given the new FY20 budget language, has EventsDC terminated the aforementioned negotiations? 4. Are you willing, as the Chairman of the Board, to commit that you will not support a return of the football team to D.C.? We look forward to receiving your responses by COB on Friday, June 28th, Thank you for your attention to this matter and we are available if you'd like to discuss further. Sincerely, PP p> 4) PPAL Burm Krad, David Grosso (I-At-Large) Brianne K. Nadeau (Ward 1) Council of the District of Columbia Council of the District of Columbia Chairperson, Committee on Education Chairperson, Committee on Human Services Cc: Phil Mendelson, Chairman