Officials are responding to the United States Olympic Committee's decision to pull the bid to bring the Winter Games to Boston in 2024.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh:
"I strongly believe that bringing the Olympic Games back to the United States would be good for our country and would have brought long-term benefits to Boston. However, no benefit is so great that it is worth handing over the financial future of our City and our citizens were rightly hesitant to be supportive as a result. We always anticipated having the time to do our due diligence on the guarantees required and a full review of the risk and mitigation package proposed last week. This is a monumental decision that cannot be rushed, even if it means not moving forward with our bid for the 2024 Summer Games."
Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson:
“The citizens and taxpayers' of the City of Boston deserve to have full transparency, insight and accountability in matters related to spending and city planning. It is this mandate that lead me to call for full transparency from Boston 2024 and the release of the full, unredacted Bid 1.0 including the chapters on Bid Financials and Political Support. The most important job of the Boston City Council is to protect the current and future financial standing of the City of Boston.”
No Boston Olympics:
"Boston is a world-class city. We are a city with an important past and a bright future. We got that way by thinking big, but also thinking smart. We need to move forward as a city, and today's decision allows us to do that on our own terms, not the terms of the USOC or the IOC. We’re better off for having passed on Boston 2024."
