BOSTON (AP / MyFoxBoston.com) - The leader of the group that spearheaded opposition to holding the Olympics in Boston says it's time to move beyond the discussion of the 2024 games to other challenges facing the city and state.
Chris Dempsey spoke to reporters outside the Statehouse Monday a short time after the U.S. Olympic Committee and Boston 2024 announced an end to the bid.
“The USOC and the IOC are secretive organizations; they are not organizations that embrace democratic processes. They don’t want votes, they don’t want public dialogue. They want cities that are going to meet all of their demands. I’m sure some of the back and forth today was a result of the USOC making demands that Gov. Baker, the senate president and the mayor just were not comfortable with,” No Boston Olympic co-chairman Chris Dempsey said.
Dempsey, who formed No Boston Olympics last fall, said his group wanted to be a voice for people who were skeptical of the bid and succeeded despite being outspent 1,000-to-1 by Olympic bid organizers.
Dempsey said he believes the International Olympic Committee should rethink its requirement that cities provide a financial guarantee, something Mayor Marty Walsh refused to do in the hours leading up to the bid being scrapped.
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