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Mayor Walsh Calls On Boston 2024 To Release Original Bid 'In Its Entirety'

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said the redacted portions of Boston 2024's Olympics bid would be released to the public in a statement issued Wednesday night.

At a Boston City Council meeting earlier Wednesday several councilors spoke favorably about Councilor Tito Jackson's order to issue a subpoena to Boston 2024 CEO Richard Davey to obtain sections on financing and political support. Those pages were not included in copies the non-profit eventually made publicly available of its original bid, which helped form the basis of the U.S. Olympic Committee selecting Boston as the city to represent the nation in the running for hosting the games.

"The question of releasing the original bid documents has become an unnecessary distraction in what should be a constructive civil discourse about the future of the City of Boston. It's important that we continue our focus on building a concrete and sound plan that is shaped by community input and brings long-term benefits to the City of Boston and its residents. As a result, I asked Boston 2024 to provide the original bid, in its entirety, for public review," Walsh said in a statement. "Both Boston 2024 and the United States Olympic Committee fully support the release of these documents in order to maintain an open and transparent process."

A statement from Boston 2024 Chairman Steve Pagliuca confirmed that because he agreed with the mayor as part of his commitment to run an "open and transparent operation," the redacted portions of the original bid would be released.

"Boston 2024, with the support of Mayor Walsh and the USOC, will be releasing the complete preliminary bid package, including the redacted portions, to the public early next week," Pagliuca said. "It is important to note the preliminary bid package has been supplanted by the detailed release of Bid 2.0, which has been released to the public and posted in its entirety on the Boston 2024 website."

Walsh is due to return from a visit to the Vatican on Thursday. Asked whether his statement says that Boston 2024 supports release of the documents Jackson has attempted to obtain through subpoena, a City Hall spokeswoman referred the News Service to Boston 2024. Boston 2024 did not immediately respond.

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