Boston 2024 Promises To Release Original Bid

Under pressure from the Boston City Council and ahead of a broadcast debate, Boston 2024 has decided to release its full original bid documents, including portions previously redacted.

Boston 2024 Chair Steve Pagliuca says in a statement that the full version of the preliminary bid will be released early next week in keeping with a "high standard of transparency."

The move follows a Boston City Council debate Wednesday over whether to subpoena the documents. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh later called the discussion an "unnecessary distraction in what should be a constructive civil discourse about the future of the City of Boston." During his trip to Rome, Walsh spoke with Pagliuca about releasing the documents.

The initial bid is what the Boston 2024 submitted to the U.S. Olympic Committee last year, when the city was up against three others to be the U.S. choice to host the Olympics. Local planners said parts had been redacted due to confidentiality agreements.

The decision mitigates a likely talking point at a debate Thursday evening, as Pagliuca and another Olympic backer square off against top opponents in a prime-time broadcast.

Full statement from Pagliuca:

When I was asked by the Mayor, the Board and the USOC to assume the Chair of Boston 2024 on May 21st, I wanted to ensure we ran an open and transparent operation as we developed a fact-based plan to bring privately-financed Olympic and Paralympic Games to Boston. In our first week, we worked closely with Attorney General Healey to create one of the most transparent financial disclosures for any non-profit in Massachusetts.

Mayor Walsh and I spoke, and I agreed with him, that we should release the full version of the preliminary bid package (Bid 1.0) to the public in order to continue to maintain this high standard of transparency. The preliminary bid package, produced in December of last year by the previous leadership team, included redacted portions as part of bid city confidentiality commitments. 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.

It is important to note that 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.

Full statement from Walsh:

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. 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.