Disagreement between D.C.’s mayor and council chairman has for months prevented the introduction of a bill in Congress that would allow the city to purchase and develop the derelict RFK Stadium site, according to Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).
The stalemate centers on the inability of D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) to agree on a plan to acquire the site, ultimately leaving 190 acres of land dormant in the heart of a city struggling with affordable housing and other issues.
Norton said in an interview she will not introduce legislation until Bowser and Mendelson can reach an agreement, noting that they appear to differ about how to use the land and whether to try to attract the Washington Commanders to the stadium site.
“I’m stuck on stupid here — I can’t move until they move,” she said of D.C. leaders. “It would be in their best interest to move now while we have control of the House, the Senate and the presidency.”
