Massachusetts was on the brink of becoming a global laughingstock — with politicians and sports executives and town officials unable to come to an agreement over $7.8 million in security costs, a sum of money so small it’s a rounding error in the scheme of World Cup soccer or the state budget. Here's how the deal came together.
Massachusetts was on the brink of becoming a global laughingstock — with politicians and sports executives and town officials unable to come to an agreement over $7.8 million in security costs, a sum of money so small it’s a rounding error in the scheme of World Cup soccer or the state budget.
In the end, State Sen. Paul Feeney kept all the parties at the negotiating table and on the phone lines, according to people close to the talks. A former member of the Foxborough select board, Feeney told WBUR he doubled down on keeping the conversations going when things"got dicey" over the past two weeks. "Like many deals, once you get down to the nitty gritty on funding and finding the resources, things went a little sideways," he said in an interview."I was able to step in and kind of have some conversations." "But really," he added,"this was all about the stakeholders staying at the table and continuing to have dialogue." After weeks of bitter feuding and pointed press releases, the parties announced Wednesday night that the townit needed that security costs for the World Cup matches starting in June would not be borne by local taxpayers. U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss's team monitored the rising tensions at the select board meetings, and the congressman took the lead on contacting FEMA — to make sure the federal government would, eventually, make good on promised funding for security. FEMA is under the Department of Homeland Security, whose funding is temporarilyFeeney credited Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft with getting personally involved in the talks in recent days, along with Town Manager Paige Duncan and Select Board Chair Bill Yukna. Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll were also involved in multiple conversations, he said. That despite the fact the governor's public comments were repeatedly that the federal government needed to cough up its"We were in constant communication — constant communication — making sure the town knew we had their backs," Feeney said. Driscoll, at an event Thursday declined to comment on her role but told WBUR:"Leaders at the Kraft stadium group and the town of Foxborough came together and realized there's an opportunity here for us to host this amazing World Cup and everybody was committed to making it happen." Yukna, the board chair, in a statement said,"I want to personally thank Kraft Sports & Entertainment and Robert Kraft for his involvement in bringing the funding concerns to a resolution." There are still more details to be ironed out, Feeney said. But he's confident they will be worked out and the select board will issue the license on Tuesday night. "I'm looking forward to the licensing hearing next week," he said,"where I think we can wrap this up."
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