The following is a statement from City Attorney Pat Sullivan to the individuals that have emailed and called the City of Bellevue in response to the unsigned/unattributed email that the World Baseball Village sent out to all the affected teams on Tuesday afternoon:
“It is unfortunate that WBV who operates the tournament as its own tournament in which it is entitled to all proceeds as well as the risk of such enterprise is trying to blame the city for its failed business. Like you the city is trying to figure out how to absorb the broken promises and lost expectations of WBV. The city anticipates losing over $2.5M on this venture let alone the promised tax revenues that never came to fruition. WBV was given concessions on its original agreement several times in an effort to keep it operating but in the end it failed.
WBV was required to have business continuation insurance which it failed to do, insurance which could have been used for reimbursement of team fees.
This situation is analogous to a restaurant that has gone out of business and now the gift cardholders want the landlord of the restaurant to pay back the cardholders. The risk of loss was allocated to WBV under the management contract and this is its responsibility.
The management agreement provides that the city upon request to make repairs has 45 days to respond. The damage was severe but adjusters were on the scene in just a few days and it took several days to respond due to the magnitude of the damage and the uniqueness of the facility. Nevertheless, the city did respond that it would proceed with rebuilding if that is what WBV wanted the city to do. WBV has the right if we did not respond within 45 days to make its own repairs and use the cost as a credit toward the management fee. So, the city was in full compliance.
The fact that WBV is pointing the finger at the City shows a lack of responsibility and ownership on WBV’s part and is incredulous given the efforts by the city to help WBV be successful.”
Patrick J. Sullivan