Not Even Chump Change For D.C. Residents In MLB Deal

"The baseball deal is outrageous enough to bring [Joe] Ruffin out of the shadows." A sometimes political advisor, Ruffin is apparently running this campaign on his own, without and support or outside direction. "He says other cities that built stadiums got a big chunk of change from baseball owners and thinks D.C. deserves a similar deal."

"Ruffin is waging a one-man assault against the government's agreement with MLB to build a ballpark in Southeast. Ruffin's Ward 3 address has appeared on two slick mailings to likely voters. He purchased an ad in the Washington Post and bankrolled a poll showing that D.C. voters think baseball owners should kick in more cash for a stadium. Ruffin also crafted a recorded phone message urging residents to tell their councilmembers to vote no on the stadium lease agreement. The message concluded with the tag line, 'Paid for by Joe Ruffin.'"