Months before Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish rounded up an A-list of power brokers to discuss a potential effort to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to Boston, he thought the idea of hosting a three-week sporting event in the Hub was a waste of time and resources.
“We’re coming out of the greatest economic recession and I don’t think our resources should be diluted by going after something so far out,” Fish told the Boston Herald in a report published on March 6, 2013.
“If someone wanted to pour $1 billion into our health care or education system or the life sciences industry, I’d be all for that discussion,” said Fish, a noted supporter of Boston’s failed Olympic bid in the 1990s. “Our perspective now has changed.”
The Herald‘s report – headline: “Hub Olympics idea torched; Scheme called ‘far-fetched'” – was written by Dave Wedge, who now serves as Boston 2024’s spokesperson.
For context, Fish’s anti-Boston Olympics comments appeared in the press the day after then-mayor Tom Menino voiced similar skepticism over the idea of hosting the Games – an idea that had been picking up steam since late 2012.
“I think it’s far-fetched,” Menino told WBUR at the time. “I’d also be concerned about the cost of it and what it costs to taxpayers of the city of Boston.”
Wedge’s Herald report cited Fish as one of Menino’s top supporters. So Fish, the chief executive of the leading construction firm in the area, was siding with Menino, a man known for holding grudges – that shouldn’t come as too big a surprise to anyone.
The 180 Fish has pulled on the Olympics issue isn’t jaw-dropping, either; politicians, business leaders, athletes, and other influencers tend to flip-flop on important topics of debate. And – despite what we in the media may believe – they are allowed to change their minds from time to time.
[Update: 6 p.m.] “The more I learned about the Olympics, the opportunity it presented for Boston and how it could serve as a catalyst to the long-term planning for the City of Boston, the more supportive I became,” Fish said in a statement to BostInno. “That’s why I believe that as more people learn the facts about the bid, they too will support the effort to bring the Olympics to Boston.”
Having said that, Fish’s turnaround is an impressive one. In less than two years, the Suffolk SEO has gone from decrying the prospect of a 2024 Boston Olympics to the driving force pitching the city to the United States Olympic Committee, willing to, as some have suggested, question the patriotism of the opposition.
“Personally, what bothers me a lot is the decline of pride, of patriotism, and love for our country,” Fish said Wednesday, in the face of recent suggestions that he should step down as chair of Boston 2024 with support for the city’s bid– and its organizers – at an all-time low.
Even Mayor Marty Walsh seemed to suggest it was time for Fish to distance himself from Boston 2024. “It’s an opportunity now — I wouldn’t say necessarily push him aside — but I think it’s time now to grow as a unit with 2024 and the USOC,” Mayor Walsh told the Herald Wednesday. “I think he should be an ambassador and be involved with this.”
Mayor Walsh was forced to clarify in a statement that he was not calling for Fish to completely remove himself from the picture:
I said on Wednesday that John Fish should be an ambassador for Boston 2024, which is a position he holds now as Chairman. I want to be very clear, I did not call for John to step down from his role. John was one of the first people to carry a vision for the Olympic bid in Boston and I strongly believe that he should continue to be involved as we move forward.
Since Fish stood side-by-side the mayor in the press, publicly calling into question the idea of bringing the 2024 Olympics to Boston, in March 2013, he’s morphed into the polarizing lifeblood of the organizing committee trying to do just that.
