Mark Foley in the news: baseball, PBC and Washington D.C. connection

George Bennett in the Palm Beach Post today has a story (2/9) about Spring Training Baseball in Palm Beach County and the connection to the power players in Washington, D.C. From the article:

     The prospect of northern tourists visiting and spending money has enticed many Florida communities to lay out public dollars to lure Major League Baseball teams for spring training. There’s an added benefit, says former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, if those tourists include members of Washington’s political class.
     Foley, hired as a lobbyist by the Washington Nationals, says a planned $135 million spring training complex in West Palm Beach for the Nationals and Houston Astros will bring big political benefits for Palm Beach County. The bulk of the financing for the project is to come from “bed tax” revenues that Palm Beach County collects on hotel stays.
     Members of Congress, cabinet secretaries and other movers and shakers are regular attendees at Nationals regular-season home games in Washington.

[and...]

“I’m seeing the symbiosis of having our sister city be the nation’s capital. … This opportunity to be close to the nation’s purse is significant,” Foley said Friday after state legislators endorsed a land-use change that will move the project forward if the entire Florida Legislature signs off this spring.