2024 Boston

In this Jan. 6, 2012 file photo, the Boston city skyline is illuminated at dusk as it reflects off the waters of Boston Harbor. The U.S. Olympic Committee picked Boston on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, as its bid city for the 2024 Summer Games. The city will be presented to the International Olympic Committee for a vote in 2017. Rome also is in the bidding, along with Hamburg or Berlin, Germany. France and Hungary also are considering bids. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

(Michael Dwyer)

This continues our reporting on the Boston Olympic bid, including Falchuk's previous statements questioning the lack of political opposition to the plan.

BOSTON — Doubling down on his already stated opposition to the push for Boston to host the 2024 U.S. Olympic Summer Games, United Independent Party Chair Evan Falchuk announced Friday he is exploring introducing a ballot initiative for state-wide voters to chime in on the plan.

Evan Falchuk

In a press release issued Friday afternoon, Falchuk cited a recent poll of 1,600 Massachusetts residents which concluded that 61 percent of those surveyed said they oppose Boston hosting the Olympics if any tax dollars are used to back the bid. To Falchuk, whose political party was established in the November elections, this reinforced his concern that despite promises to the contrary, tax money will inevitably be used to cover such a massive undertaking as preparing for the games.

"That finding, combined with the utter lack of transparency and concrete details we’re all seeing so far, are of great concern," Falchuk said in a statement. "Like so many people in Massachusetts, I'm a sports fan and enjoy the competition of the Olympic Games. Yet we cannot avoid the reality that the Olympics are a business, and one with a track record of massive cost overruns where taxpayers end up stuck with a huge bill."

The problem with the U.S. Olympic bid as far as the opposition is concerned is that hosting such an event would require the greater Boston area invest untold amounts of money to improve infrastructure and transportation to accommodate an influx of people to coincide with the games. While Olympic proponents have said that no taxpayer money will be used for such, they have refused to release the actual bid, and been coy when asked about similar failed promises from U.S. cities which have made bids to host the games in the past.

Falchuk is working to collect signatures from those opposing the Boston Olympic bid, as he works to enroll 50,000 people in his new United Independent Party.

“In the years this quiet plan has been pushed by what one newspaper called a ‘Power Elite,’ taxpayers were not once asked if they want these games in Massachusetts – and certainly not whether they want the Olympics more than priorities like addressing underfunded services for seniors, veterans and kids in school," Falchuk said. "At a time when we face a half-billion dollar budget gap, it would be a diversion of the public interest to use taxpayer money in this way. We plan to review closely the information released by Boston 2024 in the coming days and weeks, and will freely share what we find and our next steps."