Anti-Olympics Group Plans Protest at Forum About Boston’s Bid for 2024 Games

Others opposing the sporting event coming to Boston put together a website to try and dissuade the committee in charge of picking a host city.

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A “coalition of concerned citizens” upset with how the city and state have handled the bid process for Boston to host the 2024 Olympic games are planning to protest the measure outside of a forum next week.

On a Facebook page called “Rally: No Olympics in Boston,” organizers are encouraging those who are against having the summer Olympics in the area to congregate outside of the Institute of Contemporary Art on December 8, when the Boston Globe will moderate a panel discussion about the recent news that a private group handed over the official paperwork to put the city in the running as a contender for the large-scale sporting event.

“An elite, private group calling themselves Boston2024 just officially submitted a bid to the [United States Olympic Committee] asking to hold the Olympics in Boston for the year 2024,” the group said in their plea to rally protesters outside of the forum. “Despite promises otherwise, Boston2024 has not held a single public meeting or hearing. All decisions regarding the future of our city have been made behind closed doors.”

The group believes there has been a lack of transparency on the overall process, which included a behind-the-scenes meeting last month between city officials and those spearheading the push to make Boston a frontrunner.

On Monday, Boston2024, the private organization that worked to prepare a preliminary proposal in favor of bringing the games to the city, submitted their bid to the USOC. Boston is up against Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. If Boston is selected by the USOC, a decision that’s expected by January, a second bid will have to be put together and sent to the International Olympics Committee, the group in charge of picking between cities around the world that want to welcome the games to their country.

The Globe’s discussion next week will include people both on the side of bringing the Olympics to Boston, and those, like “No Boston Olympics,” who strongly oppose it. The organizers behind the Facebook group hope to have as many supporters that fall within the latter group at the doors on the day of the event.

“The people organizing Monday’s protest have a right to be heard. We appreciate them adding their voices to the growing chorus of citizens, from across the political spectrum, who have deep concerns about what hosting an Olympic Games would cost in terms of tax dollars, waste, and diverted public resources,” said members of “No Boston Olympics,” a separate group from those organizing the December 8 event. “Boston2024 has been around for more than a year, and just this week submitted its bid to the United States Olympic Committee—but in all that time has not held one single public meeting. The multi-billion dollar promises made in those bid documents were developed behind closed doors, without public input. It’s no wonder that people are frustrated. The citizens of Massachusetts deserve better.”

The group behind the Facebook page also created a website called “Boston Against Olympic Bid,” and sent a letter to the USOC expressing their concerns about the lack of dialogue, and reasons the committee should steer clear of Massachusetts as a host to the games.

Read the letter, in its entirety, below: