Voters in King County, WA, decide today whether to approve
an increase in the sales tax of one-tenth of a cent to help
finance a new $285M retractable-roof baseball stadium for the
Mariners. The ownership group that runs the team, made up of 16
businesspeople from Washington and Japan, have stated that if the
stadium measure fails they will have to put the franchise up for
sale.
PRO-STADIUM: The initiative has trailed in the polls since
the referendum was announced, but the numbers have closed from
66-33% on July 4th to 52-36% in a poll released last week. A
large media blitz from both sides has hit in the last four days.
Bob Gogerty, President of Gogerty and Stark, the agency heading
the Home Town Fans campaign for the stadium, said they're
"climbing out of a deep hole" but had a large get-out-the-vote-
effort planned. Gogerty said their ads have featured three
themes: 1) Strong support by public officials; 2) A multiple-
use facility as a cornerstone for a possible 2008 Olympic bid;
3) The tax increase is only $7.50 per year for each resident.
Gogerty said factors working against the stadium have been the
public's "anger" towards baseball, the question of public money
going to a private venture, and the priority in relation to
education. The campaign's budget hit $900,000, with 1/3 put up
by the team, over $50,000 in cash and computers from Boeing, and
a controversial $40,000 worth of free advertising space in the
Seattle Times.
THE OPPOSITION: Chris Van Dyk has led the effort against,
dubbed Citizens for More Important Things. They are running
radio spots, and had hoped to run print ads if more financing
became available. Van Dyk had hoped the measure would never
reach a vote, but says "the pressure of baseball owners on
politicians is underestimated." He said their message to the
voters has been simple: "When you have a terrorist you don't give
them what they want." Although Citizens' budget is only $30,000,
Van Dyk expressed optimism the stadium would fail, despite what
he called the "unethical" actions of the Times carrying free ad
space. Van Dyk: "The voters in Seattle are going to send the
message to baseball that the politics of coercion are not going
to work in Seattle." He also pledged to export their campaign to
every city facing similar stadium "crises."
SMELLS LIKE TEAM SPIRIT? The vote for the stadium is a test
for sports fans as a new political interest group, according to
"New York" Vinnie Richichi, the sports talks host at KJR-AM and a
stadium proponent. Richichi says the voters believe "the
ballplayers don't deserve" the stadium, but as of last week, he
sensed the gap was closing. Ratings for the Mariners have jumped
24.9% with the fighting for a wild card spot. If the vote fails,
Richichi believes the Mariners will be up for sale the following
day (THE DAILY).
