Padres Owner John Moores and San Diego Schools
Superintendent Alan Bersin have "embraced each other's
causes," the new ballpark and city schools bond referendums,
respectively, and both understand the "wisdom in keeping the
peace," according to Gerry Braun of the SAN DIEGO UNION-
TRIBUNE. But while the two tout each other's bond issues,
set to face voters in November, Braun wrote of the "first
serious threat to this picture of harmony: the young, single
male. And not just a few young males, but thousands of
them." The Padres are "courting" young males because
"polling indicates this ordinarily low-voting group is
highly supportive" of the new ballpark, but it "has been
slow to warm" to the school bond measure. Douglas Coe, Dir
of the San Diego Union Tribune/NBC poll, said that it's "not
exactly a surprise" that "young males are much more likely
to favor the ballpark than the school bonds." Moores has
already "made a six-figure contribution" to the school bond
Proposition MM campaign and Padres President Larry Lucchino
said that the team is "concerned" the ballpark measure "does
no harm to the school-bonds measure." Proposition MM
consultant Larry Remer, on the value of young, male voters
to the Padres: "I think maybe they can pull out an extra
10,000 to 15,000 voters. In an election when 270,000 vote,
that's a lot" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/22).
VA FURY? In L.A., Steve Springer writes that "a rumor
floating around" is that in a closed-door meeting with front
-office staff, Lucchino said that if the measure fails, the
club might move to Virginia. Lucchino: "We're trying hard
not to address it. I think people know what is at issue
without having to make threats or dire predictions" (L.A.
TIMES, 9/23)....In other news, the county grand jury issued
a report that said voters do not have enough information
about the Padres ballpark proposal "to make an intelligent
choice." The grand jury asked the City Council to issue a
statement detailing "everything that has taken place"
regarding ballpark negotiations (UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/22).
