The Mariners "launched an offensive aimed at wresting"
$60M in public money to help cover the $100M in cost
overruns at Safeco Field, according to Alan Snel of the
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER. In announcing the "unpopular
move, team officials set into motion what may become a
marathon legal battle over unanticipated ballpark tax
money." To settle the issue, the Mariners and the Public
Facilities District will jointly hire a mediator within 30
days. The team says the stadium-building PFD "must tell
King County to sell more bonds and use the surplus tax money
to help pay for costs exceeding" the $417M construction
budget set in '97. Mariners Chair John Ellis maintained
that the WA state law "backs the team's request for public
money." Ellis acknowledged that last year the team was
committed to paying cost overruns: "Our promise was to make
up the difference, if any, after all other available funds
had been spent." But the team now claims they've found
"unspent funds: the tax surplus fueled by a hot local
economy." Ellis also said there was never any public "cap"
on the project: "We did not talk about a (public) cap, and
there was never talk about a cap." But PFD Exec Dir Ken
Johnsen said, "We believe our agreements with the Mariners
are clear: They are responsible for all costs above the
approved $417 million budget" (SEATTLE P-I, 6/23).
OWNERSHIP CRITICIZED: In Seattle, Art Thiel writes that
yesterday's action will leave the Mariners ownership branded
as "liars, betrayers and symbols of corporate America's
reckless indifference." In the "court of public opinion,
the owners have already violated the spirit of the
legislation and the public will" (SEATTLE P-I, 6/23).
