The Mariners' announcement on Tuesday that $60M from
Safeco Field tax surpluses should be used to help offset the
$100M cost overruns on the ballpark "reopened emotional
wounds left from the volatile political year of 1995,"
according to Alan Snel of the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER.
In '95, King County voters "narrowly rejected a ballpark
sales tax, only to see state legislators patch together" a
new financing plan. Seattle-area residents "vented at the
prospect of forking over more public dollars for North
America's most expensive sports venue," and many feel the
"Mariners' pitch taints the excitement of the days leading
to the ballfield's debut July 15." State Rep. and ballpark
bill sponsor Steve Van Luven: "It was supposed to be a big,
joyous occasion for baseball fans -- and the Mariners just
ruined it." Mariners board member Howard Lincoln said that
the request's timing "was not a political maneuver to
capitalize on the ballpark's opening" (SEATTLE P-I, 6/24).
TEAM TAKES SHOTS: In Seattle, Keene, Murakami & Sanders
wrote that "many people expressed dismay, disgust and even
shock over the latest twist in the Safeco Field funding
drama." KIRO-AM and M's postgame show host Vinnie Richichi
said he was "disgusted, disappointed and upset" by the
team's actions (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/23). A SEATTLE POST-
INTELLIGENCER editorial states that while the team's request
may follow the "letter of the law," it "does violate the
spirit of the deal the public thought it had made with the
ball club. ... Like prior Mariners owners, they are what
they say they are: businessmen" (SEATTLE P-I, 6/24). Also in
Seattle, columnist Ron Judd, under the header "Public Trust
Becomes Costly For M's Fans," wrote: "So this is how it
feels to get slimed" (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/23).
