Oakland Football Marketing Association (OFMA) President
Richard Rogers said yesterday the group will "be forced to
close its doors by the end of January unless the Raiders,
Oakland and Alameda County can resolve a funding dispute,"
according to Bonita Brewer of the CONTRA COSTA TIMES.
Rogers said that if "nothing is done," the OFMA will run out
of money on January 31 and will have to stop operations
until July 1, the beginning of the new FY. Rogers said a
"bare-bones, substandard level of service" would require
$450,000-500,000 to keep the offices open until July. That
would be in addition to the $1M that the city-county joint
powers authority already gave the group this year. Alameda
County Supervisor Gail Steele said the city and county are
still talking to the Raiders about the agency's budget, but
they seemed to have reached an impasse. The Raiders have
"refused to contribute" to the OFMA, saying the city and
county are responsible for customer service and marketing
costs. Steele: "It doesn't look good, and I think they may
have to close in January" (CONTRA COSTA TIMES, 12/22).
