Harris County (TX) Judge Robert Eckels "offered a
qualified endorsement" yesterday of the $175M downtown arena
agreement signed between the Rockets and the Harris County-
Houston Sports Authority, saying that the county's interests
"were sufficiently safeguarded," according to Eric Berger of
the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Eckels said that now the Houston
City Council "must determine if the arena's financing plan
is acceptable." Berger adds that the city, "which has been
asked to contribute as much as" $30M to the facility,
"begins what is likely to be a contentious discussion of the
issue" today. Eckels: "Subject to the city's financial
review, I would vote for this agreement. This will probably
be the voters' last opportunity to keep the Houston Rockets
here. If people want the team to stay, they should vote for
the arena." Rockets COO George Postolos, on receiving
Eckels' support before the November 7 referendum: "We
received a message from Judge Eckels stating he was looking
forward to working with us and getting the referendum
passed. We appreciate that sentiment very much." Harris
County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt will release
a study on the deal's finances that "will likely show that
the city is getting a better deal this year" than in the
original '99 agreement, and that the Sports Authority "will
shoulder more of a financial burden." But Bettencourt said
yesterday that his "assessment will not be completed until
after" August 31, when the Sports Authority "had hoped to
meet and call the election" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/23).
