The Chargers are “calling for a civic conversation about the pros and cons of rejecting expansion plans for the San Diego Convention Center in favor of building the team a new stadium with convention space in East Village,” according to Matthew Hall of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Yet the debate “had barely begun in the news media when the most influential players clammed up.” San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO Business Manager Tom Lemmon said, “It’s time to have the discussion, but nobody wants to convene the discussion.” The impasse, “at least in public, reflects a showdown between powerful business and political forces vying for funding that has become much more limited in recent months.” The competition “pits a group that generates money for the city -- the convention center and hoteliers -- against a football team with a passionate following.” Darren Pudgil, the Communications Dir for San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, said, “We think you can do both projects separately. We think the convention center should proceed as planned.” Stephen Cushman, “who is shepherding the convention project, said the Chargers’ plan ‘is not what our customers desire.’” But Cushman also said that the public should not "mistake his position as opposition to a new Chargers stadium.” San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts said that “a stadium with convention space is an idea worth exploring even if the site is ‘divorced’ from the convention center.” He also acknowledged “the difficulty of pitting one civic project against another.” Populous architect Dennis Wellner, who is working with the Chargers, acknowledged that “separate convention facilities in San Diego may leave ‘everybody a little dissatisfied.’” The major elements of a stadium with convention space “are a roof, a rollaway floor, retractable seats and additional meeting space within the facility, likely near the end zones so the team could sell premium sideline seats” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/8).
FRICTION, BABY: In San Diego, Tim Sullivan wrote, “If you’re a Chargers fan fearful that your team may be on the move, the appearance of friction between the NFL and AEG is more welcome than a quarterback controversy in Denver.” Next to tangible traction on a San Diego stadium deal, “the surest way to keep the Bolts in town is to maintain inertia up North.” If L.A. “is incapable of closing a deal, the Chargers might be marooned at Qualcomm Stadium indefinitely.” Chargers Special Counsel Mark Fabiani Friday said, "Until there's a motivated team that's willing to take on a project itself in L.A., it's not going to happen. You're not going to have a separate stadium owner and a team" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/8).
