Chargers execs today "will hold their first face-to-face meeting" with members of San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer's staff to discuss a new stadium, but Special Counsel to the President Mark Fabiani "described the upcoming meeting as more of an information-gathering session" than anything else, according to Eric Williams of ESPN.com. Fabiani yesterday told San Diego-based XEPRS-AM, "It's what all of us hope for the city -- is that this mayor stays around for a while. We've had seven mayors here in the last 10 years, and we've never been able to gather any momentum." He added that while a downtown location is preferred, the team is "open to considering other locations for the project, including the Qualcomm Stadium site." Fabiani: "We've gone into these discussions with the new mayor with a completely open mind. ... But if we could find something that worked downtown, there would be a lot going for that. If we could find something that worked at the Qualcomm site, I think we would be happy with that, too." He added, "One of the real attractions to downtown is the ability to create a sports and entertainment district that would really be unrivaled in this country." Fabiani acknowledged that the "main goal" for the Spanos family, which owns the team, "remains keeping the Chargers in San Diego." Fabiani: "Just look at what they've done in the last 12 years -- the amount of money they've spent and the amount of aggravation they've gone through and the frustration we've all experienced. But they've stuck with it" (ESPN.com, 4/8).
