San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer last week "wanted to talk about a new Chargers stadium as a possible addition to the Convention Center," according to Nick Canepa of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Faulconer "wants to make something happen downtown," but "knows the degree of difficulty" of doing so in the city. He has previously met with Chargers Chair & President Dean Spanos and Special Counsel to the President Mark Fabiani, and said, "I was a proponent of Petco [Park]. If it makes sense, San Diego will support it." He added, "The reality is, with the Convention Center issue before us, we have to create an opportunity and put together the hospitality and Chargers issues. How can we expand the Convention Center? We have groups that want to come here that are too big for our place. The advantage we have is that people want to come to San Diego." Faulconer said of Qualcomm Stadium, "The city didn’t do a good job taking care of it. We haven’t been good stewards of a city asset. There are so many quantifiable and intangible assets to the Chargers. Civic pride. When they play, you can feel it. It brings the community together." He added, "We need to have a civic conversation about this. If it goes to public vote, it will stand on its merits. I’m not interested in failure. These issues are solvable. But let’s have conversation. Let’s get the numbers" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/5).
