San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s task force “has chosen Mission Valley as the preferred location over downtown for a new Chargers stadium, setting the stage for the more challenging task of figuring out a way to pay for it,” according to a front-page piece by Lori Weisberg of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The unanimous decision, reached last night by the Citizens Stadium Advisory Group, was “guided by a number of factors, most notably that a Mission Valley stadium would be less costly to develop and could be done more quickly than one built downtown in combination with an expanded convention center.” While the Chargers have “publicly advocated for a joint-use stadium and convention center complex downtown, the mayor’s advisory group stressed that when it met with them in February, the team did not favor one location over another.” The task force in a statement said, “The team described its position as agnostic.” Faulconer said that the Mission Valley site is “a workable solution to finding a new home for the Chargers” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 3/12). In L.A., Sam Farmer writes San Diego has “taken a step toward keeping the Chargers -- but team officials aren’t likely to be satisfied by it.” Faulconer “wants a financing plan from the advisory group by the end of May, and then hopes to put the proposal on the ballot” in ‘16. A source said that the Chargers “declined comment on the recommendation, but are not particularly pleased.” Farmer notes the Chargers “anticipated that the task force would choose the Mission Valley location.” People who run downtown San Diego hotels “are not supportive of a stadium in their immediate neighborhood” (L.A. TIMES, 3/12).
FROM EVERY ANGLE: In San Diego, Kevin Acee in a front-page piece writes of the stadium task force, “The opinion has been made clear in this space that downtown is the better option. ... Let us hear them out. For the next couple months, let us give them a chance” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 3/12). Also in San Diego, Nick Canepa writes of Mission Valley, “It’s not going to work.” There are “a whole lot of people in this town, many of them powerful, who don’t think so, either.” Chargers President Dean Spanos “should get more openly involved.” Canepa: “But I don’t believe he will buy this. I don’t believe it will work” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 3/12). A UNION-TRIBUNE editorial states the recommendation of Mission Valley is “by far the most significant step taken in the 13 years the Chargers have been seeking a new home to replace" Qualcomm Stadium and “confirms the reality that Mission Valley is the most logical, most doable location.” Perhaps more important, it “pushes” Spanos toward “finally putting his cards on the table: Does he really want the team to remain in San Diego or not?” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 3/12). The UNION-TRIBUNE runs an editorial cartoon depicting the gulf between the task force and the Chargers.
