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San Diego's Decision On When To Hold Chargers Stadium Vote Could Prove Pivotal

A date for a public vote on the proposed Chargers stadium "may be among the first crucial decisions in negotiations expected to begin soon between team representatives and consultants hired" by the city and county of San Diego, according to David Garrick of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The "two leading options" appear to be the June '16 primary, which NFL officials "have called too long to wait, or holding a special election this fall or winter, which would require an accelerated timeline that might be impossible." San Diego Registrar of Voters Michael Vu said that he would "need four to five months notice for a special election so he can hire poll workers and make other arrangements, requiring the city to have a measure ready by August or September." If negotiations "start June 1 as Mayor Kevin Faulconer has requested, that leaves a maximum of four months to complete a long series of tasks." They "include negotiating and drawing up a complex agreement, gathering the 66,447 valid signatures required for an initiative, allowing Vu 30 days to verify those signatures and submitting the measure to the council for placement on the ballot." The Chargers have previously said that their polling "indicates a special election would be tougher to win" compared to an election like the June '16 primary (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 5/25).

END OF DAYS? In S.F., Rachel Swan reported Oakland and Alameda County officials "are in no hurry" to help the Raiders close a $400M funding gap for a new $900M stadium, "partly because taxpayers in Oakland and Alameda County are still paying millions of dollars a year" for O.co Coliseum renovations. That debt "won’t be paid off" until '26. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has said that she "cannot support spending a dime of public funds for a new stadium." While the Raiders in February announced plans to build a $1.7B stadium in Carson along with the Chargers, the announcement "did little to create a sense of urgency among East Bay civic leaders." O.co Coliseum "is jointly owned and managed by the city and county, and decisions over the stadium -- and whether to build a new one at that location -- require a series of approvals from the Oakland City Council and Alameda County Board of Supervisors." The politics "can get complicated." If there were some extra revenue in Alameda County, Supervisor Keith Carson said that it "could fund desperately needed health care and social services for the county, particularly at a time when hospitals are closing down." Schaaf said that she "would support using public dollars to improve transportation or upgrade the Coliseum land, but she thinks the stadium itself should be privately financed" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/24). A S.F. CHRONICLE editorial states Schaaf, to her credit, "has not flinched." She has consistently said that no city money "would be spent on a Raiders stadium." Oakland "has a mayor determined to help make it work here, but not at any cost to city taxpayers." She is "playing it exactly right." The modern NFL "needs to be weaned off public assistance" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/26).

STIRRING THE POT: In L.A., Nathan Fenno reported new Carson Mayor Albert Robles "sounds exasperated at what he sees as an attempt to hinder" an NFL stadium project after the city council unanimously approved it last month. Robles believes that supporters of Rams Owner Stan Kroenke's rival project in Inglewood -- "on their own -- are behind the apparent gamesmanship" (L.A. TIMES, 5/23).

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