Former Sacramento City Council member Steve Cohn has "emerged as an impassioned, influential figure in the public-private partnership that spawned" the NBA Kings' soon-to-be completed Golden 1 Center, according to Ailene Voisin of the SACRAMENTO BEE. Cohn said, "That would have to be the thing I am most proud about, because I think the arena is the seminal issue for our community, the turning point for changing Sacramento. It shows how investors like [Kings Managing Partner] Vivek Ranadive and [team co-Owners] the Jacobs brothers view the region, how young people will look here for opportunity, and from an environmental perspective, it's already brought more focus on transit." Voisin noted Cohn "offers opinions in surprisingly colorful language." Cohn: "[Former Kings Owner] Jim Thomas didn’t seem to realize how costly it was to run a team. [former Kings co-Owners Gavin and Joe Maloof], if they had worked with us, could have gotten a deal done. ... I didn't trust the Maloofs." Cohn added, "I give [Sacramento Mayor] Kevin Johnson a ton of credit, because how he started was, 'We have to prove to [then-NBA Commissioner David] Stern that he can do business with us.' We had to do a market deal the NBA would respect, and if the Maloofs bail on us because they really don't have enough money, this puts us in a stronger position. Stern will realize it isn't the city, it's the Maloofs. And he was right" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 3/20).
