The Chargers yesterday had QB Philip Rivers, former player Luis Castillo and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer appear at a news conference at Chargers Park to tell "their version of why voting 'Yes' on Measure C is imperative," according to Kevin Acee of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The event took place "three weeks before" a vote on the Chargers' stadium-convention center proposal. Rivers and Castillo were "smart choices to tout," as they are bilingual and "charismatic in a well-spoken, handsome and wholesome sort of way." Acee writes eventually Chargers Chair Dean Spanos and the NFL will "have to make a business decision." If San Diego's politicians and various factions "can't get some sort of aid package together that voters will approve," the Chargers "may very well leave." However, the team and city "have time." If there is a "record voter turnout and the team's campaign continues to grow support, they might get close" to the 66% threshold. Even those inside the effort concede getting 60% "would be akin to going from a 2-4 start to the Super Bowl." Acee: "The Chargers are playing for a moral victory in November." Spanos has "intimated ... that getting at least a majority of the vote for C would provide an impetus for them to try again." A majority of the voters "saying they support this gargantuan public outlay would signify a will of the people and put pressure on local leaders to come up with a more tolerable plan that would work" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/19). In San Diego, David Garrick notes "more robust opposition will emerge later this week" to the stadium bill. The San Diego County Taxpayers Association will "begin running radio ads and online videos opposed" to Measure C (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/19).
