How Long The A's Stay In The East Bay Is Up For Negotiations
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors "stopped short [yesterday] of endorsing a proposed deal to keep" the A's in the East Bay through '07, according to Robert Gammon of the OAKLAND TRIBUNE, who adds that Oakland City Council members are also "raising questions about the plan." Under terms of the proposed deal, which Board President Scott Haggerty brokered with the A's, the team would pay the city and county $450,000 a year in rent for using Network Associates Coliseum from '03-07. The plan also carries three one-year options through 2010. The A's currently pay no rent at the stadium under a year-to-year lease that runs through '04. Gammon: "One area of possible concern is that the proposed lease includes an escape clause that would allow the A's to leave any time as long as the team gives 90 days notice and pays what's owed on the lease. Both the City Council and the Board of Supervisors were caught off guard last week when the proposed lease extension for the A's came to light, saying they didn't even know a plan was being hashed out." Gammon also notes that instead of approving terms of the proposed deal, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to send the plan to the Authority to continue negotiations with the A's." But the Authority "likely will not take up the matter until mid-May" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 5/1).
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