The Oakland City Council unanimously approved the $225M plan
to renovate the Oakland Coliseum and sign a 16-year lease with
the Raiders "amid contentious debate" Tuesday, writes David Li in
the OAKLAND TRIBUNE. A clerical error related to approval of the
deal on July 11 made last night's repeat vote necessary.
Opposition group "Taxpayers for a Vote" addressed the council and
urged them to protect East Bay taxpayers (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 7/26).
Taxpayers' Chair Joseph Debro, a local contractor, said he is
concerned there are no guarantees that minority contractors will
receive Coliseum work. The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum board
is expected to hire Tutor Saliba Corp., a Southern CA company
owned by a friend of Raiders Owner Al Davis. Tutor-Saliba
renovated the L.A. Coliseum after earthquake damage (Sandy
Kleffmann, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 7/26).
BIG DOUBTERS: In San Francisco, Scott Winokur writes that
the Raiders deal is too risky for "a county whose largest city
commonly is cited when writers elsewhere need an example of an
urban basket case." Winokur: "They're so enamored of ... a man
some liken to Satan, Al Davis, that they're willing to mortgage
(and possibly sacrifice) their children's futures" (S.F.
EXAMINER, 7/25). MERCURY NEWS reporter Barry Witt warns that
with the NFL still demanding PSL payments, Davis "could spike the
whole deal. ... or he could fight the league in court. ... But
this time he may decide the best option is to give in to the NFL
and just start playing football games (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS,
7/26).
