Two San Diego residents who waged a lengthy losing
court battle against the city to place the $78M expansion of
Jack Murphy Stadium on the ballot are trying to bring $18M
in cost overruns for the project to a referendum vote,
according to Barry Bloom of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE.
Attorney and former city councilmember Bruce Henderson and
Richard Rider have until January 9 to get 28,046 signatures
from the city's registered voters to get a referendum on the
ballot -- 30 days after the council gave final approval to
fund the expansion by authorizing $18M in cost overruns
attributed to inflation and construction cost increases on
Tuesday. City Manager Jack McGrory: "The bottom line is
that this will not stop expansion of the stadium. The
original $60 million deal is signed, sealed, delivered and
approved all the way to the California Supreme Court. We're
selling the bonds tomorrow (Thursday) and work has already
started out there." Expansion of the stadium from 61,000 to
70,000 is scheduled to begin next month and end in
September. If Rider and Henderson obtain the necessary
signatures, the council can "either reconsider its action or
put the matter on the ballot during either a special
election or any other scheduled election during the ensuing
11 months" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/12).
