After North East School District trustees "dashed" the
Spurs' hopes for a new tax-funded arena at Longhorn Quarry
by voting to end negotiations, questions about the team's
future arena site "remained unanswered Tuesday," according
to Poling & Ludden of the SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS. Spurs
Chair Peter Holt: "We'll have to reconsider everything.
I'll have to sit down with all the other owners and we'll
just have to sit down and talk -- `Where do we go from
here?'" Holt, who met with Spurs staff and consultants
yesterday, "ruled out none of the team's options, including
alternative financing measures and moving the team to
another city," but declined to elaborate on the team's
plans. But one minority owner, who wasn't present at the
meeting, "raised the possibility of using a 1/2-cent sales
tax to fund an arena downtown." San Antonio Mayor Howard
Peak said he would "possibly" promote a campaign to increase
the sales tax or examine other fundraising options. The
Spurs "haven't ruled out the possibility of moving the team
if it cannot be financially viable in San Antonio."
Investment groups from San Diego and New Orleans "have shown
strong interest" in the team, but Holt has "reportedly" told
them the team is not for sale (EXPRESS-NEWS, 12/16).
REAX: An EXPRESS-NEWS editorial says the city must keep
working toward a new arena: "The basketball team is an
important national image-building and economic-development
tool for the city. While other priorities must be met, the
team is worth keeping" (S.A. EXPRESS-NEWS, 12/16). Also in
S.A., Kevin O'Keeffe writes that Spurs Exec VP Leo Gomez
used "bullying tactics" by releasing a six-month-old e-mail
from school board President Bruce Bennett, and the move
"left a bad taste in the mouth of the public, fatally
damaging Gomez's credibility." O'Keeffe adds the city must
show more "leadership" on an arena (EXPRESS-NEWS, 12/16).
