San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Chargers President Dean Spanos yesterday met privately "to discuss the increasingly complex and controversial issue of building a new stadium to keep the team from moving" to the L.A. area, according to Tony Perry of the L.A. TIMES. The hour-long meeting "was held at a neutral site: the Padres office at Petco Park." The two men "met alone, without staff members." After the meeting, each released a statement "supporting the move by the mayor's stadium committee to present its analysis within 90 days, not by fall as originally planned" (L.A. TIMES, 2/23). Faulconer confirmed that he and Spanos agreed "to an expedited timetable for the stadium advisory group to return a recommendation on a location and finance plan for a new stadium to house the Chargers" (ESPN.com, 2/22). Faulconer and Spanos characterized their meeting as "productive." In San Diego, David Garrick notes the meeting was "held at the request of Faulconer." Faulconer and Spanos in their respective statements "tried to shift the tenor of their relationship back to positive." The stadium task force is "scheduled to meet in private on Tuesday with both representatives of San Diego State University, which could share a new stadium with the Chargers, and officials from the county government, which could participate in financing plans" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/23).
CARSON DAILY: In L.A., Fenno, Logan & Weikel wrote the L.A. area on Friday -- the "day after the startling news" that the Chargers and Raiders are planning a shared stadium in Carson, Calif. -- "appeared to be in its best position in years to finally end the NFL's two-decade absence." A community center in Carson "played host to a news conference about the stadium project." The hour-long event "seemed, at times, like a small-town pep rally" with a "small church choir" on hand. Enthusiasm "surged through a string of speeches by local politicians and civic leaders." But the cities of San Diego and Oakland "didn't share the same excitement." Faulconer "blasted the Chargers." He said, "The Chargers weren't being up front with San Diegans, they weren't being up front with their fans, they weren't interested in working together." Fenno, Logan & Weikel noted the city of Oakland "reacted with a mixture of dismay, urgency and even optimism that plans for a new stadium complex to house the Raiders and Athletics at the existing O.co Coliseum site would now be accelerated." Oakland City Council member Larry Reid: "There's a fire that needs to be lit under both the city of Oakland and the county." Reid "was elected chairman Friday of the authority that operates the coliseum site" (L.A. TIMES, 2/21). U.S. Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Calif.) said at Friday's press conference, "We want the Chargers to know. We want the Raiders to know. If you can't work it out with your respective cities, we will welcome you with open arms in Carson." In L.A., Chuck Schilken wrote Hahn's remarks "and the way they were delivered reflected the pep-rally-type atmosphere of the event, which was put on by a group of business and labor leaders known as 'Carson2gether.'" Neither team had reps present at the press conference, but the focus of the day "was on the positive effect of the proposed stadium" (LATIMES.com, 2/20). In California, Sandy Mazza wrote if the L.A. area does not get a stadium, it "won’t be for lack of enthusiasm and effort in the city of Carson." Mayor Jim Dear said, "This is an enormous opportunity for the people of Carson. It will change the city in a dramatic way forever." Officials said that the new stadium "would cost" $1.3-1.7B and emphasized that taxpayers "won't be on the hook to fund the project" (Torrance DAILY BREEZE, 2/21).
SITE SPECIFICS: Goldman Sachs Managing Dir Tim Romer, whose company helped structure the deal to finance Levi's Stadium, said that the Chargers-Raiders project in Carson "could be done in much the same way, without taxpayer funds." But in San Diego, Michael Smolens cites some experts as questioning "whether such a joint project would pencil out and some critics question whether this is all a bluff" (
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/21). In L.A., Sam Farmer reported the two teams "have entered into an agreement to develop the land with Starwood Capital Group." A source said that the Chargers and Raiders "have obtained control of the property, and Starwood intends to divest its ownership." The projected capacity for the stadium "is about 68,000, expandable to more than 72,000." Both teams "will continue to seek public subsidies for new stadiums in their home markets" (
L.A. TIMES, 2/21). In N.Y., Ken Belson wrote building a stadium in Carson "would have challenges." The land "abuts Interstate 405, so traffic may be a concern, and the teams would have to obtain permits." It is "unclear how the two teams would finance the stadium" (
N.Y. TIMES, 2/21).
ALL-OUT BLITZ: ESPN L.A.'s Arash Markazi noted Chargers Special Counsel Mark Fabiani watched Friday's news conference in Carson "behind spectators but left immediately after it was over without speaking to reporters." Fabiani said by telephone following the event, "We talked about it a lot and we said if we were there, all of the attention would go to what we had to say, which really wasn't going to be different from what we said last night. ... We wanted to give the attention to the community groups, the labor unions, the business leaders and the elected officials (ESPNLA.com, 2/20). Fabiani on Friday said that Faulconer "has been dragging his feet." Fabiani: "The mayor has been in office almost a year and the only thing he has done is announce a task force. And when he announced it he said that they'd be able to finish their work in October and then maybe we'll have something on the ballot if we can all agree on it in November 2016. We're sitting here listening to that, thinking, 'Wow, here we are, facing a person who is moving at lightning speeds (Rams Owner Stan Kroenke) in Inglewood and this is a mayor that hasn't done anything for a year.'" Fabiani said of Kroenke's Inglewood stadium plan, "We deliberately changed our strategy in the wake of what Kroenke did. When this opportunity to create an alternative came along we decided to seize it. The only thing that has moved the ball in L.A. has been Stan. If Stan hadn't done what he did, then we wouldn't have done what we did, and the Raiders wouldn't have done what the Raiders did and we wouldn't even be talking about this today. Markazi reported the Chargers "reached out to Goldman Sachs about financing." Fabiani: "We took the template of the Santa Clara funding mechanisms ... so we basically took that and adjusted it for different costs here. We acquired the land at the end of January officially and the discussions with the Raiders happened over the last couple of weeks." He added, "It's not a site that we picked out of thin air. It's a site the league is comfortable with" (ESPNLA.com, 2/20).
MAD MAYOR: Faulconer said of the Chargers working on an L.A. stadium plan while claiming to be committed to getting a deal done in San Diego, "When people say one thing and do another, actions speak louder than words." In San Diego, Roger Showley wrote Faulconer "recounted the past months of dialogue in which the team told him repeatedly that it was monitoring efforts to move an NFL team to L.A. but that it was focused on a San Diego solution." Faulconer: "That’s not true. And never telling anyone in San Diego about what they were doing. That’s disingenuous, that’s bad faith, that’s not how you achieve success" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/21). The UNION-TRIBUNE's Smolens wrote observers "could almost see the steam coming out of Faulconer's ears" when he addressed the Chargers' L.A. stadium plan (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/22). Smolens wrote Faulconer was "caught off guard" by the news of the L.A. plan. Faulconer: "We deserve an honest dialogue. What we saw speaks volumes about the true intentions and about what’s been happening over the last few weeks." Fabiani in an e-mail wrote, "This all just sounds like more mudslinging from the Mayor" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/21). In L.A., Perry & Fenno wrote the "anger in San Diego hadn't abated" on Friday, and "much of the civic vitriol targeted" Fabiani (LATIMES.com, 2/20).
WHOSE FAULT IS IT, ANYWAY? In S.F., Al Saracevic noted neither the Chargers nor the Raiders "took the podium to speak" at Friday's news conference in Carson. Saracevic: "They must have been real busy working on the season ticket licenses." The event "was a civic rally, rather than a concrete stadium announcement," and the absence of team execs "was downright mind-boggling" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/21). The UNION-TRIBUNE and San Diego-based KGTV-ABC conducted a poll asking 600 adults about the Chargers' stadium situation. Asked whether they "approve or disapprove" of the way Faulconer "has handled the situation," 34% of respondents expressed approval compared to 49% who expressed disapproval. Asked whether the Chargers "have been transparent or deceptive in their handling of the situation," 65% of those polled said that the team has been deceptive (UTSANDIEGO.com, 2/20). In San Diego, Nick Canepa asked, "Where is the National Football League? Where is [NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell]?" The league "is to blame here ... because of what it is, what it has become." It is "so blinded by greed, it doesn’t know where the forest is." Canepa: "As long as it can see the evergreen trees" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/22). A UNION-TRIBUNE editorial asked whether Spanos and the Chargers "really thought through the notion of an equal business partnership with the Raiders, one of the most poorly run franchises in all the NFL." It "doesn't seem so" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/21). Another UNION-TRIBUNE editorial asked, "How many cities in the United States can afford to spend the hundreds of millions of public dollars it would take to build the kind of stadium demanded today, particularly when they, like San Diego, have so many other pressing infrastructure needs?" If the NFL "wants to price itself out of the San Diegos of the world, so be it." But it will "ultimately kill the NFL" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/22).
