Maloofs press release

[love_them_kings]

Did anyone else hear the Maloofs press release? It was just read on KCRA & I was very surprised at the tone. It said they are very frustrated, that they've put together 7 plans over the last 6 years and they've all been defeated. It said that they have no idea where to go from here, that they have no other plan and will seek guidance from the NBA. Absolutely nothing warm and fuzzy at all. Not one positive thing. No "we are still committed to the city." No "We'll work it out." Just gave the overall impression that they'd been wronged and were hurt and confused.

It surprised me that they are acting as if this is their defeat when they have not made any effort to support these measures, and, if anything, have sabatoged efforts to get these passed. I respect their right not to support something that they don't believe in, but why are they acting hurt and disappointed that the measures didn't pass???? I am so confused. I have maintained all along that the Maloofs want to keep the Kings hear, but I'm starting to lose faith. When I heard Joe say that they don't want to stay somewhere they aren't wanted it made me wonder if all this build up, the failed measures, the hurt feelings over the d*mn commercial, is their way of justifying leaving. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm getting a bad feeling about this.

 

[GoSACtown]

your scaring me, i wish iwoulda
seen this

 

[6th]

First let me make it clear that I really really want the Kings and Monarchs to stay in Sacramento. I want a first class entertainment complex to replace old and broken ARCO arena.

Having said that, I would not blame the Maloofs one bit if they said...to h*** with you, Sacramento. We have done nothing but try to bring a quality product to the court; to try and be business leaders in the community; and, to give back immeasurably to the community in more ways than any of you can count. And, for all that, we have been vilified in the press; lied about, and had our integrity impugned. We will have to think long and hard now. It really is hard to stay where we are clearly not wanted.

Edit: the things I have said have nothing to do with Q and R going down to miserable failure, but everything to do with the way the Maloofs were treated during this whole damn process. I am disgusted with the whole thing.

 

[BigWaxer]

I heard the press release and have been trying to find it online. I will reserve comment on it only to give myself some time to think about it and take out the emotions.

It was a very odd statment all things considered. They acted surprised that the measure lost and they basically put together a laundry list of things/attempts that failed over the last 8 years. Odd is all I have to say right now.

If I find it I will post

 

[BMiller52]

It's their own fault it failed, they never supported it at all and now they act like they're wronged or something by the voters? Maybe if they would've given money to the campaign and not been so demanding then it could've passed. It's also the fault of the voters and politicians, this whole thing was planned terribly. They had a big hand in destroying this thing though. It's really starting to look like they just fooled all of us.

edit: Now that I've read the news10 thing a few posts down, maybe I am overreacting. I still think that the Maloofs, the city, and the voters should be blamed for this not passing. They just mangled it.

 

[love_them_kings]

I heard the press release and have been trying to find it online. I will reserve comment on it only to give myself some time to think about it and take out the emotions.

It was a very odd statment all things considered. They acted surprised that the measure lost and they basically put together a laundry list of things/attempts that failed over the last 8 years. Odd is all I have to say right now.

If I find it I will post

Please post it if you find it. I would like to read through it because as I was listening I was in such shock I couldn't absorb all of it.

 

[BigWaxer]

they have the statement on KCRA3 and News10, this does not seem like the full statement I heard on KHTK a bit ago. They talked about going to the NBA for direction blah blah... Will have to wait and see

http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=21335

 

[JB_kings]

Fine. Let the moving rumors come out. We don't seem to be able to get anywhere with negotiations between the city and the Maloofs. Maybe a bit of a paradigm shift for all is in order. Open bidding for a team always gets results somehow.

 

[love_them_kings]

they have the statement on KCRA3 and News10, this does not seem like the full statement I heard on KHTK a bit ago. They talked about going to the NBA for direction blah blah... Will have to wait and see

http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=21335

Yes, that's not the entire statement I heard either, and I heard it read on KCRA.

 

[voteno]

they are partially to blame

I find it laughable that they are saddened by the results of the election. They put little to no support in the measures passing. Their behavior helped them to fail. If they had been less greedy, asking for everything, it might have had a chance. If they had even said something like.. we cant do it by ourselves, but we can commit such and such dollars to the bulding of an arena, they would have had more supporters. Maybe the Maloofs learned something, dont expect that everything be given to you. Show that you are willing to contribute a reasonabe amount to build a place where you can conduct your business. A reasonable amount by the way is not to agree to lease the facility, but rather an up front payment, and to share the cost of overruns. Less overall cost to the city means less interest payments. However the Maloofs have already complained about similiar deals of this nature. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few months and years.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Especially when the Kings leave Sacramento; won't that be "interesting?"

Well, at least the outcome of the vote made one person laugh...

 

[BigWaxer]

That is not even close to the full press release. I have some emails out and am trying to get a copy sent to me. Apparently our local press all got a copy but none of them thought it was important enough to publish the entire thing.

I am so glad I waited to post. Gather my thoughts and take out some of the emotion I had about this... Here are my thoughts well with some emotion.

This measure got defeated pretty soundly. I am going to go out on a limb and say, the 20% that voted yes were kings fans like us. They don't need to get more Kings fans to vote, they need to get the general population that could care less if the Kings leave.

At this time I don't see how any tax will be approved. It's the climate we have in CA and the Kings are not going to change that. All tax measures I was watching were defeated. Including the ole-guaranteed stand-by the tobacco tax.

Trying not to go all over the place but topic change

Everyone is placing blame...Maloofs/City/Media/Bee... Lets face it, there is plenty of blame to go around. Everyone is to blame for this grand debacle. How is the try #7??? as the Maloofs say in there release? One specifically listed was a Thunder valley plan? What we only heard talk but no real attempt at a deal. This sounds more like a way to list/cover/leave type of deal. THE NBA is not going to let the Kings leave without them proving they have "TRIED ALL OPTIONS"

Anyway some further thoughts.

a) If MSE wants to stay they need to come out and just say NO to any Downtown plan (of course unless they are paying 100%). They should just get off that pipe-dream now. Yes a downtown arena would be awesome but lets start thinking on realistic terms. The cost is magnified 10 fold vs just building on land they and the City already own in Natomas. The infrastructure is already in place. (and room for 25k parking spots) LOL. It just makes more sense, especially if your asking avg joe to put out any money. No matter how small it is, if someone doesn't care if the Kings are here or not, they will not be willing to give up tax dollars.

b) Goes with the above, the cost will be reduced significantly in Natomas. Therefore the Maloof total contribution, even if they bumped it up a little helps a lot more in the grand scheme of things.

c) Forget any chance at a general tax. I hate bonds but that may be a source of some money (I hate bonds). Supposedly MSE has tried 7 times and 7 different ways. WHY??? not combine those 7 ways and take a small chunk from each idea? Of course that is not as easy as it sounds but just curious. Actually more curious then realistic. I acknowledge that.

d) A Honest question here. How can the Maloofs be disappointed this measure failed? They did absolutely nothing to support it and a whole lot to undermine it. That is a big RED FLAG imo...

I see no way that our City will ever get anything of this scale done and I think the dynamics and diversity of our population pretty much doom many measures regarding this. Even the greatest advertised and supported plan with this past measure was not going to pass.

The Maloofs said they tried everything and don't know what else they can do.. Okay another RED FLAG. Back to square one! Again.. Its either one of two things... The Maloofs want to move or our city council absolutely has no clue. I bet the answer is somewhere in between that...

Not sure what the next step is. Unless they get a lot of private financing I don't see how the Kings can stay at this point.

I tried to be fair to both sides, I don't think I was but just curious on thoughts. As always I am open to opinions.

 

[Carole]

Did anyone else hear the Maloofs press release? .

But, has anyone looked at how many votes there were in support - even after all the non-agreement, bait and switch, and sabotage? Like 70,000 votes in support of the plan. Let's build on that and get on with a good plan! We do have support - we just need a good plan and a leader.

 

[Arena Skeptic]

I want to see that press release, too

Yeah, the Maloofs are taking this defeat very, very personally.

I think an arena in the railyard that helps jumpstart development there is an excellent idea. However, the two sides were miles and miles apart in their negotiations, and the amount of public funds was too much anyway (this should have been about 60% private, 40% public). I COULD have supported a better arena plan, and sadly, the minds that met to assemble this deal could have devised a better plan as well.

As I've said, I KNOW some of these people personally, and while I find some of them to be abrasive some of the time, I can't really hold that against their intelligence. I know Fong and Steinberg are smarter than this.

So what the Maloofs have done is interpreted R's 80-20 loss as "80% of Sacramentans HATE the billionaire Maloof family." And this, after they refused to support the deal. That's pretty crass.

Listen, people, the only way to do this is without a general tax increase. In the incredibly unlikely event they try again in June 2008, if it's a fuzzy proposal combined with a general tax increase, as Smoley seemed to indicate last night it might, it'll lose 80-20 again. The Maloofs, being gamblers, understand the theory of the bird in hand.

They can stay here, and face another chance at rolling the dice on yet another 1 in 100 bet... Or they can walk out of the casino now, with their wallets intact. Not being a gambler myself, I'm the one who always walks away with my wallet still intact.

Unless a miracle occurs, I think I'd leave. That's just rational thinking.

 

[Arena Skeptic]

Is this the entire press release?

http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=21335

Supporters of a downtown Sacramento sports and entertainment complex say they won't be discouraged by the projected defeat of Measures Q and R.

"We refuse to look through the rearview mirror at our vision," said Q and R spokesman Doug Elmets. "We're focused on the road ahead."

Measure R would raise Sacramento County's sales tax one-quarter percent and Measure Q would advise using half the anticipated revenue to build an arena, presumably in the downtown railyards. However, returns showed Measure Q failing 72-28 percent with 59 percent of the vote in. Measure R was also going down 80-20 percent.

Tuesday evening, the owners of the Sacramento Kings, Joe and Gavin Maloof, released this statement:

We respect the voters’ decision. We know how hard it is to vote for any tax increase.

For the past six and a half years we have worked with local leaders to come up with a way to replace an aging ARCO Arena with a state-of-the-art sports & entertainment center in the Sacramento region. We have worked through seven different proposals utilizing a wide range of financing options. None of those efforts have produced the desired results despite countless hours of work and effort.

Nevertheless, we are committed to continue the effort. ARCO Arena is an inadequate NBA facility that increasingly constrains our ability to provide our guests with high quality entertainment experiences.

As for the question of 'what is next?’ the answer is simple: we don’t know. We don’t know of any alternative proposal and have no other plans in the works.

A Sacramento Bee poll released over the weekend showed 67 percent of those surveyed plan to vote no on Measure R, which would effectively kill both measures.

But when the specific reference to a sales tax increase is omitted, the opposition drops dramatically. A survey conducted for News10 by SurveyUSA showed roughly half of voters polled support the idea of a downtown sports and entertainment complex.

But a sales tax increase may be only realistic public funding mechanism for a $550 million project, according to members of the Q and R steering committee.

Meeting with reporters last week, Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson, Sacramento City Councilman Rob Fong, campaign chairperson Sandy Smoley and others suggested they may try the sales tax approach again in June 2008. But next time, they would have a concrete plan to take to the voters well before the election. Measures Q and R were asking voters to cast ballots without a detailed arena plan in place.

"Even if Measures Q and R don't pass on Tuesday, we are still going to continue to make this happen for Sacramento," Smoley pledged.

 

[GreenKing]

The Maloofs are the ones with the cards. They tried to pass a deal off on Sacramento that was so rotten, so vile, and so in their favor. They underestimated the tax payers of Sacramento. Now they have gotten what they are really after, an excuse to move the team out of Sacramento. It's all about money. Sacramento is tapped out and the Maloofs want more.

 

[VF21]

Bull dooty, GreenKing.

Your hatred of the Maloofs has gone beyond tiresome. Please find somewhere else to vent... You've really worn out your welcome around here.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

The Maloofs are the ones with the cards. They tried to pass a deal off on Sacramento that was so rotten, so vile, and so in their favor. They underestimated the tax payers of Sacramento. Now they have gotten what they are really after, an excuse to move the team out of Sacramento. It's all about money. Sacramento is tapped out and the Maloofs want more.

Well, when the Maloofs take the team away, at least the tax payers of Sacramento will have made their point... And I guess that's what was really important out of all this...

I live in Virginia. I've never lived in California, and I'm never going to live in California. I've cheered the Kings for going on eighteen years now, for reasons that have had nothing to do with them being in Sacramento, so it's not going to affect me personally if the Kings leave Sacramento, but I feel bad for my fellow Kings Fans who DO live in Northern California, for having to live through this. As an interested "objective" third party, with no horse in the race, my main grievance with this whole process is that the people opposing the Q&R that I've had the opportunity to hear from have come across to me very much as "cut off their nose to spite their face"-type people. Especially the ones that post in this forum; if they are truly representative of how the anti-arena contingent really feel, then I feel very uncomfortable about the future of the Kings in Sacramento on behalf of my fellow Kings Fans.

 

[Bricklayer]

The Maloofs are the ones with the cards. They tried to pass a deal off on Sacramento that was so rotten, so vile, and so in their favor. They underestimated the tax payers of Sacramento. Now they have gotten what they are really after, an excuse to move the team out of Sacramento. It's all about money. Sacramento is tapped out and the Maloofs want more.

Yeah braniac, you taxpayers really showed 'em!

I mean, the Maloofs get to take their team, get a much better deal from another city with a lot more corporate money in it, and in all ways pretty much come out winners. Meanwhile you "show 'em" types chase Sacramento's only major sportsd team out of town, still have no arena, and in a few years get to make a choice whether to come back and build one anyway with NO dollars from the departed Maloofs and 100% on the public dime, or to start traveling down to Stockton to spend your entertainment dollars. That's showin' 'em!

 

[love_them_kings]

Yeah braniac, you taxpayers really showed 'em!

I mean, the Maloofs get to take their team, get a much better deal from another city with a lot more corporate money in it, and in all ways pretty much come out winners. Meanwhile you "show 'em" types chase Sacramento's only major sportsd team out of town, still have no arena, and in a few years get to make a choice whether to come back and build one anyway with NO dollars from the departed Maloofs and 100% on the public dime, or to start traveling down to Stockton to spend your entertainment dollars. That's showin' 'em!

yeah, it's a great deal for Sac. Just ask Kansas City....

We definitely need the Maloofs more than they need us. The question is, is there any chance now of making something work? Even with the lack of comittment to Q&R from the Maloofs I felt like they were still committed to making things work in Sac. Are they still, or are they just sick of this place??

 

[VF21]

I think there's still a chance for a deal. If you heard what the NBA rep who was at the negotations had to say on KHTK (I've heard excerpts), then you would have a very different picture of what's gone on than what the local media has chosen to share with us.

I think the Maloofs are still committed to making things work. I hope they realize the nay-sayers are NOT speaking for everyone. By far the most common complaint about Q & R was that nothing was actually set forth for the people of Sacramento to vote on.

Joe Maloof was being very honest when HE first pointed out to the voters that the arena might not end up being in the railyards if Q & R pass for a variety of reasons. The Maloofs weren't going to support measures that were without any basis in fact. They made the right choice. Unfortunately, the media chose to make it appear as though they were more interested in a hamburger commercial, as if it had to be an either/or situation.

For a number of years now, it has been the rule of the day for most media talking heads to point fingers at the Maloofs. Only a few have bucked the trend. Mark Kreidler has been very up front, as has Ailene Voisin. Voisin, who won't hesitate to make the negative comment if she feels it justified, has actually toured most NBA arenas and has consistently pointed out how lucky we are to have owners like the Maloofs.

Dave Jones is still an idiot with his own agenda. He is the type of person who will always find a way to make it look like the other guy's fault if things go opposite to what he wanted, while finding a way to take the credit if things go his way.

Don't lose hope quite yet. If you do, the nay-sayers have already won.

 

[LilMissDiva]

It's their own fault it failed, they never supported it at all and now they act like they're wronged or something by the voters? Maybe if they would've given money to the campaign and not been so demanding then it could've passed. It's also the fault of the voters and politicians, this whole thing was planned terribly. They had a big hand in destroying this thing though. It's really starting to look like they just fooled all of us.

edit: Now that I've read the news10 thing a few posts down, maybe I am overreacting. I still think that the Maloofs, the city, and the voters should be blamed for this not passing. They just mangled it.

I seriously doubt any amount of money in the campaign would have helped. There were multi millions spent on the "Yes on 87" along with famous Dems, and it still did not pass.

No tax hikes passed.

 

[GreenKing]

Bull dooty, GreenKing.

Your hatred of the Maloofs has gone beyond tiresome. Please find somewhere else to vent... You've really worn out your welcome around here.

Excuse me for having an opinion that differs from yours. When you start running off people because they see things in a different way it shows a lot of "character" on your part. This is a message board for Kings fans. Or did I miss the agreement where it states that this board is an old boy's club for fans that have opinions that are uniform and moderator approved.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Your comments are grossly off-topic, GreenKing. Do not further sidetrack this thread.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

As an interested "objective" third party, with no horse in the race, my main grievance with this whole process is that the people opposing the Q&R that I've had the opportunity to hear from have come across to me very much as "cut off their nose to spite their face"-type people.

Does opposing a sales tax increase because it negatively effects the people that can least afford it (and also those least likely to be able to afford a ticket to events in the new arena) count as a legitimate reason?

I'm all for public financing of an arena, I just found this to be the most regressive and unfair way to do it. But I don't live in Sac so I stayed out of this for the most part. I probably would have voted yes on the arena measure and no on the tax itself.

 

[Diehard Jim]

Does opposing a sales tax increase because it negatively effects the people that can least afford it (and also those least likely to be able to afford a ticket to events in the new arena) count as a legitimate reason?

I'm all for public financing of an arena, I just found this to be the most regressive and unfair way to do it. But I don't live in Sac so I stayed out of this for the most part. I probably would have voted yes on the arena measure and no on the tax itself.

This is not true at all, saying that the people who cannot afford it are the ones getting taxed is a farce. the same people getting taxed are also the same people who would have had opportunities at new jobs. I guess everyone is so nervous about paying a few extra dollars a year in tax they do not look at the BIG picture!
The fact of the matter is that the new arena would have created new and more jobs, it also would have created more revenue for the city by turning a useless piece of property into a very taxable usful piece of property.
I have hated the whole thing that people think the maloofs should front the whole bill for the new arena or even front most of the money. WHY? their business creates jobs and creates more taxes for the community, the city of Sacramento is the one reaping the benefits of a new arena, not just the maloofs. the worst part is the fact that every single day, deals go on under the table for big businesses to come to sacramento and bring there business in, all of the time. but when it comes to a sports team the whole coin flips.
If sacramento loses the Kings it will be the fault of the tax payers and no one else. because what will happen is the mass exodus of other big businesses also. because they know that the people of sacramento will not support them.

 

[JB_kings]

A little more clarity would help.

The railyard development needs hundreds of millions to provide infrastructure to get going. This is true arena or not.
Sacramento needs a new arena.

Between both, you are talking a good chunk of a billion dollars. What would really help is not to dump all over the leadership that is trying to work this out. What also would help is for those politicians who are ducking their responsibilities to the city and instead are feeding their own careers by picking off the low hanging fruit from the issue tree. I have more respect for those that are trying than I do for those that have selfish interests and take the easy way out. So Mr. Steve Cohen, if you want to be mayor, start by figuring out a solution to our problems here and start taking some risks.

 

[Warhawk]

Does opposing a sales tax increase because it negatively effects the people that can least afford it (and also those least likely to be able to afford a ticket to events in the new arena) count as a legitimate reason?

I'm all for public financing of an arena, I just found this to be the most regressive and unfair way to do it. But I don't live in Sac so I stayed out of this for the most part. I probably would have voted yes on the arena measure and no on the tax itself.

Yeah, because a sales tax really hits the poor hard. Really - we already pay 0.0775 - is anyone REALLY going to notice a change to 0.0800? Anyone? Anyone?

If the "poor" have $400 in taxable spending in a month (doubtful), it costs a whopping $1. And look at the millions of $$$ it would have poured into their communities for whatever projects they want the city council to fund. It's a small investment for a huge return, ESPECIALLY for the poor. Look at the jobs and increased tax revenues (property, sales, payroll) it would have created. And the same "poor" would have had an opportunity to find better paying jobs in an already healthy job market.

The upper middle calss and the rich would have paid the VAST majority of the tax burden for this and not even realized it. I would've paid about $52 more on the new truck I bought in July if this tax had been in effect. Really. Nobody notices a tax that small. The fact it is so small but spread over so large a population was the beauty of it.

Edit - Diehard Jim beat me to the punch on a couple things.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

All taxes most negatively effect the people that can least afford it; that's kind of a red herring.

I agree with Bricklayer's comments: although I have never lived in Sacramento, I have visited, and I don't see how anyone could dispute that ARCO is the heart of commerce in that city. It's not going to last forever, and what's Sacramento going to do when that stadium irreparably breaks down? ARCO supports dozens of live events a year that have nothing to do with the Kings or Monarchs, from concerts, to Disney on Ice, to WWE, to the Ringling Brothers, to say nothing of expos and conventions. And there's not really anywhere else in Sacramento that can support ninety percent of those things, so when ARCO finally breaks down (and that's only a matter of time), all of those things are gone. And, the people of Sacramento want those things to come back, they're going to have to build a new arena anyway.

Only, instead of having the Maloofs pay part of it, the citizens are going to teach them a lesson for their greed... by having to pay all of it?

 

[Arena Skeptic]

This may be off-topic...

The same thing, in effect, happened in Seattle last night...

They had I-91 on their ballot, which made it so publicly funded venues have to have a rate of return similar to the bond rate, estimated currently at 4.5%. It passed, 3-1.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003366081_sonics08m.html

The owner of the Sonics now says it's pretty much impossible for them to stay now.