http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/87706.html
NBA boss arrives in capital, says he'll lead the effort to build Kings a new home
By Mary Lynne Vellinga and Terri Hardy - Bee Staff Writers
Last Updated 2:03 am PST Tuesday, December 5, 2006
The first day of the bid by David Stern, center, to help the Kings build a new facility ends Monday at Arco Arena, where Sacramento lost to Orlando.
NBA Commissioner David Stern swept into Sacramento on Monday and declared that he would take responsibility for crafting a workable plan to build a new arena for the Kings and selling it to the public.
"If there is a plan, this will be a plan that I will put my name on," Stern said in a pre-game news conference at Arco Arena Monday evening.
While he has been involved in arena talks in other NBA cities, he said this is the first time he has taken the lead negotiator role.
Stern arrived in town Monday for a two-day whirlwind schedule of meetings with those in a position to help craft an arena plan, or shed light on why previous efforts have failed.
He said he came with no preconceived notions of what would work, but in meetings Monday he repeatedly brought up the idea of a statewide authority to help finance California sports venues.
Accompanying him was Baltimore sports and entertainment consultant John Moag, who plans to stay in town for at least two weeks to work on the effort.
Moag called the Sacramento arena effort to date "a little rudderless" and said Stern -- who officially represents the Maloof family, which owns the Kings -- will step into the role usually played by a political leader.
"Every one of these projects everywhere in the country needs a leader, and that's what David is doing," he said.
Stern spent the day meeting with Sacramento City Council members as well as leaders of the failed effort to raise sales taxes to build a new arena in the downtown railyard.
Today, he plans to sit down with Suheil Totah, vice president of downtown railyard developer Thomas Enterprises, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sacramento County officials, and Angelo K. Tsakopoulos, the region's most prominent developer and landowner.
The commissioner said he is trying to talk to a broad cross section of local and state leaders to come up with financing ideas.
"I'm here because the Maloofs have told me they want to stay and asked me to get involved," he said.
While Stern said he has no definite plan yet for financing a new arena, some of those who met with him said he brought up the idea of creating a statewide sports authority that could assist with the financing of sports venues throughout California.
Moag said he formerly chaired a similar authority in Maryland that used state revenue sources -- such as the lottery -- to build Oriole Park and nearby Ravens Stadium in Baltimore.
At Monday evening's news conference, Stern said he plans to investigate the idea further, even though he described his planned visit with Schwarzenegger primarily as a "courtesy call."
"I think there may ultimately be something that some legislative body could help with, but I don't know," he said. "This really is a courtesy call to the state's highest ranking elected official."
In last month's failed campaign to raise the Sacramento County sales tax to build a new arena, the Sacramento business and political establishment coalesced behind the idea that the arena should go in the railyard -- particularly if public money were involved in building it.
But Stern said he has "no preconceived notion" of where the arena should go. As for public funding, he said he doesn't see the voters' resounding rejection of Measures Q and R as a repudiation of the idea of any public money for an arena. Voters simply didn't like the deal on the table, he said.
"I would not rule out the possibility that some public dollars could be infused here," he said.
Stern met with five City Council members. Mayor Heather Fargo told reporters at an afternoon news conference that her meeting with Stern was cordial but produced no concrete solutions.
"He's looking for ideas," she said. "He didn't come with an answer."
She said Stern seemed willing to continue pursuing the idea of building an arena in the railyard or anywhere else that a viable plan could be put together. While city leaders prefer the railyard location, she said, they are open to other sites.
"We discussed location, and I think it's fair to say we're open to different locations in the city," Fargo said.
She said she personally suggested an NBA-wide program to help finance arenas in smaller city markets. "It would be difficult to get owners in other cities to help finance an arena here, but on the other hand we're part of the league," she said.
When she broached the idea, Fargo said, Stern "expressed concern about what other owners would think, but he didn't cut me off in mid-sentence."
But in the news conference, he said that was "not a likely scenario" for building an arena, although he is working on a revenue sharing plan to allow "mid-market teams to compete."
Fargo said she is encouraged by Stern's involvement but can't quickly forget seven years of failed arena efforts.
"At this point, there's no reason not to be optimistic, but given what I've been through, I'm not quite ready to break out the groundbreaking shovel yet," Fargo said.
Sandy Smoley, chairwoman of the Q&R campaign, said Stern told her during their meeting that he was in no hurry to reach a quick solution. Stern also was careful in his meeting with reporters not to set any deadline on reaching an arena deal.
"He said, 'We just want to take it slow and see what ideas are out there, and see if we can come up with something,'" she said.
NBA boss arrives in capital, says he'll lead the effort to build Kings a new home
By Mary Lynne Vellinga and Terri Hardy - Bee Staff Writers
Last Updated 2:03 am PST Tuesday, December 5, 2006
The first day of the bid by David Stern, center, to help the Kings build a new facility ends Monday at Arco Arena, where Sacramento lost to Orlando.
NBA Commissioner David Stern swept into Sacramento on Monday and declared that he would take responsibility for crafting a workable plan to build a new arena for the Kings and selling it to the public.
"If there is a plan, this will be a plan that I will put my name on," Stern said in a pre-game news conference at Arco Arena Monday evening.
While he has been involved in arena talks in other NBA cities, he said this is the first time he has taken the lead negotiator role.
Stern arrived in town Monday for a two-day whirlwind schedule of meetings with those in a position to help craft an arena plan, or shed light on why previous efforts have failed.
He said he came with no preconceived notions of what would work, but in meetings Monday he repeatedly brought up the idea of a statewide authority to help finance California sports venues.
Accompanying him was Baltimore sports and entertainment consultant John Moag, who plans to stay in town for at least two weeks to work on the effort.
Moag called the Sacramento arena effort to date "a little rudderless" and said Stern -- who officially represents the Maloof family, which owns the Kings -- will step into the role usually played by a political leader.
"Every one of these projects everywhere in the country needs a leader, and that's what David is doing," he said.
Stern spent the day meeting with Sacramento City Council members as well as leaders of the failed effort to raise sales taxes to build a new arena in the downtown railyard.
Today, he plans to sit down with Suheil Totah, vice president of downtown railyard developer Thomas Enterprises, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sacramento County officials, and Angelo K. Tsakopoulos, the region's most prominent developer and landowner.
The commissioner said he is trying to talk to a broad cross section of local and state leaders to come up with financing ideas.
"I'm here because the Maloofs have told me they want to stay and asked me to get involved," he said.
While Stern said he has no definite plan yet for financing a new arena, some of those who met with him said he brought up the idea of creating a statewide sports authority that could assist with the financing of sports venues throughout California.
Moag said he formerly chaired a similar authority in Maryland that used state revenue sources -- such as the lottery -- to build Oriole Park and nearby Ravens Stadium in Baltimore.
At Monday evening's news conference, Stern said he plans to investigate the idea further, even though he described his planned visit with Schwarzenegger primarily as a "courtesy call."
"I think there may ultimately be something that some legislative body could help with, but I don't know," he said. "This really is a courtesy call to the state's highest ranking elected official."
In last month's failed campaign to raise the Sacramento County sales tax to build a new arena, the Sacramento business and political establishment coalesced behind the idea that the arena should go in the railyard -- particularly if public money were involved in building it.
But Stern said he has "no preconceived notion" of where the arena should go. As for public funding, he said he doesn't see the voters' resounding rejection of Measures Q and R as a repudiation of the idea of any public money for an arena. Voters simply didn't like the deal on the table, he said.
"I would not rule out the possibility that some public dollars could be infused here," he said.
Stern met with five City Council members. Mayor Heather Fargo told reporters at an afternoon news conference that her meeting with Stern was cordial but produced no concrete solutions.
"He's looking for ideas," she said. "He didn't come with an answer."
She said Stern seemed willing to continue pursuing the idea of building an arena in the railyard or anywhere else that a viable plan could be put together. While city leaders prefer the railyard location, she said, they are open to other sites.
"We discussed location, and I think it's fair to say we're open to different locations in the city," Fargo said.
She said she personally suggested an NBA-wide program to help finance arenas in smaller city markets. "It would be difficult to get owners in other cities to help finance an arena here, but on the other hand we're part of the league," she said.
When she broached the idea, Fargo said, Stern "expressed concern about what other owners would think, but he didn't cut me off in mid-sentence."
But in the news conference, he said that was "not a likely scenario" for building an arena, although he is working on a revenue sharing plan to allow "mid-market teams to compete."
Fargo said she is encouraged by Stern's involvement but can't quickly forget seven years of failed arena efforts.
"At this point, there's no reason not to be optimistic, but given what I've been through, I'm not quite ready to break out the groundbreaking shovel yet," Fargo said.
Sandy Smoley, chairwoman of the Q&R campaign, said Stern told her during their meeting that he was in no hurry to reach a quick solution. Stern also was careful in his meeting with reporters not to set any deadline on reaching an arena deal.
"He said, 'We just want to take it slow and see what ideas are out there, and see if we can come up with something,'" she said.
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