Grand jury report slams city, county about arena efforts

[Comfortably Numb]

Grand jury report slams city, county about arena efforts

By Terri Hardy - Bee Staff Writer
http://www.sacbee.com/102/story/141673.html
The Sacramento County Grand Jury on Wednesday issued a scathing report on the city and county's efforts to build a new arena for the Sacramento Kings, charging that information was kept from the public and citizens were "misled."
But the report found no wrongdoing and offers little in the way of examples or evidence to back up those stinging conclusions.
Much of what the grand jury said was secret - including details surrounding a quarter-cent sales tax to pay for the arena on the November ballot -- was extensively reported or available to the media.
Another finding -- that the "the city and county of Sacramento keep pandering to the Kings" -- appears to be based on opinions of the grand jurors and is not supported by evidence in the report.
The recommendation attached to that finding includes observations that the county and city should build an arena and maintain all revenue. It concludes: "Stop worrying about the Kings."
The report, titled, "The Kings and city and county of Sacramento: Betrayal of the Kingdom?" was issued as an interim report. Typically such reports are deemed too important to wait for the publication of the grand jury's report, published in late June.
A citizen complaint and public criticism about efforts to build a new arena prompted the investigation, the report said.
The grand jury examined the most recent push to build an arena in the downtown railyard and an accompanying ballot initiative to win taxpayer funds for the project. It also evaluated the city's agreements with the developer of the railyard and the $70 million loan the city made the Kings in 1997.
When the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors in August placed arena Measures Q and R on the November ballot, the grand jury said they "breached the good faith of honest and open communication" and put forward a deal "that didn't exist."
But arena proponents, and the supervisors, made clear that many details of an arena deal had yet to be determined. Several media outlets, including The Bee, reported extensively on the subsequent negotiations and break down in talks between civic leaders and Kings attempting to hammer out a deal.
The failure to come up with a deal was cited as the primary reason that voters didn't support the measures, according to two opinion polls conducted for The Bee.
In the same vein, the grand jury accused the city as not being "forthright" with the residents of Sacramento by withholding details of its $70 million loan to the Kings. The report said the city told the grand jury the entire 800-page loan document wasn't available to the public - although 200 pages were posted on its Web site.
The grand jury eventually received the 800 pages. No problems with that loan are mentioned in the report.
In its findings, the grand jury said the city should make the entire loan document available because the loan continues to "remain the focus of many rumors."
That loan and its specific details have been the subject of several stories in The Bee.
The grand jury also found that the city "entered into an unknown number of agreements with the developer of the railyard and others related to the development of the railyard" and recommended that next year's grand jury focus on those deals.

 

[kennadog]

But the report found no wrongdoing and offers little in the way of examples or evidence to back up those stinging conclusions.

Much of what the grand jury said was secret - including details surrounding a quarter-cent sales tax to pay for the arena on the November ballot -- was extensively reported or available to the media.

Another finding -- that the "the city and county of Sacramento keep pandering to the Kings" -- appears to be based on opinions of the grand jurors and is not supported by evidence in the report.

Wow, just...wow. There are reasons that intelligent people will disagree about the arena.

But a grand jury report blasting anybody primarily on the basis of opinion, instead of facts? They should be fired tomorrow. Politics and opinion should not be what you get from a Grand Jury. I'm now worried a whole lot more about the Grand Jury system in Sacramento than the arena.

 

[BMiller52]

These stupid idiots complaining about the arena are insane. I'm 150% convinced.

 

[JB_kings]

Being selected to a grad jury is no big deal. Anyone with lots of time on their hands can do it. I was asked if I wanted to be on a grand jury and the only thing they were worried about is if I could show up. I didn't know these guys could write opinions based on no evidence. Pretty scary process.

 

[VF21]

Being selected to a grad jury is no big deal. Anyone with lots of time on their hands can do it. I was asked if I wanted to be on a grand jury and the only thing they were worried about is if I could show up. I didn't know these guys could write opinions based on no evidence. Pretty scary process.

They aren't supposed to write opinions. They're supposed to write reports based solely on an examination of evidence gathered during their investigations. In their formal report they are required to list the reason for the investigation in the first place, what factors were considered, what was investigated and by whom, and what was found. THEN in a separate conclusions/recommendations section, they are supposed to enumerate the conclusions they came to and what recommendations they have (if any) for correcting a situation.

The title itself, "The Kings and city and county of Sacramento: Betrayal of the Kingdom?" sure leads one to believe there's a pretty strong agenda at work here...