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Poll finds tepid arena support
Majority in four-county survey says a new Kings facility should be financed with private money.
By Terri Hardy -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, April 1, 2005
Even as local elected officials and business leaders attempt to renew discussions on how to build a new arena for the Sacramento Kings, a four-county survey released today shows residents have little enthusiasm or support for the issue.
On the most fundamental question - whether the Kings need a new arena - 33 percent of the 1,002 residents polled said such a facility was necessary. More than half of the respondents, 51 percent, preferred using only private money to pay for the facility, according to a study by the Institute for Social Research at California State University, Sacramento.
"The public is saying the Kings don't need a new arena - that message was clear and loud," said Amy Liu, a university sociologist who directed the survey. "What is also very clear is that if an arena is built, people think the Kings, the owners and the players, should help foot the bill."
The Sacramento State poll is the first independent survey to measure public sentiment on a new Kings arena. A survey commissioned by the Kings owners and released to the City Council last summer also indicated that a majority of respondents - 56 percent - did not want to use taxpayer funds for the project.
Over the past few years, several attempts to build a new arena using taxpayer dollars have been launched with fanfare, only to later implode, leaving controversy, bitterness and political scars. In February, a plan to build a privately funded arena collapsed when a consortium of North Natomas landowners, lawyers and community leaders concluded they could not raise enough money.
Bob Hernreich, a minority owner of the Kings who worked to help negotiate the failed private funding plan, said Arco Arena is aging and needs to be replaced. The Kings ownership, which includes Joe and Gavin Maloof, as well as several Sacramento-area families, cannot continue to pour $19 million each year into an outdated facility, he said.
Hernreich said public perception that the Kings ownership will not contribute to a new arena is unfounded. He pointed to the more than $10 million spent on previous failed arena attempts for such expenses as lawyers, consultants and architect fees. And he said the ownership is committed to paying off an $83 million city loan incurred by the previous owner, Jim Thomas.
"We're going to pay this debt off, we're going to provide the land - that's a sizable contribution already," Hernreich said.
Although the landowner plan fell through, Hernreich said the Kings continue to "deliberate and discuss" potential arena plans.
They will be helped along by some local leaders who have stepped into key roles and are attempting to start talks on a regional arena effort using private and public resources.
Rob Fong, who was sworn onto the Sacramento City Council late last year, has asked that an arena discussion take place at a council meeting within the next month. Fong, who supports a new arena, said the Sacramento State poll shows that there is a great deal of work ahead.
"We need to do a lot more public discussion and education around the need for a new facility as well as talk about actual details behind any initiative," Fong said.
Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson is taking a larger role in pushing for arena momentum, and the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce said the issue is one of its top priorities. It's expected that the arena will be a hot topic among Sacramento region officials traveling to Washington, D.C., as part of the chamber's "cap to cap" trip.
Matt Mahood, chamber president, agreed with Fong on the importance of educating the public on the problems with Arco.
"Unless we do something sooner rather than later, the Sacramento region is going to find itself at a competitive disadvantage, not just to keep the Kings, but in attracting other major shows and activities," Mahood said.
Mahood said the chamber was working to bring together a group of people to look at creative arena funding that makes financial sense. "We need a combination of elected officials ready to provide courageous leadership, private officials looking at a philanthropic approach, as well as the Maloofs or Kings ownership," Mahood said.
Mahood said he believed that the CSUS poll erred by not telling respondents that the recent North Natomas landowners plan included provisions to contribute millions to the arts and youth sports. He believes that would have increased the public's positive reception to the plan.
Members of the North Natomas landowners group had hoped to present voters with a ballot measure that would expedite development of farmland encompassing 9,000 acres north of the city of Sacramento. In return, the landowners would divert a portion of the development proceeds to the arts and to sports causes.
A poll commissioned last year by the North Natomas landowners said 62 percent of Sacramento city and county voters supported the private funding plan.
But the CSUS survey, conducted in English and Spanish from Feb. 15 to March 15 of this year, found 32 percent would have voted yes on the North Natomas ballot initiative. Even fewer, 26 percent, would have supported the measure if it were for a generic sports facility.
Liu said she doesn't believe that information about the youth sports and art contributions would have significantly affected the results.
The CSUS "Survey of Public Opinion and Life Quality in the Sacramento Region" found the highest percentage of support for a new arena came from Sacramento County, at 35 percent, and the lowest from Yolo County, at 23 percent. Men were more likely to endorse a new arena than women. Among registered voters, 39 percent of Republicans thought a new arena was necessary as opposed to 32 percent of Democrats.
Liu said people wanted to talk about the arena and were not often without an opinion. "People have a lot to say, they have a lot of strong feelings about the arena," she said.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12654753p-13508147c.html
Majority in four-county survey says a new Kings facility should be financed with private money.
By Terri Hardy -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, April 1, 2005
Even as local elected officials and business leaders attempt to renew discussions on how to build a new arena for the Sacramento Kings, a four-county survey released today shows residents have little enthusiasm or support for the issue.
On the most fundamental question - whether the Kings need a new arena - 33 percent of the 1,002 residents polled said such a facility was necessary. More than half of the respondents, 51 percent, preferred using only private money to pay for the facility, according to a study by the Institute for Social Research at California State University, Sacramento.
"The public is saying the Kings don't need a new arena - that message was clear and loud," said Amy Liu, a university sociologist who directed the survey. "What is also very clear is that if an arena is built, people think the Kings, the owners and the players, should help foot the bill."
The Sacramento State poll is the first independent survey to measure public sentiment on a new Kings arena. A survey commissioned by the Kings owners and released to the City Council last summer also indicated that a majority of respondents - 56 percent - did not want to use taxpayer funds for the project.
Over the past few years, several attempts to build a new arena using taxpayer dollars have been launched with fanfare, only to later implode, leaving controversy, bitterness and political scars. In February, a plan to build a privately funded arena collapsed when a consortium of North Natomas landowners, lawyers and community leaders concluded they could not raise enough money.
Bob Hernreich, a minority owner of the Kings who worked to help negotiate the failed private funding plan, said Arco Arena is aging and needs to be replaced. The Kings ownership, which includes Joe and Gavin Maloof, as well as several Sacramento-area families, cannot continue to pour $19 million each year into an outdated facility, he said.
Hernreich said public perception that the Kings ownership will not contribute to a new arena is unfounded. He pointed to the more than $10 million spent on previous failed arena attempts for such expenses as lawyers, consultants and architect fees. And he said the ownership is committed to paying off an $83 million city loan incurred by the previous owner, Jim Thomas.
"We're going to pay this debt off, we're going to provide the land - that's a sizable contribution already," Hernreich said.
Although the landowner plan fell through, Hernreich said the Kings continue to "deliberate and discuss" potential arena plans.
They will be helped along by some local leaders who have stepped into key roles and are attempting to start talks on a regional arena effort using private and public resources.
Rob Fong, who was sworn onto the Sacramento City Council late last year, has asked that an arena discussion take place at a council meeting within the next month. Fong, who supports a new arena, said the Sacramento State poll shows that there is a great deal of work ahead.
"We need to do a lot more public discussion and education around the need for a new facility as well as talk about actual details behind any initiative," Fong said.
Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson is taking a larger role in pushing for arena momentum, and the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce said the issue is one of its top priorities. It's expected that the arena will be a hot topic among Sacramento region officials traveling to Washington, D.C., as part of the chamber's "cap to cap" trip.
Matt Mahood, chamber president, agreed with Fong on the importance of educating the public on the problems with Arco.
"Unless we do something sooner rather than later, the Sacramento region is going to find itself at a competitive disadvantage, not just to keep the Kings, but in attracting other major shows and activities," Mahood said.
Mahood said the chamber was working to bring together a group of people to look at creative arena funding that makes financial sense. "We need a combination of elected officials ready to provide courageous leadership, private officials looking at a philanthropic approach, as well as the Maloofs or Kings ownership," Mahood said.
Mahood said he believed that the CSUS poll erred by not telling respondents that the recent North Natomas landowners plan included provisions to contribute millions to the arts and youth sports. He believes that would have increased the public's positive reception to the plan.
Members of the North Natomas landowners group had hoped to present voters with a ballot measure that would expedite development of farmland encompassing 9,000 acres north of the city of Sacramento. In return, the landowners would divert a portion of the development proceeds to the arts and to sports causes.
A poll commissioned last year by the North Natomas landowners said 62 percent of Sacramento city and county voters supported the private funding plan.
But the CSUS survey, conducted in English and Spanish from Feb. 15 to March 15 of this year, found 32 percent would have voted yes on the North Natomas ballot initiative. Even fewer, 26 percent, would have supported the measure if it were for a generic sports facility.
Liu said she doesn't believe that information about the youth sports and art contributions would have significantly affected the results.
The CSUS "Survey of Public Opinion and Life Quality in the Sacramento Region" found the highest percentage of support for a new arena came from Sacramento County, at 35 percent, and the lowest from Yolo County, at 23 percent. Men were more likely to endorse a new arena than women. Among registered voters, 39 percent of Republicans thought a new arena was necessary as opposed to 32 percent of Democrats.
Liu said people wanted to talk about the arena and were not often without an opinion. "People have a lot to say, they have a lot of strong feelings about the arena," she said.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12654753p-13508147c.html
