http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/79111.html
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Edited to add following text:
Editorial: A welcome for David Stern -- and some advice
The Sacramento region needs time to heal and devise a new Kings arena plan
Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, November 19, 2006
Story appeared in FORUM section, Page E6
Dear David Stern: Thanks for deciding to be a lead negotiator for the National Basketball Association in efforts to build a new arena in Sacramento. The last arena proposal -- Measures Q and R on the November ballot -- was so strange that not even the Sacramento Kings ended up supporting it. Even you wondered why anyone would vote Yes. You sensed the pickle Sacramento is in. A respected outside influence sure would be helpful, maybe even necessary, to figure out a solution.
Where to begin? Start with flight reservations -- many of them -- if you're serious about playing a meaningful role out here. You need to spend some time on the ground because if a new arena is to be built, chances are it will be an arrangement unlike any other.
First, some advice about Sacramento. Please sit down with Stan Thomas and the developers of the downtown railyard, the front-running site for the arena. They weren't initially a direct part of negotiations the last time around. If it seems strange to negotiate about someone's land without them squarely at the table -- well, welcome to our world.
The primary owners of the Kings, the Maloof family, have imposed various demands on the railyard, such as what can be built next to the arena and who gets the money (the Maloofs) from thousands of railyard parking spaces. Review these demands, and see if any other NBA owner in any downtown has this kind of deal. Then get all the principals in a room and try to make them live in the same version of reality.
There's a local consultant in town, Richie Ross, who has, um, brilliantly advised the Kings and Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo at various times. Listen closely to his arena advice. Write it down, word for word. And then do exactly the opposite.
Calling Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't a bad initial idea. But he hates taxes and surely isn't interested in making it easier for communities to build arenas with new taxes. If this thing is ever going to get built, people who live here will have to figure out how to do it. And the governor doesn't live here.
As for those who do, please give us some time. Sacramentans have felt under the gun with the Maloofs, who seem all chummy on the outside, all cut-throat at the negotiating table and all hurt when locals get tired of the routine. A deadline is probably helpful, but make it a doable deadline -- something like five years.
And while you're out West, please take a look at what is happening with the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco 49ers -- not to mention the Seattle SuperSonics. It's not just voters here who have decided that subsidies for grown men in sports uniforms aren't their top priority.
And before you leave New York, ponder some of the points that Bee sports columnist Marcos Bretón made the other day. The Sacramento arena problem is a symptom of a broader problem with the NBA. Medium-sized markets like ours need huge government subsidies to deal with financial inequities within the league. The league's business model is screwed up more than Sacramento's priorities are.
This community won't and can't paper over the NBA's problem with gobs of new taxes. It can work with just about anyone for a worthy civic goal. Keep that in mind. And welcome to town.
Mods: please reprint article here if you can. My formatting never turns-our correctly.
Thanks
Edited to add following text:
Editorial: A welcome for David Stern -- and some advice
The Sacramento region needs time to heal and devise a new Kings arena plan
Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, November 19, 2006
Story appeared in FORUM section, Page E6
Dear David Stern: Thanks for deciding to be a lead negotiator for the National Basketball Association in efforts to build a new arena in Sacramento. The last arena proposal -- Measures Q and R on the November ballot -- was so strange that not even the Sacramento Kings ended up supporting it. Even you wondered why anyone would vote Yes. You sensed the pickle Sacramento is in. A respected outside influence sure would be helpful, maybe even necessary, to figure out a solution.
Where to begin? Start with flight reservations -- many of them -- if you're serious about playing a meaningful role out here. You need to spend some time on the ground because if a new arena is to be built, chances are it will be an arrangement unlike any other.
First, some advice about Sacramento. Please sit down with Stan Thomas and the developers of the downtown railyard, the front-running site for the arena. They weren't initially a direct part of negotiations the last time around. If it seems strange to negotiate about someone's land without them squarely at the table -- well, welcome to our world.
The primary owners of the Kings, the Maloof family, have imposed various demands on the railyard, such as what can be built next to the arena and who gets the money (the Maloofs) from thousands of railyard parking spaces. Review these demands, and see if any other NBA owner in any downtown has this kind of deal. Then get all the principals in a room and try to make them live in the same version of reality.
There's a local consultant in town, Richie Ross, who has, um, brilliantly advised the Kings and Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo at various times. Listen closely to his arena advice. Write it down, word for word. And then do exactly the opposite.
Calling Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't a bad initial idea. But he hates taxes and surely isn't interested in making it easier for communities to build arenas with new taxes. If this thing is ever going to get built, people who live here will have to figure out how to do it. And the governor doesn't live here.
As for those who do, please give us some time. Sacramentans have felt under the gun with the Maloofs, who seem all chummy on the outside, all cut-throat at the negotiating table and all hurt when locals get tired of the routine. A deadline is probably helpful, but make it a doable deadline -- something like five years.
And while you're out West, please take a look at what is happening with the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco 49ers -- not to mention the Seattle SuperSonics. It's not just voters here who have decided that subsidies for grown men in sports uniforms aren't their top priority.
And before you leave New York, ponder some of the points that Bee sports columnist Marcos Bretón made the other day. The Sacramento arena problem is a symptom of a broader problem with the NBA. Medium-sized markets like ours need huge government subsidies to deal with financial inequities within the league. The league's business model is screwed up more than Sacramento's priorities are.
This community won't and can't paper over the NBA's problem with gobs of new taxes. It can work with just about anyone for a worthy civic goal. Keep that in mind. And welcome to town.
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