After an Argus story Friday about Haggerty's renewed call to bring the A's ball club to Fremont, De La Fuente called the newspaper to say the supervisor made that suggestion because he feels marginalized about no longer being able toserve on the board that oversees the Oakland Arena and McAfee Coliseum, the current home of the A's.
"Haggerty is feeling neglected and ignored, and sometimes you have to do things to get your name out there," said De La Fuente, who added that he didn't think the A's franchise is looking at any other Bay Area city outside Oakland to build a new ballpark. "I don't think Fremont or Pleasanton are in the picture, period. I don't think San Jose or Santa Clara are in the picture, period."
But Haggerty said that rather than respond to reports in the media about alternative sites for a baseball-only stadium, De La Fuente should be focusing his attention on Oakland's budget woes, which have forced the city to "dump" its jail population on the county.
De La Fuente replied that he settled the city's budget two weeks before it was due. "I'm taking care of my business," he added.
Haggerty, whose district includes most of Fremont, as well as Pleasanton and Livermore, said he was not intimidated by De La Fuente's "thug tactics."
I would have thought that such bile was reserved for online message boards, not the print media. So much for that. The worst part is, it's probably not going to get easier for De La Fuente and other Oakland-based supporters, especially when San Jose officially gets into the mix.
4 comments:
Hey, if a ballpark was built at the Estuary how long of a walk is it from Lake Merrit Bart? Also, as an alternative to walking, do you think the city might try and get a trolley service going or maybe work out something with AC Transit to transfer fans to the ballpark?
It's about a 15 minute walk. Not exactly scenic, but that can change, especially if the channel is fully developed all the way to the estuary. Not sure about the large homeless camps there, though - the homeless are running out of places to stay.
Oakland prefers a trolley right now to link Jack London Square and BART, but there isn't any money to fund it right now.
so are you saying that the walk from Lake Merrit Bart to O-9 is about like the Coliseum Bart to the Warriors arena?
I think the majority of the parking for a ballpark on Oak to 9th has to be on the Laney side of 880, along with the garages included in the 300 million dollar Jack London Square expansion.
The parking and transportation situation at Oak to 9th should not be the problem that some parties in the media are making it out to be.
Also, a trolley linking City Center, Old Oakland, Chinatown, and Lake Merritt to the ballpark, would be a great mode of transportation, not to mention a great tourist attraction that would showcase Oakland's various downtown districts.
Oakland needs to bite the bullet and spend the 40 million. With all the development going on Downtown, Uptown, and Jack London Square, now is the time to do some thing to bring together all these areas and turn downtown and the waterfront into something really special for Oakland and the entire region. The trolley to the ballpark would create the synergy needed to make the ballpark and Downtown Oakland a great success.
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