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Dellums, IDLF, Reid meet with MLB committee
The first of what promises to be several meetings between the City of Oakland and MLB's "Blue Ribbon" committee took place earlier today. On hand for the City were Mayor Ron Dellums and City Council members Ignacio De La Fuente and Larry Reid. Their counterparts were Bob Starkey, Corey Busch and Irwin Raij.
"It was an excellent meeting," Dellums said afterward. "We've begun an excellent dialogue. We've agreed to meet on a regular basis and our hope is that we will come to some fruition at some point down the line. ... Obviously, on our side, we want to keep the Oakland A's."
Obviously, it's premature to expect anything truly substantive to come out of an opening session. Recriminations have to happen first, I suppose. What struck me was this:
Dellums has not yet finalized the local A's stadium committee, said Paul Rose, the mayor's spokesman.
I'm not sure how to react to this.
47 comments:
Nice way to be ready to prove to MLB you have the will and desire to keep the team. Like going to a job interview without a resume'.
that seems rather odd on dellums part, but I'm glad that the MLB team is quick. just hope the meetings produce some results.
great game last night though!
Come on Dellums, at least try. How can you not take the most fundamental steps to convince MLB you have the wherewithal to put together a stadium deal? Hasn't he ever heard the rule about first impressions? He could have come in looking buttoned down and ready to move forward by handing MLB his committee names and qualifications along with a list of potential sites they are analyzing. It doesn't matter if they really are analyzing anything yet. Just give them the impression you are. Instead, he reinforces the notion that Oakland isn't ready to deal with this.
Was everyone here at that meeting? How do you all know about the details? Unfortunately, there are many people here who are hoping Oakland fails.
We haven't heard any mention of potential sites. We've already talked about a very viable site near Jack London Square. The Oakland Fire Department Training Site trumps the Fremont site, in which Lew Wolff invested 24 million dollars, in every way. And, we don't even know if that site is on Oakland's official short list. There are quite a few sites on the Oakland waterfront which may be available now that weren't available when the housing market was red hot.
Why don't we give Oakland a chance to put out some official sites for consideration before we start pilling on? And NO, Oakland hasn't had 15 years working with a willing partner to work on this issue. And anyone who says so is not being genuine.
Navigator--Oakland has had 15 years--and still no viable site--while I appreciate your unbridled enthusiasm for the city of Oakland I don't appreciate you selling out the A's and their need for a new ballpark to let Oakland try and get its act together--minimum expectation going into the meeting with MLB would be to have your ballpark committee put together with a specific action plan--
Nav,
YES...Oakland has had 15 years to get it's act together! Talk about not being genuine. Your post reeks of denial. Uptown site? Coliseum Flea Market? Coliseum parking lot (ugh)? How many more years must MLB give Oakland? Anyhow, I'd give the city until July to produce what San Jose did in three years: site, completed EIR, ballpark group/committee, local/corporate support, etc. In other words, STEP UP OR STEP ASIDE! Enough is enough.
Navigator...
I don't mean to attack you. I keep saying, to clarify, I am not for Oakland failing. I want the A's in a new stadium in the Bay Area. With that said:
How long has San Jose had to work with a willing partner? Considering the only team that can move to their city is already playing in a brand new stadium?
And did that stop them from buying the land, certifying an EIR and putting forth a plan for a stadium? So what is stopping Oakland from doing that?
I don't think it is unfair to ask why Ron Dellums has yet to appoint a stadium task force (as he supposedly already had) over the last two months. If you are serious about the A's staying in Oakland, you should be interested in holding the City leaders to the same scrutiny you would hold MLB, the A's, etc.
It's pretty clear that you aren't.
Navigator, you are easily the funniest poster ever to show up here. A pie-in-the-sky location that no one has expressed any interest in, that may not be available at all, that from a cursory look doesn't seem to be a good fit anyway, that has serious infrastructure limitations, somehow in your deluded fantasy world trumps a site (in every way, mind you) that the team already controlled, that was cleared, leveled and ready to build, that has easy freeway access, that had ACE/CC access onsite, that had an EIR underway, that had ample onsite space for the village and funding mechanism the team had planned, etc, etc. There is no way to take anything you write seriously. Nothing you've written has any basis in reality. At all.
Anon 9:49
Mentioning a site, and then 2 months later arbitrarily ruling it out, does not constitute a genuine effort to get a ballpark built in Oakland.
You mentioned sites which were barely even talked about with the exception of Lew Wolff's wild fantasy for 66th to High St. (And, the OFDT site is not feasible?) Mr. Wolff even wanted a BART station at that location in order to make it even more unattainable.
You also mentioned the Coliseum parking lot which Mr. Wolff must have considered for a full two weeks before the "power lines running through the parking lot" did that one in. You also bring up the HOK study for the Uptown site which the city of Oakland invested 200,000 dollars in, so that Steve Schott could completely ignore the site, even as hundreds of A's fans packed Oakland City Hall to fight for it. Lew Wolff had nothing to do with that one by the way.
Mr. Wolff shouldn't be trying to take credit for Steve Schott's charades. Mr. Wolff has plenty of his own when it comes to less than full hearted attempts at Oakland ballpark building.
However that's all in the past. Oakland deserves a legitimate shot at this ballpark. I'm hoping that the OFD training site is included on the list.
Also, the reason that the OFD site is better than the Fremont site is because of proximity to public transportation, proximity to restaurants and the waterfront, along with proximity to the vast majority of Oakland A's fans.
The poster who mentioned on another thread that the Red Sox have many supporters in Oakland, and that wouldn't be the case in San Jose, is wrong. As a matter of fact, there will be far more Red Sox supporters in San Jose because of the difficulty of getting to a South Bay ballpark for Oakland A's fans, along with the alienation brought on by the relocation out of Oakland. And, I don't want to even think about what the place will be like if the Giants were to play the A's in San Jose. It's way too depressing to think about.
Also anon 11:47,
There's a difference between building a ballpark for the sake of building a ballpark, and building a ballpark which is accessible and serves the needs of your fan base. This includes location which is in keeping with the history, tradition and legacy of the franchise. You seem to dismiss that little fact.
I can probably identify 14 acres of "cleared land" in Morgan Hill, that would accommodate a ballpark. However, that's not the point.
Navigator,
You seem to think that you speak for all, or the vast majority of, A's fans. Well, as an A's fan living in San Jose, and knowing a lot down here, you don't speak for us. And again, the "heart of the fan base" is doing a horrible job of filling the Coliseum (especially against the BoSox).
I, like hamachi, am heartened to see MLB moving on this issue quickly--it is time to wrap it up sooner than later and I hope that it is decided well before the end of the season so that we can move forward.
As someone in this blog recently articiulated--San Jose made great strides without any committment of a team---Oakland has a team and hasn't made any progress---this bs about a willing partner is just that--bs---bring something real to the table and you would have had a willing partner--
Also, keep in mind that Dellums has got the Raiders and Uncle Al watching closely---will be fasinating to watch him try and manage that one with a $20M annual hangover for AC from the last remodel.
Anon 2:15
Second your opinion--according to navigator A's fans in SJ don't exist---shows his limited understanding of the A's overall fan base---and yes---also pretty tired of going to the games and having the BoSox fans outnumber the A's fans---with such a weak season tix base it makes it easy for the enemy to take over---will be completely different in SJ where I would predict a much stronger season ticket base--
So, where my taking Navigator seriously ends is when he refers to the "hundreds" of Oakland residents who were pushing for the Uptown site. I was at that "Keep the A's in Oakland" rally... To point to that as evidence of the larger fan bases desire to keep the A's in Oakland is laughable.
Keep dreaming Nav. I hope it comes true for you, honestly. Maybe when you decide to deal in reality rather than hyperbole you can take part in a real debate with real ideas and real solutions.
Nav,
There are many things which go into defining what is a "good location" for a ballpark.
If tradition and transportation were so important, explain to me why the A's can only draw 22K for games against the Red Sox? The A's certainly have history, and the Coliseum sits right next to 880 and its own BART station. The problem goes beyond that. As you noted in your post, you don't build a ballpark just for the sake of building a ballpark. Other factors such as proximity to corporate support and a casual fanbase also come into play. Wolff has said it, and I'll repeat it, the A's don't want to be in Oakland. It's not a knock on Oakland, it really isn't. It's just that having a team in Oakland does not make financial sense, the same what it doesn't make sense in Sacto, Pleasanton, or Concord.
So in my opinion, you can think of a dozen different sites in Oakland, but none of them will work, because they are in Oakland. Sorry for being so blunt. If it will make you feel any better, I live on the peninsula, and I don't think any site here on the peninsula would work either.
One more thing, please stop making statements suggesting that the vast majority of A's fan live in or around Oakland. I've said this many times before, as a STH, I sell a lot of my tickets to fans from all over the Bay Area. Oakland buyers account for around 5% of my buyers.
So, Nav, your only point comes back to your tin-foil hat roots: every site in Oakland city limits is better than any site outside it because you say so. And everyone who disagrees hates and conspires against Oakland. Sorry, but no one outside the doofi at the OAFC is going to take you seriously.
You know, Nav, if you'd threaten to hold your breath until Lew builds where you tell him to, you'd be making a much more intellectually stimulating argument than anything you've posted here so far. Seriously.
You guys don't get it. It's about the location why the fans aren't showing up. They would much rather watch it from their homes. The A's need a new ballpark, they don't need to leave Oakland. It's all about the casual fans these days and the casual fans are the one's who aren't showing up because of the outdated Coliseum and the location is not too appealing. But if we build a brand new ballpark in downtown near the waterfront you better believe there will be plenty of be sell outs games and probably have better attendance than the Giants for at least for the first several years.
Casual fans will come to a downtown Oakland ballpark near the waterfront where the weather is awesome for baseball, there's plenty of restaurants, bars, parking and transportation.
San Jose folks knows that this will work great and that you will still love coming to the new ballpark in Oakland for years to come.
And NO we haven't had 15 years to build it. The A's haven't even been "looking" for a new ballpark until Lew Wolff took over as managing partner in 2005, so if anything 4 years. When Schott was looking for a new ballpark they were trying to leave Oakland, not see what Oakland had to offer. Not the same. Get the facts straight.
Get the facts straight. Oakland has had 15 years to come up with something, anything and they still haven't got a committee together. It's just sad.
No serious consideration has ever been made by any previous owners in Oakland. The Haas family never had a need to look for a new ballpark because attendance was fabulous and the Coliseum was considered one of the best at that time!
Schott never was seriously looking in Oakland for anything, just looking to move out. And Lew Wolff...well we all know how hard he tried in Oakland!!
Anon at 4:24 pm summed it up.
i hate to say it, bu the red sox nation is just that strong. they're everywhere!! boston it's self is just a sports city the last several years. you ask any real giants fan and they'll tell you that if and when the red sox play at ATT, it's the same deal, 50/50 and it pisses them off just as much. we have to deal with it every season.
san jose folks are delirious if they think a ballpark in down south wouldn't attract red sox nation down there as well. you better believe they will come in numbers regardless.
Agreed, Anon 4:24 has the post of the day. This 15 years meme needs to die hard. It just gets repeated by "Anonymous" posters again and again with nothing to back it up.
And, yes you can hate all you want, but Boston fans know how to support their team at home or wherever the go. And I am sure the ownership is thankful for the additional revenue at those games.
Anon 4:24 sure sounds exactly like Navigator making the same emotional arguments with no factual basis.
During the Haas years and all years... there were only 8 seasons where the A's were above the mid point for attendance. How do those 8 seasons prove that the other 31 are the real outliers?
I will attend game sin San Jose or Oakland. I don't really care, but if the arguments of the Oakland only crowd rest on a Red Sox fan and a person who can't use anything but his opinion to make an argument... God help them.
One last thing... the 15 years meme. In 1995 Steve Schott approached Oakland to propose a remodel of the coliseum. What he wanted was to remodel the place to be something like what would eventually been done in Anaheim. What he got was Mt. Davis.
It has been common knowledge that since then, the A's have wanted a new place. 2009-1995=14 years. Close enough?
Guys--give me a break---When did the Raiders return to Oakland and ruin the Colisieum with their remodel? Schott made it very clear then we need a new ballpark--When did Richard Bobb get fired?? It has been 15 years and the best you can do is have Oakland civic boosters on this site point fingers every which way but at their leaders who have done NOTHING for 15 YEARS!! Let's even be generous--wtf has been going on for the past 10---past 5---you still don't have a site and you don't have a completed EIR and you don't have a fan base---and your not going to get any of these near term---grip reality!! When a city can do all of these without having a team you gotta question whats up with Oakland--quite the mindless blogging of blaming LW and SS---take accountability and your gonna be way ahead of the game---damn--if you worked for me I would have fired you by now--if you were my kids we would have some serious talks--the victim mentality is getting REALLY OLD!!!
What I love is that at the end of the day...all you San Jose folks will still be rooting for the OAKLAND A's. You'll still be making the 45 minute drive from San Jose to Oakland for the foreseeable future when you want to see your "home" team play, and you'll continue to chant lets-go-OAKLAND at the Coliseum.
The bottom line is that Lew Wolff and the owners as well as Schott has NEVER lost money as owners of the A's. In fact they are one of like only three other teams in the entire league that have even turned a profit in the last several years. Lew Wolff has nothing to say...he's making his money and so are the partners.
San Jose isn't gonna happen. I thought we've already gone over this before??
You just cited why SJ will happen--they make money because the other MLB clubs subsidize their existence---if I'm an owner and you tell me you can be taken off the dole if you support the move to SJ--guess what---and if SJ doesn't happen--I'll still be rooting for my A's--but it won't be in Oakland--it will be in some other part of the country--just like the Seattle SS---but for the next 4 years--your right--I'll be making the trek to Oakland--but because I am so sick of the Oakland shit on here--I refrain from saying "let's go Oakland"---I'll wait till they get to SJ--
Jeffrey,
I was at Oakland City Hall with the hundreds of fans who completely filled the chambers when the Oakland A's failed to even send a low level representative to stand behind the fans in support of that Uptown site, which BTW, gets mentioned quite often as the reason the A's have nowhere to go in Oakland.
How many fans stood in Fremont as Lew Wolff made countless trips to City Hall and spent well over 24 million?
By contrast, I doubt Steve Schott and Lew Wolff even know where Oakland City Hall is located. However, they're really familiar with San Clara City Hall, Fremont City Hall, along with San Jose City Hall. That fact alone speaks volumes.
Guys, spare me the revisionist history please.
I guess some folks really hate Oakland that much. This city and this stadium have a ton of problems. And the economics and politics of Oakland are an absolute mess. But it is still a great place to live and a great place to watch a ballgame. I dont know about ya'll, but I had a great time at the Coliseum the past two nights, freezing my balls off watching my team lose in devastating fashion. And I always do when I go to an A's game. I got home in 15(!!!) minutes and had great seats for cheap. Maybe we should just enjoy some baseball instead trying to one up each other with bigger and better stadiums every 15 years.
And really, its a sad state of affairs when you can't even say your home team's name at a game anymore out of spite.
Give me a break dbackman---playing the victim card again--glad that the ballpark and location works for you--pretty sad when your that selfish to only look at yourself---because it don't work for many---its not about bigger stadiums--its about a better stadium that can actually attract fans so we can compete with your Bosox for 162 games per year--
Go A's!!!
I was at todays game, the sox destroyed us. But we won the series anyways :) What pisses me off is A's fans that bag on the Coliseum. Yes we want a new park (In Oakland) but if your a true A's fan, you should like the coliseum cause it's the A's home. I love seeing games at the coliseum cause it's the A's home, o well if it's outdated and dull. What I come to see an A's game on the field. Not a nice park with great views (which I would like to see) but it doesn't matter to a true fan. I have a friend who is a big Giants fan, and he said he wouldn't give a crap if they where still at candlestick. Which is rated worse than the coliseum. Anyways go A's, and I hope they can find a place to build a park in Oakland. F$#! any other city for the A's!
Anon 7:06--and how many beers today...? Wow---
If you think I am ever playing the victim you are mistaken. I'm happy that I enjoyed the games in Oakland the past two days and really do think it is unfortunate that you were unable to do so.
There is obviously no way to keep all the fans happy at once when the regional support of a team is spread thin over the whole Bay Area. Boston benefits from being the hub of a very centralized region. It doesn't have to compete with another baseball team over five and a half states. Back in the Bay Area, you have a large group of A's fans that seem to despise the team's host city. When the internal dynamic between fans, owners and cities is this hostile, it affects everyone negatively.
Everyone is here because they think the A's need a new and better stadium. But you can't just blame Oakland for all of the team's problems, just as the Oakland crowd shouldn't just pin everything on Wolff. People are going to have to work together if your squad is going to get anything done in the coming years.
"What I love is that at the end of the day...all you San Jose folks will still be rooting for the OAKLAND A's. You'll still be making the 45 minute drive from San Jose to Oakland for the foreseeable future when you want to see your "home" team play, and you'll continue to chant lets-go-OAKLAND at the Coliseum."
--You mean the "San Jose partisans" are way less biased than their Oakland counterparts?
"The bottom line is that Lew Wolff and the owners as well as Schott has NEVER lost money as owners of the A's. In fact they are one of like only three other teams in the entire league that have even turned a profit in the last several years. Lew Wolff has nothing to say...he's making his money and so are the partners."
--Revenue sharing be damned.
"San Jose isn't gonna happen. I thought we've already gone over this before??"
--What in Oakland is new or fresh with regards to a stadium?
d'back--was at all 3 games--supporting the A's---and yes I make the 45 min+ trek and will continue to do so unitl they finally get new digs--I have nothing against Oakland but the Colisieum sucks!! And the Oakland leaders have had 15 years and most recently can't even figure out how to but a stadium task force together---San Jose it is---time to get on with it and cut the peace and love--it has nothing to do with Oakland and everything to do with getting a new stadium for the A's so that they can compete--
GO A's---and Sharks!!!
Any ideas as to who may be on the committee for a new ballpark in Oakland? Who might be a good candidate for something like that?
Anon 5:48 hit the nail on the head! Whether its 15 or 5 years, Oakland has had more than enough time to get its act together. Stop blaming Wolff and Schott and put the blame where it belongs ; with the city of Oakland. You Oakland partisans are starting to sound like criminals who blame the system for their problems. Marinelayer, please end the insanity of this thread.
I believe Doug Boxer the son of Senator Barbara Boxer who sits on Oakland Planning, should be on the commission. I would also suggest Phil Tagami the developer of the Oakland Fox Theater, city wide Council member Rebecca Kaplan, former A's pitcher Dave Stewart, Oakland City attorney John Russo, and former Mayor and present Attorney General, Jerry Brown.
What's not clear to me is whether or not MLB blue ribbon committee cares if Oakland has a ballpark taskforce. From their perspective they are there to understand what has been attempted in the past and why it has failed--not to spend a bunch of time churning with a new ballpark committee--as I recall this was Dellum's idea--not MLB's---so not sure if it matters one way or the other---because bottom line--the Oakland ballpark committee is not going to be able to change any business realities of staying in Oakland regardless of where the stadium is located
That's a pretty solid list of people Navigator...I like it!!
I like ML's list also-- the blue ribbon commission will definetely want to hear why Moon Unit fired the one guy who cared about an Oakland stadium, they'll be fascinated with Doug Boxer's thoughts about Selig (while of course having nothing to propose) while the others have symbolic value but nothing else---so who leads this committee--Dellums? Can't wait to see moon unit reporting thru Dellums on how he worked to successfully kill the A's in Oakland.
What's missing entirely is any corporate contribution showcasing that the A's will have business support--but once again--not sure it matters--symbolic gestures are not going to go far with the blue ribbon commission--
Jerry Brown?! Why in god's name would he be on any baseball committee? I thought you wanted to help Oakland's chances of keeping the A's, not doom them!
Dave Stewart has said he doesn't think Oakland is a very strong baseball town, I'd leave him off. Jerry Brown wanted nothing to do with the A's stadium efforts of the past, I'd leave him off too.
I would think more like Dick Spees, Don Perata, Glenn Issacson (developer who has worked with Wolff) maybe beg Robert Bobb to come back for a while.
look people, at the end of the day,lew DOES NOT want to be in oakland!!can he make it any more clear to you??HE DOES NOT like your town!!! Hes already rejected you!!!accept it! you have been dumped!!you guys are like that psycho girlfriend who cant move on after a break up....LEW DOES NOT LIKE YOU OAKLAND...for what ever reason...he DOES NOT LIKE YOU!!
hey anon 10:19, at the end of the day you'll still continue to support the OAKLAND A's just like you probably have for years. Thanks for your financial contribution all these years! Although I must say that you're actually the one who sounds like the psycho ex-girlfriend who can't move on after so many years of trying to lure the boyfriend away who's already involved with someone else.
Get over it, the A's aren't going anywhere.
Wow, the last two comment threads have been pretty wasteful. Time to end them.
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