Though the San Jose City Council remains in its July recess, Mayor Chuck Reed is moving forward to put a ballpark measure on the November ballot. While there’s been a lot of FUD regarding whether or not San Jose would do this, within City Hall there hasn’t been nearly as much drama. Call it the media’s version of the dog days of summer. Even Glenn Dickey got a word in late tonight.
As expected, San Jose’s posturing didn’t really amount to much, as it’s clear that they can’t really compete until all of the boxes on their checklist have checkmarks. Tonight’s news has an unnamed league source confirming this:
“Part of the problem is, Lew doesn’t have San Jose sewn up. It’s not like there’s a stadium ready to be built,” said this person, who refused to be identified because he isn’t authorized to speak for the league.
“If there was an approval, that could make a difference. It’s hard to say, ‘OK, Lew, you can have it,’ and then have them go through the voting process and end up losing.”
As recently as last week, Reed had said it would be up to Wolff whether the city should put a stadium measure on the ballot absent baseball’s approval. On Thursday, Wolff praised the mayor’s proposal.
“This is another element that would make the process more viable, just like acquiring the land and finishing the” supplemental environmental impact report, he said. “The more unknowns that can be out of the way, the better.”
As expected, Wolff also fell in line once San Jose got moving. While there will be representation from opposition groups, it’s highly likely that the Council will approve placing the measure on the ballot, especially because Wolff and a booster group will be picking up the tab.
It’s good to know that new opposition group Better Sense San Jose is headed by Shasta/Hanchett resident Marc Morris, and not an astroturf group. Morris has been present since Day 1 of the process, questioning the figures all the way, and all of his concerns should be properly addressed by the City and the A’s.
The real question at this point has to be: Will the Giants do something now that the A’s and San Jose have a “working relationship?”
9:43 AM – As a counterpoint, Congresswoman Barbara Lee penned a plea for Selig and MLB to focus on keeping the A’s in Oakland, which would help revitalize the city.
3:42 PM – The commissioner’s office has put out a response. In the statement, Selig voiced his disapproval for how San Jose is moving forward without his blessing. Is Selig doing his best Claude Rains impression? We’ll find out sooner or later.
Here’s the full text of the statement. Those of you who are reacting, what’s missing from the statement?
“We were surprised and disappointed by the news today in San Jose about the stadium referendum. We were not part of the process and had no knowledge that a decision to proceed with the election had been made. A ballot referendum is premature and completely independent of the ongoing work of the committee which has been in place to thoroughly study this situation.
“There is an established process in place and the committee will continue its work unaltered by these actions. Consistent with the ongoing evaluation of the Oakland A’s situation, the committee will meet with me once again this Monday. As I have said before, the object in this very complicated situation is not to get it done as fast as possible, but to get it done right.”
The question is not, “Why did Selig put out the statement?” The proper question is, “Why doesn’t MLB ask San Jose to wait for them to complete their work?”
newballpark.org 
Pingback: Tweets that mention newballpark.org / new A's ballpark -- Topsy.com
The first play from Duke Neukum will be from the Giants shell organization “Stand for San Jose”, then the fireworks will really start erupting with potential threats of lawsuits (both from the Gnats as well as Oakland), before Selig will swoop and and throw both sides to the bargaining table and look like the savior on this whole issue.
progress is good, yes. I wonder though if we will hear anything from MLB until after the election though.
Ask yourself why would Lew Wolff or any owner pay for a 450 million dollar stadium in Oakland without public money?
In San Jose, with the massive corporations in the area and downtown location it would make sense for Lew Wolff or any owner to build it on their own. Also the city has the highest per capita in the nation so disposable income is a plenty in San Jose. Why do you think the Giants keep saying NO. They know the A’s would be on higher footing then them in Silicon Valley.
The Giants lost a fan right here as I used to go to the stick from the South Bay all the time growing up but their inconsideration and bad tactics have alienated me and others in the South Bay.
The Giants have a whopping 7,000 ticket holders in Santa Clara County. 7k! That is not even 1% of the total population in the county. Those 7k are hardcore fans as going to SF from the South Bay is a pain and they are not going to switch allegiances all of a sudden.
In Oakland, the city has zero land, no EIR, and has time and time again sold of sites to other developers when the city was in discussions over the same sites with Wolff.
The 227 pages on why Wolff could not get it done in Oakland/Fremont serves as more than enough evidence that nothing will ever get done out there. Oakland is a poor city that does not deserve the A’s, who have brought 4 titles to the Bay Area.
Anyone with any intelligence would see San Jose is the largest city in the Bay Area and has the land, EIR, corporate support, and citizens with disposable income. Oakland has WHAT???
That is why San Jose is moving forward with the ballot; it will easily pass and what will MLB say at that point?
Well, I thought Oakland recently acquired the old firefighter training area?
I, a die hard Oakland A’s fan, know that San Jose will likely bring much fortune to the organization. However, the Giants are the proverbial “elephant in the room” due to the rights.
If Selig is unable to work a deal with the Giants, a la Baltimore, I think we’re in trouble. I’m sure the Commish really doesn’t want to go to court over this one.
Perhaps the committee is putting together a final Oakland proposal – should that not work, they will go to the other owners and point out the necessity of a move, and strip the Giants of the Santa Clara rights.
How about publishing Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s Op-ed today (July 23, 2010) in the Bay Area Newsgroup? In the interest of chronicling the history of this issue?
@68 A’s fan – A link to the letter has been added to the post.
I’m no fan of wolff, but he is doing his job in making everyone forget or overlook the fact that the actual majority owner and mr. deep pockets is john fisher and co. it’s not like the team is owned by some mom and pop family that had to break open their piggy bank to acquire the team and now have no money left over. the money is probably there to invest in the team if ownership really wanted to. the interest in doing so isn’t. at least not while they’re “stuck” in oakland. ellison sounds great and all, but whose to say he won’t want to get out of dodge just as fast?
That quote from the anonymous baseball insider reminds me of the question you asked us about why Selig let Steve Schott negotiate with Santa Clara back in 2001.
What g dickey should have also mentioned about Larry Ellison as he tried to promote him as the ultimate team owner for the A’s, is that LE also tried to buy the Seattle Supersonics–in fact his bid was higher than the winning bidders—but LE made clear 1 thing–he was moving the team to San Jose—Larry’s obviously a very successful biz man—not much of a philanthropist…so to assume that he would keep the A’s in Oakland is not fact based but merely wishful thinking on Dickey’s part—bttm line be careful what you wish for—
thank you Barbara Lee… as i have said often ;there are powerful people who DO NOT want the Athletics, in San Jose. Senator Boxer has also pledged her allegiance to Oakland.
the same senator boxer who lives down south in orange county….thats compelling–
Also just noted that Carl Guardino will be involved in the initiative and was quoted as saying that this will prove the citizens of San Jose overwhelming support the A’s move to San Jose. I assume that he will particiipate in his role as President and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group——-a consortium of the same hi tech companies that Neukom claims are critical to the gints fan base—
Not sure it will make a difference, but a great letter by Barbara Lee. But the good old boys club will do what they want, and it’s all about the money.
@GoA’s–so they have a house down south? They also have one in Oakland I believe, where her husband and son practice law.
@jk-usa–well aware of the family unit….she and her husband live in Rancho Mirage—
This just in….Selig’s response to Mayor Reed’s announcement.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20100723&content_id=12547138&vkey=pr_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig issued the following statement today regarding San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed’s proposal to put the Oakland Athletics stadium referendum on the November ballot:
“We were surprised and disappointed by the news today in San Jose about the stadium referendum. We were not part of the process and had no knowledge that a decision to proceed with the election had been made. A ballot referendum is premature and completely independent of the ongoing work of the committee which has been in place to thoroughly study this situation.
“There is an established process in place and the committee will continue its work unaltered by these actions. Consistent with the ongoing evaluation of the Oakland A’s situation, the committee will meet with me once again this Monday. As I have said before, the object in this very complicated situation is not to get it done as fast as possible, but to get it done right.”
huh—is this guy for real…was he suprised and disappointed that SJ has been buying property, that they completed and EIR and an SEIR, that DuPuy visited the city recently…..he is being controlled by Neukom and cant figure his way out of a bag—bottom line bs–lead or get out of the way—
Congresswoman Lee’s heart is in the right place. But she, like all the others stooping for Oakland’s cause, still fails to mention how any of it – – the land, the stadium, the transportation extensions – – would be paid for.
Doesn’t this make Selig look like A) a baby and B) like an incompetent fool?
What little respect I had left for Selig has now flown the coup. The guy makes absolutely no sense here unless what he’s really saying that there is no way that the A’s are going to SJ.
Selig’s comment is all part of the game. What do you expect him to say? If he said he thought it was a great idea for SJ to move forward then then there would be no reason to hold onto the committee report. I’d trust the MLB anonymous source on this one.
GJ10 is right on!
What did you expect Selig to say? Considering his buddy “Lewie” thinks moving forward with a ballot measure is an awesome idea, we probably can gather deep down what Selig really thinks of San Jose’s actions. It’s not like Selig said, “Because of Reeds actions, I’m disbanding my MLB committee and pronouncing NO WAY SAN JOSE for the A’s!” We’ll see if anything happens after Monday (probably not).
Jesse 1102,
You bring up an interesting point about Steve Schott and 2001. Not only did Selig allow Schott and Santa Clara to negotiate, but according to a 2001 Mercury News article by then columnist Skip Bayless, then Giants owner Peter Magowan approached Schott about selling the T-Rights to the A’s for $50 million. For reasons unknown, Magowan withdrew his offer a few days/weeks after and adamantly denied wanting to sell to the A’s. The Santa Clara idea ultimately fell apart, and Schott/Hoffman never revisited the South Bay idea again. Then came Lew Wolff…
Whoa, I didnt know about McGowan wanting to sell the rights. Thats the first I’ve ever heard that. I wonder what made him change his mind so fast?
I wasn’t as into stadium stuff then as I am now so I only have vague memories of Schott wanting to build a Coors field type park in Santa Clara and they were negotiating, then Ignacio DelaFuente appeared on television claiming that the A’s were trying to sell to a Vegas Casino Owner and then Santa Clara pulled out. Is that correct?
@GJ/Tony D–I what expect for bs to say what Mayor Reed said–we have a process—they have a process–they are independent of each other—no further discussion required–simple, accurate, and to the point….instead he comes out babbling–Pacifico got it right–he sounds whiny and incompentent—just as Roger Noll said—his job his to lead…and he is defintely NOT doing that–