A’s President Quoted As Saying Ballpark Funding Bill Will Advance ‘In A Responsible Way;’ Hearing For A’s Proposed Ballpark Subsidy Legislation Set For Memorial Day
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
Not much has been heard from the Oakland Athletics management after the Nevada Legislature agreed to take a look at a proposed bill designating $380 million in public assistance for a $1.5 billion A’s stadium on the Strip.
On Memorial Day Monday at 4 PM, the public gets its say on S.B. 509 only a week before the state Legislature is scheduled to adjourn June 5. The negotiations, the bill’s wording and the proposed legislation has moved at breakneck speed in the past few weeks after the Athletics spent five years negotiating with the city of Oakland about a waterfront ballpark at Howard Terminal in Oakland.
Five days ago when Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo said there was a “tentative deal” between the state, Clark County and the A’s for the stadium subsidy deal, Athletics team president Dave Kaval was quoted in a press release saying, “We look forward to advancing this legislation in a responsible way.”
A “responsible way” means staging a joint public hearing for a stadium subsidy bill on a holiday when many people are traveling or spending time with friends and family. Check the bill here.
The joint meeting of the Senate’s Finance Committee and the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee does not mean committee members will be smoking marijuana at the hearing today. A joint meeting means there will be only one hearing on this controversial bill that was filed mere days ago. The bill is called the “Southern Nevada Tourism Innovation Act.”
For S.B. 509 to move along, both committees must approve the proposed law. If the proposed legislation gets the green light in committee votes, it moves on to the full Senate and Assembly where all members will get a chance to vote on the proposal.
Oakland-area website designer Matt Ortega contacted people who signed up for his NoNevadaMoney website to advise them about today’s stadium bill hearing. Ortega wrote,” “This past Friday, lawmakers unveiled legislation to provide at least $380 million in public financing for A’s billionaire team owner John Fisher to build a ballpark. It probably comes as no surprise to you that the A’s and their legislative allies are rushing this legislation through a holiday weekend.
“That’s why we need your help once more. Lawmakers will discuss the legislation in a joint meeting of the State Senate and Assembly today at 4pm. Over the past month, you sent a letter to key stakeholders explaining why this stadium scam is bad for Nevadans. Now you can make your voice heard directly on the record with a public comment.”
The joint hearing will be staged at the Legislative Building’s room 4100 in Carson City later today. People can dial 888-475-4499 with the meeting ID 816 7274 0846 and press # to join.
Las Vegas area locals can watch a videoconference of the 4PM hearing at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building at 555 E. Washington Ave. in downtown Las Vegas. The public can only hope the government building will be open on Memorial Day.
The bill includes the $380 million public contribution for a 30,000-seat venue the A’s claim will attract 2.5 million fans a game to the ballpark site at the Tropicana hotel-casino location at Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue. (It should be noted that 81 home games times 30,000 fans/game is 2.43 million fans.)
From listening to local reactions, most people want a Major League Baseball team for Las Vegas but most people also do not want to subsidize the ballpark’s construction bill.
The A’s need a public stadium subsidy from the host community to show MLB team owners and league officials that Clark County and Nevada will financially assist in building the ballpark in order to draw MLB approval for the A’s relocation from Oakland to the Strip.
Many locals also did not appreciate the scheduling of the bill’s only hearing on Memorial Day. Here’s a sample from Twitter:
The bill proposal does not include a site for the ballpark. In April, Koval said the Athletics were moving on from Oakland and talking exclusively with Nevada and he said at the time the site was the former Wild Wild West 49-acre location off Tropicana Avenue just west of Interstate 15 and Dean Martin Drive, about a mile west of the current Tropicana hotel ballpark site.
LVSportsBiz.com discussed the Athletics ballpark subsidy issue with Ira Sternberg’s “Talk About Las Vegas With Ira” program:
