Robinson says, as has been reported here, and reported here, that the state task force (Local Financing Options for King County, Joint Task Force) is supposed to meet again this month. That task force is chaired by Ross Hunter. It is unlikely that Hunter, or any other politician running for office this November will want to be very public about this subject. The task force has a report out date of December 10th, I expect the month between the election and that report date to be the period of heavy lifting.
As Robinson says, the city needs to have its plan together before that legislature starts up. Robinson says that he has met with Dino Rossi.
The reality for the city, Hunter, Chris Gregoire, Rossi, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, and Brian Robinson, is that the first NBA season without the Sonics in Seattle is Tuesday, October 28th, one full week before election day. This is in time to be right in front of the majority citizens that vote by mail.
The first NBA preseason game is October 5th (I had to look it up). The sports columnists, reporters, journalists, bloggers, sports radio, will have nothing much to cover in the two weeks leading up to that because the Seattle Seahawks have a bye week the prior Sunday. That is two weeks without meaningful local NFL coverage. The Seattle Mariners season officially ends September 28th. The NBA, and the missing team story, will fill the hole in the sports section at some point during that period. What else are they going to write about?
I suggest that before the memory of the settlement between Clay Bennett and Greg Nickels, agreed to by the city council, becomes newspaper fodder at the end of September, beginning October, that the politicians get their shit together.
I am guessing that Brian Robinson will get asked, and he is likely to "point fingers", that is the leverage he has right now.
Oh, and a fine hello from Brian Robinson to Brad Keller (seen below).
Brad Keller, seen here preparing to stab Seattle in the back.
Get out of town, jackass!
http://sonicscentral.com/blog/?p=2086
Have a great day,
Mr Baker
Sent from my iPhone
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2 comments:
I'm feeling Minnesota today as I watch the Vikings play the Colts this morning. I wonder how the municipalities of Minneapolis/St. Paul and the state manage to have things so good sports wise. In the last 10 years the leaders of this great state have built an arena for an NHL team, a football stadium for the University of Minnesota, and a baseball only stadium for the Twins. The Vikings are next in line for a stadium and it will happen. It'll happen in spite of the collapse of the I-35 bridge. Because they will find the money and the wherewithall to take care of that and still get it done. I envy Minnesota. They lost teams, and realized what value they had got teams back. So I'm feeling Minnesota. I don't want to look California.
Unlike Washington State, at all levels of government, Gov Ventura set up the Minnesota Stadium Task Force to review the issue from 2001 to 2002 as its own issue. It included the pro sports as well as the University of Minnesota football stadium.
Wahington State has chosen to include the groups they eventually would have to find compromises with into a "King County" task force.
I think that if you compare the sizes of groups between the two states that this is the right size for us to look at the problem.
What is missing is the Seahawks and Mariners in the discussion, each, to some degree has had the involvement of all levels of government participate in some way. They do maintain the parts they use, but the capital investment is something else. That funding mechanism will either expire (fat chance), or the facilities will require some capital investment again (like the Sonics asked), or it will get snapped up by somebody else as is proposed by Margarita Prentace's proposed redirecting that source to Husky Stadium.
Even if the Seahawks and Mariners are not in the task force, the have participation.
To the creadit of somebody, the Key Arena funding source that is looking to tap a portion of the Convention Center tax that is collected inside of Seattle.
The task force is the right thing for Minnesota, as well as Washington, it is just long overdue, and entirely too short if the result does not produce some kind of on-going commission or district.
I envy the Minnesota result, managing the situation as they do.
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