TheNewsTribune.com: The City of Seattle will present its proposal on Dec. 1 to a task force created by the Legislature

In yesterday's Tacoma news Tribune Eric D. Williams reported that on December 1st the City of Seattle will present its proposal for renovating Key Arena to the Washington State Joint Task Force on Local Financing Options for King County.

A couple interesting paragraphs at the end of the story should give readers an idea of what role Brian Robinson is taking.

The city will have another supporter championing its proposal in Olympia. Brian Robinson, co-founder of the group Save Our Sonics, is part of a lobbying group called Sports and Activities for Families. The group plans to help the city’s funding proposal pass in Olympia. The group's effort will be led by Ryan Dicks, son of U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair.

"We want to put this issue in front of the legislators and make sure it doesn’t get dropped," Robinson said. "We’re going to go to work to make sure that it stays front and center and receives some of the publicity that the city hasn’t been good in attracting."

Tax money key to arena renovation, ERIC D. WILLIAMS; eric.williams@thenewstribune.com, Published: October 28th, 2008 12:30 AM

The Sonics were not Saved, okay. The franchise left, the symbols went to the Museum of History and Industry.
The effort here, and in other places, is to resolve the arena issue. My interest is centered on the Seattle Center, and that a dead Key Arena on the Seattle center site is a drag on the entire site. Many of us hard core Sonics fans have let the idea of the team, and the NBA, go as a goal. Brian Robinson has written as much at SonicsCentral.com: What if we don’t miss them?
The question Mr. Robinson asks is this:

I have to ask former Sonics fans, and fans of the NBA, what the risk to the league is in our valuable market. What if we simply don’t miss them? What if we fail to get it done this year and then decide not to spend more effort on it going forward?

My answers are these:
The risk to the league is that the value is contained in the interest and value of the markets competing for the product (pretty basic business value relationship). If you can not find a buyer for a house then the value drops. I think this is where the NBA really is, that they are a bubble economy, and that Seattle, as well as Oklahoma City are presenting remodeled arenas as preferred venues. Kansas City is offering the same thing, St. Louis as well. I will not be shocked to see the Kings effort to build a new arena in a major new development in California fall through. That is not just a function of the current economy, but the actual market for the NBA. Key Arena renovation is the best offer this market, or any market, should be offering the NBA product. They are 3 years away from reliving the NHL process of 5 years ago if they are not careful. David Stern is not careful, he is chasing the business model that crushed the NHL, nobody wins.

What if Brian Robinson and the lobbying group called Sports and Activities for Families, along with the City of Seattle, fail? Then they should accept the reality that they made the best of this effort, but the public/private partnership to rebuild an arena will not produce a solution. Done.
Thanks Brian.
City, you are now obligated to get out of the way of a private group that may want to build a new arena, maybe partner with that group to provide a way for a private group to locate land in the city for an arena, and figure out a redueced role or date to close it.

Key Arena is not likely going to survive in this market long term without a significant upgrade. Either compete or not, if the answer is not then crush most of Key Arena and use the bowl as an out door, partly covered amphitheater, when a new private arena takes its place 10 years from now.

I started my blog right after the city and Clay Bennett agreed that there would be a settlement. I have moved on. Brian Robinson has moved on. Move on.
If you still want NBA basketball, it only happens with an arena.
If you never want to see NBA basketball again and you live in Seattle, your public arena is dying, you can get a 300 million dollar upgrade for 150 million dollars in mostly hotel taxes, or Sonics fans parking and buying tickets.

The fans have mostly moved on from the team leaving, hopefully the sports haters can as well, and recognize that their memory of Key Arena is the only current thing about that public building.

Have a great day,
Mr Baker
Sent from my iPhone

SonicsCentral.com: Both Candidates on the Record

Both Candidates on the Record
The following was posted at SonicsCentral by Brian Robinson of Save Our Sonics.

We were very thankful to recieve a statement yesterday from Governor Gregoire. I will say that my own communication with her office has been excellent and that the delay in recieving her statement was 100% our error.

I found it especially interesting that she mentions the scope of the construction project and the jobs created. This is a change in rhetoric that is pretty substantial and something I was hoping would get mentioned for a long time:

Statement from Christine Gregoire:
It was a sad day for our region the day the Sonics left.

My husband Mike and I are big sports fans. In fact, we were original Seahawk season ticket holders, and we already have season tickets to the Seattle Sounders FC.

I understand how strongly Sonics fans feel about the loss of the team, and I want to tell you the truth about how we got where we are today.

Let’s talk about what happened earlier this year. The last ditch effort by the new ownership group to improve Key Arena had to be supported by the Legislature in Olympia. Only the Legislature could grant King County the authority to raise taxes for the arena.

This vote wasn’t taken because it would have failed. If a vote had been forced, it would have failed. It’s that simple.

If the legislature rushed to a vote and it failed, the message sent to the NBA would be that Washingtonians won’t support professional basketball. And that is not true.

Now, let’s talk about where we are today. First and foremost, we need to work together to make Key Arena attractive to another NBA team and find out how to bring them here.

My office has been working with those involved on a proposal to use existing tourist tax revenue to fund renovations at the Key. Currently there is a seven percent tax on hotel rooms in Seattle; this money goes to convention center operations. The plan, which is still being negotiated, would take one-tenth of that revenue stream and put it toward the renovation of the Key.

This existing revenue would be joined with a large private investment from the local ownership group and presumably, if the legislature acts, from $30 million from the Oklahoma City owners as part of their settlement.

I want to work with the local ownership group and you to see what can be done.

Our nation has found itself in troubling economic times and while we must find balance in funding our priorities, a $300 million construction project will help create jobs in the short term. In addition to placing Seattle in a position to regain the Sonics, a long-term result of this effort would be the start of a re-energized Seattle Center.

What would my Republican opponent do? I don’t know. He was asked directly at the KING5 debate and he wouldn’t answer the question.

He has said many times that he would fix our roads and cut taxes. But last week he told The Herald in Everett that he wouldn’t do either of those for at least three years, maybe longer.

He hasn’t promised to do anything to bring an NBA team to our state.

When he was a senator, he opposed letting voters decide if they wanted to fund Seahawks Stadium. There was no risk to him. He just had to give the authorization for a vote, but he wouldn’t.

Maybe this is just fine with you - but not me. I think the only thing he’s demonstrating here is political opportunism.

We may not agree on everything, but at least I’ll give you a straight answer.

During my second term, I will work with your group and local leaders to look at our priorities, our resources and continue to try and bring the NBA back to Seattle.

Statement from Dino Rossi:
October 20, 2008
Back in the spring our elected officials in Olympia, for the 4th year in a row, decided they were not interested in being proactive in keeping the Sonics in Seattle. Despite being briefed in advance, and presented with a proposal early on, they claimed they didn’t have time to adopt a “no brainer” solution. In fact they spent more time making excuses for not having time than it would have taken to give the City of Seattle permission to move ahead in negotiations… and then they went home early. This permission would have prevented the relocation approval from the NBA which in the end became the driving force for the buyout the city accepted.

As you all recall you flooded Olympia with emails and phone calls swamping the message takers and showing overwhelming support for a solution. You sent the message loud and clear that a failure this time would have repercussions.

This year is our last chance
So now we are faced with going back to Olympia in January, for the 5th year in a row, and asking that the City be given permission to route surplus tourist taxes only collected in Seattle to fill out the last $75 million of a 50/50 public/private investment to save Seattle Center from collapse and prepare Key Arena for restoring SuperSonics basketball to Seattle. With this proposal we will have our team back within 5 years or Clay Bennett will be forced to pay the city $30 million of what little he has left after his ownership group was decimated in the recent stock market crash. A failure this next legislative session will signal the end of any short term chance of restoring our team and lets Clay Bennett of the hook for this payment.
With the definition of insanity being repeating the same actions and expecting a different result we have to ask ourselves if we trust the current elected officials in Olympia to back up the statements made last spring with action?

If you do, then by all means vote for the same people who showed no consideration for the urgency of the situation, if you don’t then you should give this serious consideration when casting your votes. Save Our Sonics is committed to working with whoever is in Olympia to resolve this problem but now is our chance to make sure those we will be working with are going to be solution oriented.

Now the control is on your hands
Save Our Sonics is not a political action committee. We do not spend money advocating for or against any candidate for elected office, or endorse any candidates, but we do want our members to be well informed when they cast their votes. We have extended an invitation to both candidates for Governor to submit a statement of support to our group. To date only one has responded and that statement is included below. If we get a response from the other we will forward it to you later. We also urge you to contact the candidates for your districts Legislative seats and ask them how they will respond to this problem come January and educate your friends and family who will lead in Olympia and who should be replaced.

Statement from Dino Rossi:

I proudly stood along the parade route in 1979 when the Sonics won the championship. I never wanted the Sonics to leave Seattle. Early this year, I was asked to remain silent on the proposed Key Arena renovation offer by representatives of the group of private investors so Governor Gregoire could support it without suffering political repercussions. But when I read the headline of the Oklahoman newspaper near the end of the legislative session that read ‘Washington governor gives up: Official says there is no saving Sonics,’ I knew we had to act and I publicly supported the public-private partnership. Still, Gregoire remained silent.

Bringing NBA basketball back to Seattle will require creative thinking and courageous leadership on behalf of elected officials and basketball fans. As governor, I will actively support efforts to make this happen. What happened with the Sonics is evidence that Olympia is missing real leadership. I’m running for Governor to start making decisions and fixing problems facing our state. Professional basketball has been an important piece of our cultural fabric here in Washington, but now that piece is missing. I look forward to the day where we once again have an NBA basketball team in Seattle, and as governor I’ll work to make that happen.

Please make sure you vote!

In the end, they can fight about who has a real desire to solve the problem, and that both failed to deliver votes last legislative session.
I win either way.

Have a great day,
Mr Baker
Sent from my iPhone

Dispatches from the Tenth Circle - The Sonic's Fan Version

There are parts of the saga of the Sonics' fan that sometimes remind me of something I might have read in The Onion's book, Dispatches from the Tenth Circle. It appeared, at first, that the only people interested in keeping the Sonics in Seattle were the fans, and in the end that is exactly the case.

It has been my contention for the past few years that there are three parties involved, the NBA not being one of them. David Stern acts on behalf of the owner, or potential owner if you are Steve Ballmer or Clay Bennett. So, we really do have the owner of the franchise, the politicos/NGO's (westside Democrats & eastside Repubicans), and absolutely lastly, the fans. All three of those perspectives are required for any major profession sports team to exist in Seattle. This may be the case in other cities, only the names are changed to protect the rich, and deflect criticism away from politicians.

From the word Go, the city has planned on the Sonics leaving, and the owners (any of them) were going to get more revenue no matter where the team was eventually located. When Howard Schultz was owner of the Sonics, and Brian Robinson was acting the part of journalist, he made every effort to help efforts to keep the franchise going long-term in Seattle. That effort didn't change when Clay Bennett purchased the Sonics (though not with the same sense that the owner was holding up his end of the stick.
When Clay Bennett announced that he was giving up and was going to move the team that put the city and Bennett on a collision course, and flipped Brian Robinson from journalist to advocate, and started Save Our Sonics with Steve Pyeatt.

At about that point season ticket holders, that were sold tickets under the pretense that they could purchase season tickets in 2008 and 2009, started to wonder if they had any recourse. They were sold something with the possibility of a benefit in the future while at the same time the team owner was actively trying the make sure those conditions would not be possible. Had they known at the time of purchase that Clay Bennett was begging the league to relocate in time for that same 2007 - 2008 season would those people have purchased their tickets?
In a few cases yes, in many cases no, in either case the consumers in Washington State have the right to know.
Asking Brian Robinson if he knows a lawyer they could hire isn't much of a conspiracy.

And yet, Clay Bennett's lawyer, Sideshow Bob Keller has demanded every email he has that also include the city and more. This does not have much to do with fraud, I honestly think this has everything to do with the fans, including Brian Robinson, costing Bennett at least 20 million dollars, and possibly 30 million more in 5 years.

All the while, quite a few of us Sonics fans have carried on conversations on message boards, newsgroups, listserves, some stretching back nearly 10 years. At various times groups I have had some contact with, public and private, sorted themselves out. A few of us took to writing about the Sonics on a few blogs, and there was an inside/outside the "circle" mostly expessed in a humorist way. As Brian gained connections with reporters, and people working in government and the last two ownership groups, and publicly lamented that they were not always open with him, my guess is that fodder will result in a lot of meaningless paper dumped in Keller's lap.

For me, a paranoid guy that just wanted to write, I opted out of anything that could be described, even jokingly, as an inner circle, and made a few people very unhappy with me. Well, the choices we make are not always clear to the others around us at the time. There wasn't much upside, and the downside looked something a bit worse than what Brian is dealing with right now.
Rich guys have lawyers that have nothing better to do, and they have to bill hours.
No thanks.
As for the idea of circles, what the center of some circles look like are not as positive for the Seattle community as Brian Robinson.

Sometime in the late 20th century the rings of Hell were redefined, and expanded after a new 10th Circle, Corpadverticus, was discovered (see chart, above).
There, near the lower right of the graph, is a red characiture that may or may not be Brad Keller, also known as "Sideshow" Brad by me.

And so, in today's Seattle PI, the venn diagram of all these circles, owners, politicos, and fans, has shown a new color of light: green for the fans.
The fans are not going to run for re-election, they do not have stock holders, and they are not inventing a new scenario (Washington State has a fraud law).
Keller is racking up billing hours on Brian Robinson's back before the music stops, the ride is over, and Bennett pulls the plug.

Save Our Sonics cites subpoena 'attack'
Team owners try to link group with ticket holders' suit

By GREG JOHNS
P-I REPORTER

The Sonics may be gone, but the court fight hasn't quite ended between Clay Bennett's ownership group and some Seattle sports fans.

A class-action suit filed by three former Sonics season ticket holders has escalated into a growing war of words and court filings, the latest surrounding Save Our Sonics co-founder Brian Robinson and what he must turn over to the Professional Basketball Club attorneys in discovery for a scheduled March 2 trial.

PBC lawyers served a subpoena on Robinson and the Save Our Sonics organization on Aug. 25 seeking e-mails and records regarding the group's interaction with city of Seattle officials, NBA representatives, the fans filing the class-action suit and numerous other matters.

Robinson's attorney, Paul Schneiderman, sought to limit the scope of the initial inquiry and the PBC responded by filing a motion to force compliance with the legal action.

Robinson now is agreeing to turn over some of what has been requested, but on a delayed basis.

The battle took a step up in volume Monday when Schneiderman filed a sharply worded response to U.S. District Judge Richard Jones accusing the PBC of launching an unnecessary attack on the Save Our Sonics group for its alleged role in bringing about the class-action suit against Bennett.

"The PBC, a combined billionaire group of Oklahoma-based NBA owners, have shockingly taken the unprecedented steps of attacking an all-volunteer NBA fan group in United States federal court," Schneiderman wrote.

The motion states that Bennett's attorneys are painting Robinson and his fan group as part of a "broader conspiracy" intended to bleed the PBC.

"The 'bleeding' allegations are Oliver Stone-like, conspiratorial in nature, and grossly distort and mischaracterize the actual efforts of Brian Robinson and SOS&S," the motion stated.

SOS&S refers to Save Our Sonics and Storm, the original name of the nonprofit corporation formed by Robinson in July 2006.

Part of Schneiderman's argument against the PBC's motion to compel the subpoena is based on the fact the PBC originally subpoenaed the Save Our Sonics group, but didn't subpoena the actual SOS&S affiliation.

PBC attorney Brad Keller said Robinson's attorney physically filed the original complaint against Bennett's ownership group.

"Robinson clearly played a role in orchestrating the lawsuit," Keller said. "We are just trying to get to the bottom of what his role was. Robinson shouldn't be resisting the subpoena if he has nothing to hide."

The entire case revolves around the three fans' attempts to hold Bennett's ownership group to what they perceived as a promise to give Sonics season ticket holders a three-year price guarantee and priority seating through the remainder of the former KeyArena lease.

Now that Bennett has moved the club to Oklahoma City, the suit seeks to force the PBC to guarantee the 1,387 Sonics season ticket holders from last year the right to buy similar seats at the Ford Center and also require the PBC to pay for travel accommodations that would now be necessary to attend the 41 home games in Oklahoma for the next two seasons.

PBC lawyers filed a motion last week asking the judge for summary judgment on the contract damages portion of the suit.

The PBC is attempting to show Robinson played a role in bringing about the fans' suit and thus they have a right to discovery concerning his group's actions.

In a declaration accompanying Monday's motion, Robinson acknowledged that he "referred several people to an attorney" in regards to a class-action fans suit, but denied any active role.

"The plaintiffs in the class action case have clearly made a decision to participate in this case without the active participation of SOS&S," Robinson wrote.

Robinson's attorney said the Oklahoma City owners are attempting to create a rift by doing everything possible to "alienate and inflict injury" on Seattle's NBA fan base in hopes of derailing the Save Our Sonics efforts to lobby the Washington Legislature for further KeyArena funding.

If the Legislature doesn't approve a $75 million tax stream to help rebuild KeyArena by Dec. 31, 2009, Bennett won't have to pay the city the final $30 million of the settlement package.

Robinson said that although the franchise has moved to Oklahoma, his goal is to "re-establish Seattle" as an NBA city and he intends to continue working toward a KeyArena funding solution.
As reported by Greg Johns of the Seattle PI.

My fuzzy memory is that the idea was floated on SonicsCentral.com, (you could put 100 other people in the "conspiracy" to not get screwed) those season ticket holders, I call fans, asked Brian if he knew a lawyer, and it looks like they found one.

Brian Robinson says "Good Morning"

Brian Robinson of Save Our Sonics, at SonicsCentral.com , says, in not so many words, that the City of Seattle is talking but he does not see them doing, that he hears them say they are wanting but wonders if that will translate into action.
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

Percy Allen: Howard Schultz drops Sonics suit

Steve Pyeatt, of Save Our Sonics, does not know why Howard Schultz decided to pull the plug on his court case on Friday. Percy Allen, from the Seattle Times, writes the end of the Schultz story in today's newspaper.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sonics/2008147943_schultz30.html
I can only account for my actions, or inaction. Others that keep silent become targets of speculation, even Howard Schultz, even by Steve Pyeatt.
The irony there is the tight-lipped nature of Save Or Sonics, and how
Pyeatt takes a shot at Schultz, even though he has not had a chance to talk to Schultz's lawyers. I read Pyeatt's quotes in the Seattle Times, and not at
SaveOurSonics.org, and not at SonicsCentral.com
Something like this Schultz announcement happens and there isn't a word from SOS on there sites. What should we make of that?
Through a lack of communication SOS may be reduced to two guys, and their secrets. That's not much lobbying power.

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Schultz drops lawsuit seeking return of Sonics

As reported by Greg Johns in the Seattle PI, Howard Schultz has dropped his case against Clay Bennett. Schultz cited the judge's decision to not allow the case to be split as making the litigation less likely to be successful. Schultz also said that his case might hurt the chances of the NBA returning to Seattle sooner.
Brian Robinson is off the hook.
Let's move on to an arena solution. Maybe Howard Schultz would like to help with that in some way. He did, after all, sell the team to the liar Clay Bennett.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/377089_schultz30.html

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

"Brian may be heavily involved, possibly as a minority owner."

As re-reported in Hoopsworld, by Steve Kyler, Brian Robinson was "served a standard Subpoena during the course of my business day".

The rumor at the end of the story in interesting.

There is a back story to Brian's involvement in this issue. When Brian left HOOPSWORLD he was heavily involved in Clay Bennett's push to get a new arena, often dropping us notes and e-mails giving us the very latest from inside Clay's inner circle. When Clay decided to end pursuit of an arena and possible relocation, Brian changed from supporter to activist and founded Save Our Sonics and led a very public push to keep the team in Seattle. Sources close to the situation believe if Seattle is awarded a new NBA franchise at some point in the future, Brian may be heavily involved, possibly as a minority owner.
Hoopsworld

If Brian Robinson was getting sued because of SonicCentral.com, it would not be because of anything Brian has written. Brian has been pretty careful about what he has said online, much the the dismay of many of his readers.

What he hasn't said publicly, that is documented, may become part of the public record. The nature of his involvement, and his relationships with the Sonics, does not protect him from having to submit. It might not matter anyway, Brian Robinson is not the first parson, and absolutely not the last person, Clay Bennett allegedly lied to and used in order to commit his alleged fraud. It's enough to make a guy angry.

Telling lies is not against the law, doing it to induce somebody to act when they might not otherwise, for Bennett's material gain is called a fraud by Howard Schultz.

Mr. Robinson's relationships with both the Schultz and Bennett ownership groups may be a double-edged sword.

We shall see.

Sonics Editorial, Opinion and Sarcasm: 50 Feet from the Sun

Today, Brian Robinson of Save Our Sonics, and SonicsCentral.com, said that he had been served court papers inviting him to testify and turn over any meaningful documents in connection to Howard Schultz's case against Clayton Bennett. This should make for some interesting reading, but I am not sure how having Robinson provide facts that show he was lied to by Bennett can help Bennett's case.

Read Brian's song at SonicsCentral.com

This event reminded me of a story I had written just over a year ago.

http://theseattlesupersonics.blogspot.com/2007/08/50-feet-from-sun.html

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Brian Robinson, Jordan Brower, Greg Johns, Mayor Greg Nickels

Quoted below, in its entirety, is a statement by Brian Robinson from Save Our Sonics to the readers of SonicsCentral.com

I am posting the statement here since there are currently some stability issues with SonicsCentral.com web site.

Mr. Robinson's statement is in response to quotes by Jordan Brower to Seattle PI reporter Greg Johns about Brower's effort to gather signatures in an attempt to stop the settlement between the City of seattle and PBC (Clay Bennett). At best the result of the petition to have a vote against the authorization for the agreement.

The net benefit of Brower’s action would be another lawsuit that might return that franchise, with its current owner, for one year. The effort would sidetrack efforts to get an arena solution, delaying or killing a long term solution.

Look up Brower and call him, caution, he may demand $100,000 from you.

The completion of the settlement was postponed until after the signature gathering deadline of August 15th. The settlement was supposed to complete by August 6th, but has been moved to August 25th.Read the Seattle PI story here on the delay, and Jordan Brower's comments on his view of Save Our Sonics.

Jordan Brower's comments from the Seattle PI August 6, 2008:

However, Brower said Wednesday he was stunned that he received no support from the Save Our Sonics organization concerning such a petition and expects the issue to die without financial and political backing from that group.

Save Our Sonics leaders prefer to work with Mayor Greg Nickels and his efforts to pursue KeyArena financing in the Legislature.

"They don't want to upset the apple cart," Brower said. "I think they're misguided. My whole point was to give Sonics fans a voice. But unless they want to kick in and do the rest, I'm not going to make the numbers."

Statement made on August 9, 2008, by Brian Robinson from Save Our Sonics to the readers of SonicsCentral.com in response to Jordan Brower.

Jordan Brower and Eaten Threads

For starters I did not deleat any threads relating to this issue. I moved into a new house this week and I’m busy. Our site is falling apart. If you have wordpress experience I’d sure appreciate some help.

Secondly I have no comprehension why Greg Johns did not call me for commentary when he talks about me and my efforts. I don’t understand why he did that because I have a good relationship with Greg. He’s going to be writing a followup on this piece.

So Gregs article basically had Jordan Brower taking a shot at me, and stated that our plan is to work with the Mayor because we’re scared to be confrontational. What a bunch of crap.

When we first got wind of Jordan Brower we were obviously highly interested. Its an unusual turn even by the standards of this situation which has had a lot of unusual turns. We spoke with him immediately on the phone, met with him in person on multiple occasions, and floated his idea to multiple legal experts.

The initial concerns about Brower centered around his motivations. The guy claims he wants sports fans to have a voice and to save the team but he’s an on the record anti-arena advocate. When Key Arena was built he testified alongside Chris VanDyk, lobbied against the arena, and had a series of litigation designed to stop the construction. People who interacted with him at that time advised that we should simply keep our distance as his primary role has always been simply to cause chaos and rock the boat. I cannot help but speculate that he likes to get in the paper as well since he’s already taken his little show out to multiple press releases.

When we met with Brower we had two primary questions. Why are you doing this? and How will this help us get our team back?

The answer to the first question is somewhat muddled. He states he is doing this as an advocate of transperant government and as a reaction to Greg Nickels selling people out. My perception is that he remains bitter over some conflict with the Ackerley family, Bank of America, and the local government who set up Key Arena. He seems to feel that he can tie these 13 year old injustices to our cause by claiming that legislature is deeply concerned about this old corruption and that this is the reason they will not fund a new arena for our current mayor. It is a stretch. Brower has a history of litigation against the Ackerleys and it goes so far that there are claims of stalking by Chris Ackerley and some type of physical confrontation which was settled out of court in a sealed agreement. As near as I can tell Brower got Chris to take a shot at him and got paid for taking the hit. This guy has some interesting history and I have been advised to stay away from him. Despite those warnings and his apperent eccentricity we met with him twice, spoke with him omore htan that to see if this option was legitimate in any way.

I felt that there were key misrepresentations made by Brower that I preferrer to keep silent. In response to Greg Johns’ article however I have some obligation to bring some of them to light. As an example Brower told us that he had briefed the governors staff on this issue and that they were highly interested in the scandal. He felt that they may take some action. Upon checking up it turned out that he had simply mailed a letter to the Governors office and to the best of my knowledge gotten no reply. He made similar contentions regarding the council that had similar outcomes.

When it comes to bringing the team back we felt that this option had no legs. There are very serious legal and contractual issues that make it virtually impossible to get them back in this manner. Prior to the team leaving we had “posession’ of the team in our region and they were not allowed to move pending the resolution of litigation. We have to remember that the court case was solely about specific performance of the lease as opposed to Bennett making a cash payment. The contract could be enforced specifically at the sole discretion of the Mayor. The agreement made by the Mayor dismissed the court case with Judge Pechman and resolved that the city would waive specific performance in exchange for cash considerations.

Browers plan had tremendous downside. It is hard to gather signatures and win a vote even if you have some allies on your side. To do so when every party including the mayor, the governor, the league, and the team ownership would go on record that a public vote is completely irrelevant would make it hard to pass. In a worst case scenario it would fail to get signatures or pass the vote and all parties would claim this as further proof that the city did not support basketball.

In a best case scenario, after spending $100K that Brower demanded from SOS the councils ruling would be unwound. The team however would still be located in OKC. At that point the city would have a choice to file suit to bring them back. The team would argue that they have already moved and that it is an undue burden and ask the court for an equitable(cash) solution. Since the city had already accepted cash the argument against a cash value would be significantly lessened. Meanwhile the team would be playing in OKC, the court case could take a year, leaving only 1 year remaining on the lease, and nobody would be working on an arena. The cash could be significantly less than we have now and the $30M additional payment and agreement between Stern and Balmer would all go away.

I continue to say, and believe unequivically that a building is ultimately the problem and any solution that does not include a building is a waste of time. Right now, despite how we all feel about the Mayor he is the one leading a charge for a new building. Having Jordan Brower lead us against the powers that be simply to rile things up and get in the paper seems counterproductive.

The article also implies that I’m content to work with the city and the context of that implication is pretty inaccurate. Here is the deal: I am taking the same approach to the city that I did Clay Bennett. I have told them bluntly that we’ll work with them honestly at first but that if we ever get the sense that they are just going through the motions we will turn on them and that the months we spent closely involved will add a lot of credibility to our complaints. Understanding Bennett and having given him the benefit of the doubt legitimized us in many ways when we actually went on the attack. The same could happen with our local government. I hope that it never comes to that.

Right now Greg Nickels is the guy who sold our team and lost the NBA for this city. He will have that title until he resolves the problem and I don’t intend to forget it or be particularly kind to him. I want to be supportive not of him, but of the Ballmer ownership group who really are our last hope. Remember if you spurn the Mayor you spurn them. We can try to work with Nickels but to do so as a driving force to get him to do more, not as a decoy that he can hide behind. Believe what you want but the conversations have been confrontational enough that they know were we stand. We are making demands of them, not the other way around.

Over the last couple of weeks there have been multiple meetings involving a good chunk of the community. I have made some mistakes in keeping the work too “in house” and trying to do everything myself. That hurt bad when, over the last 10 days, I got busy with a move and some real business and communication just ended. I need to work more closely with my SOS cohorts and get a bigger team involved. Look for some news later this week.

Hope you’re all well. I am about 80% moved into the new place, love having a swimming pool, and getting ready for the big party next week.

Initial statement, here is an additional comment:

# Brian Robinson Says:
August 9th, 2008 at 10:59 am

I was at a fundraising event with the Mayor two weeks ago and former Mayor Charlie Royer introduced himself and said that “I was the mayor the year the Sonics won the championship. What a great thing that was for the city.”

I replied “Thats a better legacy than Greg has right now.” and Royer immediately picked up on it and called Nickels over to rib him about that.

Nickels does not want to be the guy who sold the NBA. Whether his reasoning for that is because he wants political coverage, because its the right thing to do, or because he legitimately wants basketball back is not the most relevant question. We need to figure out what steps he’s taking to pass that buck to the Governor and Legislature, and push him to do so in a really legitimate and serious way. Then we need to move up the ladder and insist that the governor and legislature take the same steps.

I have a ton of skepticism of anyone in government. You can’t trust any of them but you have to work with all of them. A lot of energy can be spent trying to determine their motivations and how to make the most of those motivations.

And this:

Brian Robinson Says:
August 9th, 2008 at 11:52 am

He [Mayor Nickels] states that it was the best he could do. He felt that if he pressed the lawsuit that the league and Bennett would offer some compromise. They never did. They never even got close. They continued to re-itterate that it would be 2 and through if he won and he grew to believe that was the case. He states that he believes that given the options this settlement gave us our best odds of long term basketball. He didn’t like the options we had but he worked with it.

I understand Robinson's position, it is pragmatic.

The problem I have is not with Robinson, but with Nickels, and Christine Gregiore, and Ron Sims, and everybody else the believed Clay Bennett and David Stern when they told the politicos that if Seattle went through with the court case that the NBA would wait out the two years of the lease, leave, and not return. Why believe those two, Stern and Bennett, now?
My guess is that nobody has actually believed that the 13th largest media market, with an arena solution, with Steve Ballmer willing to buy a team, would never get another NBA team. I think they used the lies for political cover to end a no-win situation that would require political leadership from people that act only on sure things.
The sure thing right now is that Greg Nickels is grasping for revenue streams, like chairing the Sound Transit board, like Nickels wanting to dedicate the hotel/motel/car rental tax collect in Seattle to the entire Seattle Center remodel.
Quite frankly, Nickels does not have a viaduct solution, an urban mass transit solution, or a solution for a 74 acre Seattle Center site that is in decay.
What does he put on his campaign literature? Plastic bag tax? Sculpture Park? Losing the NBA to Oklahoma City?

I will agree with Robinson that the fastest way to get an arena solution and the NBA back in Seattle is to just move on from the Bennett situation, and focus on getting the arena funded on the state side.

In a parallel universe Howard Schultz is about to apply a lot of pressure on David Stern and Clay Bennett to deliver a team to an ready arena, a willing buyer, and a publicly willing NBA, to the Seattle market.

Deadline extended in Sonics accord

They are not quite dead yet. Deadline has been extended between the city and Bennett to after signatures must be turned in for a citizen's referendum. The shocking truth: free help has a will of its own. We need an arena solution no matter what.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/373924_trial07.html

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Percy Allen Explores Seattle's Chances with NBA

SEATTLE - Percy Allen of the Seattle Times has a story published today that explores the chances of Seattle landing another NBA team to replace the one the politicians let get away. A few things of note from the story, though you should read the entire article, are these:

Save Our Sonics is working with the City of Seattle Mayor's office to help secure funding for the rebuild of Key Arena, by leveraging public support. Part of that effort will have to be keeping public interest in support going while a team is not here. In order for a city, like Seattle, to have a chance at getting an NBA team you have to have three things: committed business support (Ballmer, Griffin, SCI); an arena and public interest (see SOS not above); and the support of the NBA (see NBA statement on the settlement between Seattle and the PBC).

Other cities that are, or were, going after NBA teams have had arena deals fail, or no commitment from a potential buyer of an NBA team.
Las Vegas - no arena
San Jose - no arena
Kansas City - no owner, "settling for NHL"

Some in the story put Seattle at the top of the NBA list. Making sure we are at the front of the line depends on following through on financing of the Key Arena rebuild, and your support of it completing, while keeping the three parts together over the next 18 to 24 months.

To quote Bill Murray from the movie What About Bob, "Baby steps, I'm at elevator".

Step #1. (as always): fund Key Arena, encourage people that decide this funding to support your interests.

Percy Allen's column at Seattletimes.nwsource.com

I think that it is fair to say that Howard Schultz's lawsuit against Clay Bennett's PBC ,and now the NBA, could help make sure that Seattle is at the front of the line for the next expansion team or relocation. The case may ensure that the line that looks like one city, Seattle, stays a list of one city.
If the league did expand it would most likely be two teams to keep the Eastern and Western Conferences the same number. That is just not going to happen before an existing team is available for sale and relocation. An owner that wanted to relocate to Seattle but not sell to SCI (Ballmer, Griffin) would have to pay the 150 million dollars that SCI has committed to rebuilding Key Arena.
Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone