Hunter, Chopp, Closer to KeyArena Solution

As noted in a prior story, on February 12th USAToday.com story No buzz about NBA returning to Seattle AP Reporter Tim Booth had unknowingly passes along the missing piece in the arena puzzle to KeyArena rebuild hopefuls like me.
The reporter, Tim Booth, summarized Washington State House Finance Committee Chairman Ross Hunter, D-Madina, statements thusly, "he was working with House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, on a plan for stadium funding that everybody can live with, but wasn't willing to disclose any details."

In the past 3 years Frank Chopp has been in to opposition to stadium and arena solutions that involved the state, even when the revenue did not come from the state's general fund. Speaker Chopp and others were so dissatisfied with the relationship between state-wide priorities and the local community needs of anything in King County (and Seattle) that a state task force was formed to construct a solution.
Joint Task Force Local Financing Options for King County had been formed, with Ross Hunter as a co-chair, and Washington State senator Ed Murray as a member. The task force was presented with a variety of proposals to use the county-wide hotel/care rental/ restaurant tax, as well as the Seattle only hotel tax. Some of these locally collected taxes have state sales tax credits contributing to their funds.

Unfortunately the task force did not produce a report of recommendations of what the locally collected funds should be spent on, with Mr Hunter commenting to a Tacoma News Tribune writer that there isn't a natural jurisdiction for this situation.

As Mr Hunter stated back in December in the Tacoma News tribune, his personal preference is that the state sales tax component goes back to the state. Mr. Hunter was quoted in Friday's web edition of the Seattle PI as reiterated that same preference for returning the state's portion back to the state.

Here are some key quotes, with my commentary interspersed:

"I think I've got something that will work here," said Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina and chairman of the House Finance committee. "I am very close to releasing a plan."

Hunter would not offer specifics, saying he is awaiting approval from House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle.

He said his plan would not include a penny of state money but would be financed entirely by money raised in the city.

To a great extent this was the idea all along, what I think is useful is that he is being quoted in public explicitly stating the position before the inevitable argument is made by sports haters. How he constructs this is still largely unknown.

Hunter said he has no problem allowing the city to impose its own taxes but feels no pressure to enable Seattle to cash in on the bonus [from Clay Benett].

"I would go out of my way to figure out a way to take $30 million from those guys in Oklahoma City. I would go out of my way to do that just for the fun of it, just for the sport," Hunter said. But "the fact that Seattle has negotiated a deal that (is meant to) force me to act is not attractive to me."

Mr. Bennett named Mr. Hunter and Mr. Chopp as the people that stopped Bennett's quest for a free 500 million dollar stadium to be built in Renton Washington.

Seattle had asked lawmakers to allow the city to tap a local hotel and motel tax surcharge that is used to pay off previous work at the Seattle Convention Center. That tax source is raking in money more quickly than previously projected. But the idea of extending it to KeyArena does not have traction in Olympia, Hunter said.

It appears that Mr. Hunter will take back the state's sales tax component, while Ed Murray is proposing that the convention center proposal move forward.


"There is no appetite down here for fixing KeyArena with state dollars," he [Hunter] said.

Hunter said his plan would not rely on admission taxes, which are better used for facility maintenance. He hinted it might include money for affordable housing -- a pet concern for Chopp.

Despite its surplus, the convention center tax is not an option for KeyArena because it is partly funded through a state sales tax credit, Hunter said.

"I want the state's money back," Hunter said.

The credit costs the state about $10 million a year, he said. Without that portion of the convention center revenue stream, the taxes do not raise enough to overhaul KeyArena.

There you go, 10 million dollars, the one percent the City of Seattle was hoping to use is sort of being identified as the state's portion the convention center fund. Mr. Hunter has doubts about the convention center's proposal, and has sliced off 10 million dollars from that same fund.

Here is state's position, or at least Hunter's, as it relates to the City of Seattle, and the settlement between the city and Clay Bennett.

But he has no problem "getting out of the way" of local governments that want to make their own tax decisions, he said.

Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis believes a pair of motivations will encourage lawmakers to help the city, despite the Legislature's previous rejections of KeyArena tax proposals. One incentive is the $30 million payoff. The other is that the future of Seattle Center is to some degree tied to the health of KeyArena.

"Seattle Center is a more sympathetic issue than NBA basketball," Ceis said.

Still, the state faces a biennial shortfall of $6 billion or more, and lawmakers are facing cries for help from every corner.

"This is not an easy proposal for this legislative session," Ceis said.

Hunter said he would not be "embarrassed" into granting the city authority so it can chase the bonus. That provision was intended to put political pressure on the Legislature, Hunter said.

"You know, children do stuff like this," he said.

"So I feel no compulsion to act on this simply because Seattle has negotiated a deal without consulting with me beforehand. If it works out, it works out. If it doesn't, I'm sorry."

"I might have agreed to it ahead of time if they asked me but they didn't," Hunter said. "I just don't like that whole transaction."

This is the environment the lowly citizen (me) toils in while attempting to encourage the right people to do the right thing.

So, there is not going to be a specific KeyArena solution prescribed by the state, and absolutely not with any state funds. This is a broader problem requiring a broader solution that takes the state out of the role of deciding local issues where the state does not have a direct financial interest.

Hunter is separately working on broader legislation to reform financing of major facilities, he said.

Qwest Field, Safeco Field and the Convention Center were all paid for through a tax source deliberately set to raise more money than was needed -- to ensure better bond ratings, he said.

But that results in surplus funds that are inevitably raided by "rapacious" budget writers, Hunter said. Next thing you know, governments or programs are relying on that extra money for tangential needs.

Hunter is also keeping the details of that plan quiet until he can get Chopp's approval.

There you have it, the state government trying to get out of the way, out of participating in any way in stadiums and arenas.
This morning Brian Robinson at SonicsCentral.com stating his feeling of hope.

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

(17% recycled content from prior stories)

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

Crosscut Seattle - Did Howard Schultz pull the last plug for the Sonics?

"Chopp felt like he was being used by Bennett, who only wanted to move the team and needed local politicians to blame." David Brewster, Crosscut.com
The irony is that is exactly what happened, Chopp did not act and guess what Frank, it is put on you. The retry at funding will be put at your feet again, Clay Bennett's gone, who can you blame for your inaction this time?
I'm sure you will think of somebody, other than yourself, of course.
Dumbass.
http://www.crosscut.com/blog/seattle-supersonics/17345/?comments=On&cID=8041#c8041

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Beat the Clock, December 31, 2009

In terms of basketball, 16 months is a very long time. In terms of state legislative action we are about half-way through the first quarter. Like many basketball games, the game will be decided long before the final buzzer sounds. The state has a task force that was authorized by the last legislative session to look at local taxing resources for a variety of King County items. The City of Seattle is looking to carve out a source drawn from within the city limits to be directed to a city item. This is likely due, in part to the enthusiastic support the city received from King County Executive, Ron Simms, that rivaled that of a boat anchor. ( www.goforitlarry.com )

A popular taxing source, and not the only one, is a portion of the hotel/motel tax that is collected to support the Washington Convention Center. Not all of the funds are currently used, and this source makes sense for the city and a narrowness of connection between source and target. The state will provide its final report and recommendation December 10, 2008, just after the elections.

I will contact my state representatives, as well as the Chairman of the task force, Ross Hunter, to express my opinion, that other groups that want to spend identify a source that is directly connected to the target. The citizens in east King County do not want to spend "their" tax money on Seattle Center, likewise they should not expect tax dollars to come out of the pockets of the citizens of Seattle (that's me) to pay for their projects. You worry about you, I'll worry about me, just how the rural citizens like it.
If Seattle did not pay for a variety of things outside of the City of Seattle we would not have the same kinds of problems we do now, they would be different, and, quite frankly, I am tired of these problems and would like new and different problems of equal severity.

On this one point, I agree with Mayor Greg Nickels, local taxing sources and authority is best for Seattle.

Frustrated by the state and federal gridlock on solving Seattle's transportation problems, Mayor Greg Nickels suggested secession at a Thursday luncheon.

"Our region should declare its independence," Nickels said.

The Puget Sound regional economy makes up 67 percent of the state's economic activity, he said. "If we were a country, [our economy] would be just a little smaller than Thailand. We would be larger than Colombia, Venezuela. We are held back because our state and federal government still believe our economies are driven by wheat farms and timber logging."

Nickels spoke as part of a CityClub round table at Town Hall with Bellevue Mayor Grant Degginger and Redmond Mayor John Marchione.

Nickels suggested the region start by putting the Puget Sound Regional Council "on steroids."

The 32-member board, Nickels said, should shrink and take greater control of how to spend state transportation funds.

Nickels spokesman Marty McOmber later said the mayor's comments at lunch — such as, "I am serious when I say we ought to talk about independence" — were meant to be tongue-in-cheek. The mayor was venting his frustration after the state opposed transportation projects and gun-control legislation he wanted.

"We have rural legislators making decisions on things like the viaduct and whether we can keep our city safe," Nickels said.

The three mayors did not disagree on much in a discussion that ranged from homelessness and Highway 520 to improved regional cooperation. Degginger and Marchione both said they would not support a 20-cent fee on disposable grocery bags, as Nickels has proposed in Seattle.

Nickels said he disagreed with King County Metro's plan to distribute 40 percent of new transit service to the Eastside, while Degginger said the policy was necessary to improve service to the underserved suburbs.

A new Highway 520 Bridge is an example of an issue that needs execution, not more discussion, Degginger said.

The biggest challenge ahead is "to show some leadership," he said. "... We need to implement decisions, rather than talk about them over and over again."

All the mayors advocated for better transit service, including buses. Moderator James Vesely, editorial-page editor of The Seattle Times, asked them if they knew what bus route they would take to get to work in the morning.

Each knew the number of his route, which drew applause, though Nickels admitted he does not take the bus.
, Friday, April 18, 2008, By Sharon Pian Chan and Ashley Bach, Seattle Times staff reporters.

I doubt the mayor limits that line of thinking to just transportation.

By December 31, 2009, the State of Washington must provide a funding resource to the City of Seattle, or if necessary King County, that will provide one quarter of the cost of an arena, $75 million dollars (or adjusted CIP), or they lose rights to $30 million dollars due to the City of Seattle at the 5 year anniversary of this agreement, August 18, 2008. If a funding source is provided and a team can not be made available to a willing buyer or existing owner to relocate, then Clay Bennett will request a cash call of the PBC owners to provide the additional $30 million dollars, added to the $45 million dollars paid now, added up to a total of $75 million dollars from PBC. The banners will hang where they are, the trophies will be at the Seattle Museum if History and Industry (I call it the graveyard for the hearts of Seattle Sonics basketball).

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com City of Seattle /FinalAgreementPBC.pdf

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

www.SeattleCenterArenaReboot.blogspot.com

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.

Schultz Lawyer Answers PBC's Statement on Spilitting the Trial in Two

As reported by Greg Johns, of the Seattle PI (the reporter that's actually working on the story), Schultz's lawyer has provided a response to the PBC's issues with splitting the trial in to two parts; the harm, then the remedy.
PBC does not want two trials because they have "anxiety" over the fraud charges.
Hmmm, wonder why?
PBC needs the case to be a rushed, jumbled, complex, mess. They need the case to be iconic, both sides do, iconic of the vision of the result of the actual result of the case.
Sideshow Brad Keller needs the judge to grow tired of the circus and give up on the idea of justice.
The most excellent Richard Yarmuth needs the fraud to be exposed on its own, that ensures that some kind of remedy is required. Another chance to explain the facts are different than they are for Clay.
Good luck with that, fat head.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/374114_trial08.html

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

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

SeattlePI: Stern denies threatening Schultz over lawsuit

As reported by Greg Johns, of the Seattle PI, David Stern formally denied that he did not threaten Howard Schultz. He did admit that he said what Mr Schultz claimed he said, including the part about the added expense of the lawsuit, but denied he threatened Schultz.

Perception is reality Stern.

The NBA answered Schultz's motion to deny the NBA the right to join, or limit the NBA's involvement to the potential remedy proposed by Schultz, that is to transfer the team to an honest owner. The NBA insists on being part of the liability phase of the case because the PBC could not fully represent the NBA's interest as a signing party of the Reception signing paper transfering ownership. That is like having an escrow company join in a lawsuit over the sale of a property to protect the integrity of its Notary stamp. The claim and liability rests on the fraud to induce the signing and sale.

It is telling that the NBA makes no claims on behalf of PBC as to the honesty, or contest that Bennett committed fraud. Their interest in the first part is pretty thin, and ignores the nature of the claim, Bennett lied in order to get the sale to happen.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ Greg John's story here.

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

The Canadian Press: They may be going to Oklahoma City, but signs of the Sonics are still in Seattle

Linked below is a story from the Canadian Press on the Sonics stuff that is still in Seattle, still hanging from Key Arena rafters, still in the Sonics team store, in the Fratado Center - including the security guard. All is waiting for the completion of the settlement talks between the City of Seattle and the PBC of Oklahoma City, due before August 1st.

Signs still in Seattle

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Nellams says 18 months for arena rebuild

SEATTLE - Tuesday morning on 950 KJRam radio Tom Carr from the Seattle Center was interviewed by Mitch Levy (listen to the podcast here).
Mr. Carr stated that the settlement the city has agreed to with Clay Bennett's Oklahoma City (PBC) ownership group does not involved the case Howard Schultz has against Mr. Bennett. Mr. Carr said that if Mr. Schultz won his case that the settlement would go away, provided that the remedy of returning the team to Mr. Schultz to resell to an honest committed ownership group was granted by the judge in this case, Judge Marsha Pechman.
It is possible that the Sonics could relocate back to Seattle next year, a long shot, but it is possible. A trial date has not been set for the Schultz case.
Meanwhile the NBA has stepped in as a defendant with Mr. Bennett. They are claiming the remedy proposed by Schultz, if acted on by the judge, would not be within the NBA league rules.
Seattle Times has posted the court file: NBA's motion to intervene (PDF)
Percy Allen of the Seattle Times has written a story on the case and the filing (posted here).

Yesterday morning on 950 KJRam radio Robert Nellams from the Seattle Center was interviewed by Mitch Levy (listen to the podcast here).

Mr. Nellams is the director of the Seattle Center. He stated that there was a priority to rebuild while the team was playing in the building, now that they are gone he said the time required is 18 months. I recall that it was going to take two years to accomplish the same thing with the team in the building.
Let's do some scheduling, the money from the state of Washington, if approved, will not happen until next spring, 2009. Let's add 18 months to that: Winter of 2011, almost the season opener. they may be able to have the inside ready for basketball, I do not really know.

See the Seattle Center "Century 21" page here.