[Elvis]

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/new ... th-to-yes/

At least Mission Valley has half a chance
East Village would be beautiful, but tax hike makes it a fantasy

By Kevin Acee | 3:13 p.m. Feb. 13, 2016

All those who believe they know what direction Fred Maas is leading the Chargers’ quest for a new stadium, be it downtown or Mission Valley, need to tell Maas.

Certainly, the principal players employed by the team and the city have their information and ideas. But Maas is the man Dean Spanos has said will lead the Chargers to the stadium summit, and the Chargers’ newly appointed Sherpa is still finding his way.

Not only is that his contention, it is the impression of many of the people involved on both sides that Maas is honestly and earnestly trying to figure out the best place to build a stadium and optimum course to get it financed.

“It’s an open canvas,” he said.

Maas has to get this right.

Chargers stadium: Complete coverage

No matter where the Chargers try to get a stadium built, there will be resistance. We may look back in November and realize the project never had a chance – as we’re waving good-bye to the moving trucks.

In an effort to avoid that eventuality, the mission is to find the path of least resistance – i.e., what the voters are most likely to approve.

This is not about settling. Wherever the Chargers end up – if they end up in San Diego – they can have a brilliant new home.

But we’ve got to operate in reality.

Mission Valley provides the easiest path to a “yes” vote. Or, since there is not an “easy” path, it should be stated that downtown is the dead end on a path to “no.”

This is a reluctant about-face in this space.

East Village might be the better site for a stadium – in a world where time stands still and the cost of land is a smile and “taxes” is just a word that rhymes with “schmaxes.”

Sigh.

A stadium-convention center would be so darn sexy.

Can you imagine? The visuals on television. The central inclusiveness of our two major sports facilities amidst the Gaslamp and East Village, alongside a convention center annex. An entertainment district to rival almost any in the nation, including that new showbiz capitol of the world, Inglewood.

It’s pretty awesome to think about.

But then we think about what can actually get done.

The city and county are prepared to contribute $350 million – and probably not a penny more. That is likely going to be problematic, in that the Chargers might be seeking as much as $550 million in public funding toward a stadium they think will cost around $1.3 billion.

Could that $200 million gap be made up from an increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax? Sure, in theory. And that has been the idea the Chargers have long floated.

That’s where downtown dies. It might never have a chance, even if we had 10 years to try to make it so.

Fabiani, the Chargers’ now-underground stadium counsel, has actually preached that as often as anyone. One of his go-to arguments, which doesn’t get much quarrel from the other side, is that getting something done downtown is virtually impossible due to the requirement for a two-thirds vote and the opposition from the powerful hoteliers.

There is too much money at stake for the guys who run the downtown hotels. The T.O.T. puts something like $180 million into the city’s coffers every year.

More than thinking of that as a reason the city is beholden to the hoteliers, consider that if their approximate T.O.T. bill is that much, these folks are making enough money that they have some change to spare on an anti-stadium campaign. If they’re paying more, they want a convention center their way, contiguously.

And the one thing everyone involved agrees on is that a stadium isn’t getting built without all factions – politicians, the team, business – pulling together or at least not pulling separate directions. Getting public money to help build a stadium is going to be difficult enough without significant (well-financed) opposition.

Heck, the hoteliers might not even have to vociferously oppose a request for a hotel tax hike.

In the past 26-plus years, 25 ballot measures asking for public financing for a new stadium or stadium renovations have been approved in the United States. Just four of those measures received two-thirds approval.

In San Diego last decade, we twice voted down initiatives that would have increased the T.O.T for the purpose of bolstering fire protection. One got almost 62 percent of the vote, but that was short of the nearly impossible 66.7 percent that was required.

It’s laughable to think we’re getting two-thirds to help build a stadium. We’re going to have a difficult enough time getting the simple majority required to pass a measure asking for money from the general fund.

Only because this has been going on so long and time is running so short, it is frustrating to not be able to pin down Maas at this moment. But the reality is that Maas is actually speaking a language of cooperation and walking a line of careful reconciliation as he tries to balance these plates while also looking beyond the horizon.

He’s a downtown guy at heart who, if this has a chance, will figure out Mission Valley is the path mostly clearly seen.

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[trueblue&gold]

It all really comes down to the Chargers and the site that they push for. I agree that if a downtown site is pushed, It will never happen. Too much opposition and too high a requirement for approval. Like the article mentioned, they couldn't get the required votes for fire protection ( and this was following one of the worst fire seasons). If Spanos really wants to stay in SD and be the Big fish in the little pond then he is going to have to compromise, If he doesn't then he will be the little fish in a much larger pond that he has to share with a much larger fish that likes to eat smaller fish.

I like the Mission Valley site. Does it need some extra work?, yes. They need to enhance the traffic flow around the site and I think make it more than just a big stadium and parking lot. How they do that will be the true challenge.

[Hacksaw]

Maas needs to walk the line of least resistance or it's hello LA Chargers. Tempting to do downtown but stay real.

[trueblue&gold]

I think the Chargers need to be up front of what they truly want, If its either downtown or LA, then all parties need to be aware of that. When a city tries to push the stadium details, it doesn't work out too well (Just ask Peacock and his buddies). I would still bet that we will be "welcoming" the LA Chargers for the 2017 season. The politics of San Diego are just too much to overcome.

[bubbaramfan]

Deano is fooling himself if he thinks voters are going to approve one dime of financing a stadium, Downtown OR Mission Valley, 2/3rds or 51%. Most San Diegans think they are over taxed as it is. Its been on the ballot before and shot down.

[trueblue&gold]

Only difference is that in the past, there was no other option for the Chargers to go. Now with the ink still drying on an agreement to move up to LA, The voters of San Diego may look at this as the last chance because the certainty of them leaving is now there. That being said still think there is only about a 10% chance of anything passing (And that is the MV site, Downtown has 0% chance).

[bubbaramfan]

Come November, San Diego voters will be voting "don't let the door hit you in the as on your way to LA Deano".

[Hacksaw]

Only difference is that in the past, there was no other option for the Chargers to go.

Agreed but will it be enough? If we have to take on a room mate, the Chargers would be my first choice. And all that powder blue in the Inglewood stadium will match them.
On a side note, that would get the stadium free'd up to get naming rights going. I'm sure ESK would like some of his jack back. I wonder who is going to pony up to put their name on it? Hopefully it's a shorter name then Inglewood City Of Champions Stadium... lol

[BuiltRamTough]

300 from the NFL
300 from the Chargers
350 from SD
200 from naming rights
150 PSL

Isn't that enough for a stadium in Mission Valley?

[dieterbrock]

I gotta say, its really nice to see LA being used as leverage here without the fans of LA being held hostage