Post by TheShadow on Dec 31, 2004 10:30:24 GMT -5
www.insidebayarea.com
2 veterans to leave as panel prepares to remarket Raiders PSLs
By Paul T. Rosynsky, STAFF WRITER
OAKLAND — Seats on the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority will change next year, just as the board begins its most daunting yet crucial endeavor: remarketing of Oakland Raiders' Personal Seat Licenses.
Two longtime members,
Oakland Councilmember Danny Wan (Grand Lake-Chinatown) and Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, decided this month to hang up the towel on their combined 12 years of service.
They will be replaced in February by Oakland Councilmember Larry Reid (Elmhurst-East Oakland) and Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley.
Both resignations came as a surprise to a few board members, some of whom wanted both to remain as the task of reselling PSL rights begins.
The licenses are high-priced fees Raiders fans must pay for the right to purchase season tickets. When the team returned to Oakland in 1995, county and city leaders thought fan support would be so overwhelming that the PSLs could be resold after 10 years for 75 percent of the original cost.
But if that sale is unsuccessful, the $20 million public subsidy sent to the authority each year will rise by tens of millions of dollars.
The resignations also come while the board and the Oakland A's are discussing possible locations and financing for a new stadium. The team has said it would contribute $100 million toward a possible $400 million stadium on the Coliseum parking lot.
"I would have felt better if we stayed the same ... because it takes time to start working like a group," said Alameda County Supervisor Gail Steele, a founding member of the 8-year-old board. "This will just make a different dynamic, and that adds to the whole thing."
It is unclear why Haggerty, a former board president and one of its most outspoken members, decided to leave. Some speculated it was a result of Haggerty losing another chance to become president next year.
"Unless he is in charge, he doesn't want to be involved in anything," said one source within the organization. "He found out he is not going to be the county person in charge ... and therefore he said he doesn't want to be on it anymore."
Authority President and Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente,who has clashed with Haggerty a number of times, was more blunt.
"He wanted the chair," De La Fuente said. "He didn't manage to intimidate Steele to give it up, so he left."
Others suggested Haggerty's decision was probably influenced by the ongoing feud he and De La Fuente have had since Haggerty joined the board eight years ago.
Both are outspoken politicians eager to get their way, insiders say, and as a result they have butted heads on numerous occasions with De La Fuente usually coming out the victor.
"I suspect that was a piece of the whole picture," Steele said. "I can't even begin to pretend what the ins and outs of that relationship are ... but it is ... too bad that we did not work together when we disagreed."
Haggerty did not return calls seeking comment.
Wan said his decision to leave came as a result of the authority completing a number of goals it made when he joined in 2001.
He cited resolution of a legal dispute with the National Basketball Association's Golden State Warriors and a short-term lease extension with Major League Baseball's Oakland A's as two projects completed on his watch.
Wan said his decision had nothing to do with the remarketing effort.
"The Coliseum is in Larry Reid's district ... so it makes sense," Wan said. "The job is done for me."
De La Fuente said the change if anything will bring the board closer together.
Citing his disputes with Haggerty and, in contrast, his close relationship with Steele, De La Fuente said having new members should bring both the county and city closer together.
"One of the problems has been, at times, between the city and the county," he said. "This might make a difference with Scott gone ... it might be better."
Although Reid said he did not know how to solve the PSL dilemma, he said he looks forward to rejoining a board he left four years ago out of frustration.
"I did it for four years ... and it was kind of frustrating to me," Reid said. "Just some of the internal bickering that was going on and the amount of money we were spending on legal counsel, I just needed a break."
But after four years off, Reid said he is ready to rejoin the authority, especially since the stadium sits in his council district.
"I certainly hope that after all the issues that we went through with the Raiders, we can all put that behind us and move forward," he said. "I am going to have a good time."