The Oakland Athletics’ continued search for a possible new ballpark in Las Vegas is seen as “disrespectful” by one Bay Area politician.
Nevertheless, Oakland City Council member Carroll Fife said her sense that the public’s voice isn’t being heard, not the A’s actions, is largely why she’s considering sponsoring a ballot measure on the team’s planned waterfront ballpark project.
“I feel like the behavior has been abusive to the city of Oakland and they (A’s) have not valued the loyalty that so many fans and the city of Oakland have for them,” Fife said. “That’s the action it’s taken, to use all these other cities to dangle in front of Oakland to get the cheapest deal… All the personal affronts, all the attacks and the PR games that have been played, those don’t play much of a role in how I’m seeing things.
“What plays the most for me, is what I’m hearing… I think it’s best to move in a direction to give more weight to people than to billionaires.”
To have a measure on the ballot for November’s election, Fife would have to submit it for review by the end of Tuesday, to be heard at Thursday’s Rules and Legislation Committee meeting, she noted in a virtual news conference.
“Then it would be heard at the first rules committee after the break, on April 14,” Fife said. “It could come, technically, to the council meeting April 9.”
Fife noted she has had conversations with other council members about her possible ballot measure, but they did not want their identities to be made public at this time.
“They’ll come forward once the legislation is made public,” Fife said.
Fife said another option would be to pursue a citizens-driven initiative to get the question on the ballot this fall. That would require 10 percent of registered voters, or around 25,000 people, to sign a petition, she said.
“We would have a couple of months to do that,” Fife said. “Because this is such a popular issue I don’t think that it would take much effort at all.”
Fife said many of the residents who have contacted her want public money that would go toward any stadium-related costs to instead go toward graffiti clean up, affordable housing, homeless issues and public safety.
“Those are the things… I get hundreds of calls and texts about every single day,” Fife said. “In terms of the priorities of what residents want to see, the people who live in my district, the predominant voice is not aligned with what I’m hearing from city staff.”
Athletics president Dave Kaval told the Review-Journal on Monday that ballot questions such as the one Fife has proposed are usually presented to kill off projects.
“It’s (the possible vote) very concerning,” Kaval said Monday. “It makes you wonder if they (Oakland officials) are going to keep changing the goalposts as we get closer and closer to the project.”
Fife noted she’s not concerned that having a ballot question decide the fate of the waterfront project could lead to the team’s exodus.
“If they (A’s) want to not hear what the voters actually think, which I’m note sure why anyone would feel that way, and they choose to leave, I think that is indicative of what so many people are saying right now,” Fife said. “They’re not interested in hearing how this will potentially negatively impact individuals who live and work in the area. But they’re more interested in the business and real estate deal that so many people say that this is.”
Contact Mick Akers at [email protected] or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.
