Green and gold new deal?

Struggling St. Rose Hospital gets infusion of county cash, Carson lashes out at Haubert; Swalwell sets up congressional witness to undermine DA Price; Legislative Renters Caucus forms

CITY NEWS

OAKLAND

—DEAL OR NEW DEAL?—Oakland officials may be attempting to reframe the parameters of the Howard Terminal baseball project in hopes of luring the Oakland A’s back to the negotiating table.

—Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan and others officials on Wednesday noted the extremely scaled-down ballpark project being proposed by the A’s in Las Vegas.

—The tiny proposed 30,000-seat ballpark resting on just nine acres just off the Vegas Strip is a far cry from the big ask in Oakland that featured a 35,000 seat waterfront ballpark, 3,000 units of housing, retail, parks, and large investments in public infrastructure.

“The A’s are no longer asking for 3,000 units of housing and a 50-acre village,” Kaplan said. “They’re no longer asking for a 200-acre project. They’re asking to be tenants on nine acres in the back alley behind the casino. If in Oakland they had proposed to build just a ballpark, it would have been done by now, and it still could be. Easily.”

—Kaplan later added, “Let’s be clear there’s no plan in Las Vegas. There’s no design. There’s no architect. There’s no deal.”

—One of the biggest obstacles to the Howard Terminal Ballpark Project has long been Oakland District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife, whose criticisms led the A’s to hire a community liaison to, in part, attempt to placate her concerns.

—Even Fife voiced support for a ballpark-only project in Oakland on Wednesday. “If the project that they are pushing in Las Vegas was one they were pushing in Oakland, it would be a different story,” Fife said.

—The comments came during a council meeting on Wednesday afternoon to approve a resolution supporting Reps. Barbara Lee and Mark DeSaulnier’s bill that includes a threat to remove Major League Baseball’s anti-trust exemption.

—“Cities should not be wrongfully pressured to give their tax dollars to a cartel given special federal permission to hold cities hostage in this way,” Kaplan said. She and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao sponsored the resolution.

—The attempts to float a new deal in Oakland, however, also included some potshots at MLB and the A’s. Kaplan reiterated false comments made by Commissioner Rob Manfred that Oakland leaders never offered up a deal. Kaplan said the city approved two—Howard Terminal and the Oakland Coliseum complex.

—“It was the baseball team ownership that chose to walk away and not make a deal in Oakland. Both of which would work great. If they built it here they wouldn’t have to spend $500 million on a dome,” she said, noting the heat in Las Vegas will require an expensive retractable roof.

—Later, Kaplan warned other cities, such as Milwaukee, that Major League Baseball will employ the same tactics used against Oakland on them. “To other communities across the nation: If you think this will only happen Oakland, beware other cities are being threatening now, too.”

MORE INSIDE:

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