Oakland, not the A's, win the day

Aisha Wahab's Costa-Hawkins housing bill heads to state senate floor next week; Ro Khanna keeps on trading stocks. Plus, special podcast featuring Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley.

CITY NEWS

OAKLAND

—For quite some time, it’s been apparent that Oakland officials and their counterparts with the A’s have been following another type of “parallel paths.” And that is, if a ballpark deal can’t get done, how does each side steer public perception and ascribe blame to the other side?

—If, indeed, the A’s are gone, then it’s readily apparent that Oakland city leaders seized Day 1 in the court of public opinion.

—On Wednesday night when news of land deal broke, and at Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s press conference yesterday, she and other Oakland officials created a narrative that the city did everything that was asked of them by A’s officials, and, in each case, Oakland delivered.

—The public, local and national media, also seem to agree that A’s owner John Fisher is blame for the franchise’s inability to secure a deal in Oakland. Almost across the board, Fisher is being met with scorn and several declarations in the media that he is “the worst owner in sports.”

—Over the past few years, it was the A’s who played this blame game and often succeeded in making Oakland leaders look bad. Those same Oakland officials eventually adapted to the A’s methods.

—But this major early loss in the court of public opinion could mean two things: (1) The A’s are certain the deal they want will be had in Las Vegas and can care less what the city of Oakland, the team’s fans, and the media has to say. Or (2) Wednesday night’s gambit is another example of Fisher’s getting cold feet and making an irrational decision.

—If Thao, by ceasing negotiations with the A’s, is calling the team’s bluff, then Fisher is in big trouble. Early reports out of the Nevada Legislature describe lukewarm early support for the A’s proposal, which like the offer in Oakland, appears curiously flimsy for an organization in a hurry to get a deal done somewhere before January.

—UPROOTED IN OAKLAND—On Wednesday morning, we received Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s side of the team’s announcement last night that it had entered into a binding agreement to purchase 49 acres of land near the Raiders home field at Allegiant Field.

Here’s a few of the takeaways from the press conference and other reporting on Thursday:

• Thao was blindsided by the news she received Wednesday evening that the A’s had purchased land for a ballpark in Las Vegas. Until around 6 p.m. yesterday, she believed the A’s were negotiating in good faith.

• Negotiators for the city and A’s had been meeting daily recently, Thao said, which was a great reason for optimism from her perspective. “This was the closest we’ve been to a deal,” she said.

• This jibes with what City Hall insiders have been saying. Despite little public discussion about Howard Terminal by the city and A’s, negotiations were ongoing and city negotiators were optimistic about its progress.

• There were also great concerns about a deal Thao and the A’s made to avoid “negotiating in the press.” Thao referenced the informal agreement on Wednesday. In hindsight, the pact gave cover to the A’s to move plans forward in Las Vegas. We also learned that Thao agreed not to talk to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

• A’s President Dave Kaval called Thao at around 6 p.m. to give her a heads-up that they signed a binding agreement to purchase land in Las Vegas. However, A’s owner John Fisher had to be reminded to call Thao, suggesting a lack of respect for the new Oakland mayor.

• If the A’s had not made their decisive move on Wednesday night, the news—possibly good, possibly bad—may have been reported on Friday, at a press conference the city and A’s were to tentatively schedule.

• Comments from other Oakland officials: Oakland Councilmember Dan Kalb briefly dropped in on Thao’s press conference and told reporters that what he wants to say about the A’s news could not be put in print, meaning he was very upset.

• Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas issued a statement on Thursday that is nearly verbatim to Thao’s initial comments. Bas said she support creating a new development at the Howard Terminal waterfront site

• Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley told reporters the loss of the A’s could be an opportunity for the city. However, he held out hope, saying the “door isn’t fully closed.”

• Assemblymember Mia Bonta is also cautiously hopeful, tweeting to the A’s, “If you change your mind, which I hope you will, let’s talk.”

PODCAST SPECIAL

—TWITTER SPACES PODCAST—Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley joined us to talk about the likely departure of the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas, and his run for re-election next year. We share our thoughts on the sad developments concerning the A’s

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LEGISLATURE

7TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT

—COSTA HAWKINS BILL—A bill introduced by state Sen. Aisha Wahab that amends the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act to allow local cities to gain more control over rent increases for multi-family dwellings won wide approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

—“Costa-Hawkins no longer serves the best interests of Californians and must be reformed,” Wahab told the Judiciary Committee. The bill, SB 466, heads to the state senate floor for vote next Tuesday.

—Wahab’s bill applies a yearly rolling schedule to the law’s fixed dates for when local cities can limit rent increases.

—The legislation is being closely watched. Several other attempts to reform or outright remove Costa-Hawkins from the books have failed at the statewide ballot box and struggled to even make it out of a legislative committee.

CONGRESS

17TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

—TAKING STOCK—A movement to prohibit or limit members of Congress from stock trading has failed to make much ground over the past two years. But one of its poster boys is Rep. Ro Khanna.

—In the past, Khanna has said his voluminous stock trades are handled by his spouse. Khanna is one of Congress’ most prolific stock traders. By some estimates, the Khannas have made around 13,000 trades over the past three years. The honor has proven vexing to his otherwise sparkling reputation.

—The problem with all this activity is that many congressmembers oversee companies and industries of which they are making stock trades.

—This week, Khanna was again caught in a stock trading maelstrom. In the midst of upheaval in the banking sector, Khanna’s spouse and children sold stock in First Republic Bank on Mar. 15, the day before it received a $30 million federal bailout, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

—First Republic Bank’s shares, however, continued in freefall, the paper added, meaning the Khanna’s avoided additional loses on their investment.