Will Alameda County, Oakland ever seal a sports deal?

Familiar friction between East Bay officials now threatens the Oakland Roots; Alameda approves animal testing ban at city-owned properties, but with exceptions; Hayward bullied into district elections

Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson at Tuesday’s board meeting holding a late-arriving letter of interest from the city of Oakland to purchase Coliseum land set to be put up for auction by the county.

COUNTY NEWS

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS/OAKLAND

—ROOTED IN CONFUSION—Oakland and Alameda County has lost the Warriors, Raiders, and A’s. Now dysfunction between the two government entities is hindering the future of the Roots soccer club in Oakland.

—Alameda County, Oakland, and Roots officials have been working on a deal since last October for the soccer club to use the former Malibu site at the Coliseum as a temporary stadium, and the former Raiders facility at Harbor Bay in Alameda as its training grounds.

—Since then little head way between the parties has occurred.

—On Tuesday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to auction off its 50 percent interest in the Malibu site. The auction could occur as late as May 22.

—In the meantime, county officials said they are willing to continue talks with the city and Roots.

—But the county was surprised after Oakland officials sent them a letter of interest for the Malibu site on Friday afternoon.

—“We had no indication that they were going to send this letter of interest,” said Kimberly Gasaway, the county’s negotiator.

—This was despite meeting with Oakland officials 3-5 times a week on the subject since last fall. The parties met just two days prior to the city’s letter of interest arriving on Friday.

—The County and city, as government entities, can meet anytime to make a deal without a letter of interest, Gasaway said. “This path wasn’t necessary.”

—Like the inability for the city and county to keep the Raiders and A’s in the East Bay, similar fractures between the two came into full view on Tuesday.

—Supervisor Nate Miley, negotiating in public with the city, offered to purchase the city’s interest in the Harbor Bay training grounds while selling county’s interest in the Malibu site to Oakland.

—The Roots would then be able to negotiate separately between the city and county, Miley added.

—Leigh Hanson, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s chief of staff, quickly rebuffed the offer. Instead, Hanson offered to buy both properties.

—“It’s clear the county and city are not in sync about the Malibu site and training facility in Alameda,” Supervisor Lena Tam said.

—Unforeseen “pivots” by the city, such as the late-arriving letter of interest last Friday raises concerns moving forward, she added.

—“We want to get out of the sports business,” Supervisor David Haubert said. “This is a continuation, I think, of that.”

“We’ve been at it for long time,” Haubert said of negotiations. “We have safety net obligations to meet and this is a bit of a distraction from all of these things.”

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