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April 30, 2007
Wolff to Chronicle: "It had nothing to do with guaranteeing revenue"
San Francisco Chronicle writer Patrick Hoge covers the end of negotiations between Lew Wolff and San Jose State today and adds something new to the mix: actual quotes from Wolff himself. Not surprisingly, when that side of the story is reported, it results in a different story than, for example, Jon Wilner's recent column in the Mercury News.
Here's the most telling bit of the Chronicle story:
Kassing and Wolff agreed to halt negotiations last week after meeting four times, Wolff said last week. But he insisted Kassing never told him money was the problem or said why he soured on building a new stadium."He wasn't comfortable in moving ahead," Wolff said. "I didn't really probe him for any specifics. He didn't offer a lot of them. It had nothing to do with guaranteeing revenue.
"I made it very clear from the very beginning that such a guarantee was not in the cards,'' Wolff added.
The Chronicle story goes on to reiterate the same message that SSV told members last week, quoting Wolff as saying that he's "still looking hard at a couple of sites in San Jose in cooperation with the city."
So that answers a lot of questions about what has happened the last few weeks. Wolff clearly states that a. he made it clear to SJSU early on that guaranteed money was never going to be an option and b. he thinks he can get things done in San Jose without the university.
We're left with the question of why SJSU broke off negotiations in the first place. If it wasn't because of guaranteed money, what could it have been?
We think Wilner's article provides a clue:
So now what? The guess here is that Kassing and Athletic Director Tom Bowen will begin searching for ways to improve Spartan Stadium."We'll probably look at some ideas on South Campus," Kassing said, "with the thought that they could become vehicles to renovate the stadium."
In other words, SJSU could sell some of its land and plow the cash into a facility upgrade.
Wouldn't that be something - using Wolff's idea, just without Wolff.
Could it be that SJSU learned just enough about real estate development through their negotiations with Wolff that they think they can do it alone? Did they need a public excuse to break off negotiations, so they claimed Wolff wouldn't meet them half way? It sure sounds like it. Let's hope there's some other explanation, because that one doesn't cast San Jose State in a very good light.
Nor, for that matter, does it make the Mercury News look very professional. They've written stories on a private negotiation by taking numbers from a source on one side and reporting it as fact. Would they do the same thing in a labor negotiation, interviewing sources at a teachers' union and not at the school board? One suspects not, but for some reason the standards that normally apply to this type of reporting seem to have been thrown out the window in this case. It's enough to make us all long for the days when every major city had at least two daily papers.
Posted by Jay at April 30, 2007 10:43 AM
Comments
Exactimento. Wolff's characterization of the end of negotiations is stunningly different from the way that Carr of SJSU portrays it. It's very strange. Either someone is not being all that truthful or there's a very powerful Rashomon effect going on here.
And yes the MN reporting, especially Jon Wilner's last article, was really irresponsible. Not only did he fail to get the other side of the story, but he just ran with a financial analysis that failed to consider both a $90 investment in a stadium and shared revenue in exchange for land use. It was portrayed strictly as $1 million in guarantees for the land. Again, strange, and highly slanted, irresponsible reporting.
It's too bad that what appeared to have been a can't miss, win-win-win proposal has been reduced to "a joke" (in Jon Wilner's blog). Let's hope that Lew Wolff and Earthquakes LLC have workable Plan B options and that they "No Te Rindas" on the plan to bring the Quakes back to the Bay Area.
Posted by: JazzyJ at May 2, 2007 09:28 AM
As disappointed as I was when I read that the deal had gone south, I quickly realized that Wolff had already opened the Quakes/A's office at the Fairmont before there were any apparent discussions between Wolff and Kassing. To me, and I admit to wanting to be very optimistic about the Quakes return, that means that today's "plan B" was very likely yesterday's "plan A", before Kassing became part of the discussion.
From the start, I never understood how Kassing went from lukewarm (he was very clear, back when AEG was still fresh in everyone's mind, that he felt the university had no obligations to help a private enterprise make a profit) to very warm with this option. I am not trying to fault him for anything, I am merely suggesting that I personally had trouble getting from there to here.
I very much believe in the press role in our society. That doesn't mean I think they are always correct. In this situation, some of the stories in the local paper seemed to fall a little short.
Posted by: sj_oldtimer at May 2, 2007 10:33 PM
Since 1974 The San Jose Earthquakes have surely put a few Million into San Jose State's coffers, as their only paying tenant. That subsidy certainly saved Spartan Football from extinction.
Twice now, in two years, San Jose State has declined to reciprocate in order to save or revive our Quakes.
As a San Jose State Grad myself, I am appalled.
I know Kassing wasn't there when the NASL Quakes sold out Spartan regularly, but if they actually did the math, it had to be obvious who was getting a subsidy.
And, it's not like SJS can do what they want with the land. Before State land can be sold to a private enterprise, every other government entity can put a claim on it. Hey, San Jose could take it over, and have Wolff do the stadium without SJS, and have THEM pay rent. Wouldn't THAT be Karma?
Meanwhile, I can't wait for s Spartan Foundation fundraiser to call soliciting a donation to renovate Spartan Stadium........
Posted by: Len Kruwel at May 3, 2007 11:57 PM