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November 07, 2007

Tuesday follow-up: The press weighs in

It's the day after Big Tuesday, so the press is all over yesterday's events. Here's a sampler:

• Ann Killion of the Mercury News turns in a show-stopping performance with her column on Yallop's return. Doing her part to add fuel to the Quakes/Galaxy rivalry, she calls LA president Alexi Lalas "preposterous" and describes him "the Galaxy's director of ridiculous thinking," before adding that Yallop "was ill suited to play head therapist for the traveling freak show." Stand back, everybody — Ann is on fire!
• Soccer America's Ridge Mahoney talks briefly about Yallop's hiring, using it as a jumping-off point for a discussion of whether big-name coaches like those presumably sought now by L.A. and New York really make sense for MLS at its current stage of development.
• Jeff Carlisle covers yesterday's press conference and adds details about Yallop's hiring by interviewing both GM John Doyle and the new coach.
• Finally, Barry Witt of the Mercury News demonstrates that he still hasn't figured out who's peeing in his Cheerios every morning with a ridiculous story on the San Jose City Council's unanimous endorsement of the city staff's work to date in crafting a deal that would give the city ownership of an elegant new stadium as part of an investment of over $1 billion in the city.

  It's a horribly one-sided story, neglecting to mention the vast economic benefits of the entire, $1-billion-plus proposal and instead focusing largely on the soccer stadium which is likely to make up less than ten percent of the total investment.

  We'll add something we wrote a couple weeks ago in response to another Witt story:

  Maybe the problem really doesn't lie with either the stadium proposal or the proposed city guidelines, though. Maybe the problem is that Wolff, through this act of generosity, is creating a new awareness at City Hall that it's not necessary to roll out the red carpet for any old developer who struts into town. And maybe the rest of the developers who have worked in San Jose in the past are trying to cast a cloud over the soccer stadium because they can't come out and say, "We liked the old rules better because we made a ton of money."

  Well, as they are learning, the region's soccer community is much larger than they have guessed, and we are vocal enough to make sure that City Hall knows that we will not be cast as scapegoats in this scenario.

  Here's the comment we posted on the Mercury News web site in response to today's steaming pile of Witt:

  As someone who attended yesterday's council meeting and who has studied the city staff's reports on the negotiations closely, I know that Barry Witt is telling only a sliver of what the proposed deal entails. Sadly, Mercury News readers who have not gone to these lengths will be led astray by Witt's words rather than enlightened. I would encourage them to view the staff report on the city's web site. We have also made it available at soccersiliconvalley.com.

  Here's some of what Witt didn't say:

  - Witt did not mention that any potential for job loss by the conversion of the iStar property will be mitigated by increasing the allowable densities of neighboring commercial and industrial properties, thereby eliminating the possibility that the city's balance of jobs-producing and residential lands will be disrupted.

  - Witt did not mention that the development of the FMC site with hotels, office/R&D, and retail space will create revenues for San Jose in the form of property taxes, hotel taxes, and sales taxes.

  - Witt did not mention that the blighted FMC site currently costs the City of San Jose over $7 million in general fund revenues each year, in the form of payments the city is making on the purchase of the land. Witt does not consider the financial impact of turning a $7 million annual debit into a revenue-producing asset.

  - Witt did not mention that the appraisal currently being conducted on the property to determine its current market value will likely indicate that the city will make money on the property sale, in addition to allowing San Jose to get out from under those annual purchase payments. Witt also failed to note that Wolff has already agreed to pay fair market value for the property.

  - Witt did not mention that Bill Sherry, the aviation director of Mineta San Jose International Airport, explained to the mayor and city council yesterday that the Airport West site is no longer part of the airport's plans, essentially giving the green light to the city council to do what they wish with the property.

  - Witt did not mention that Wolff has already agreed to pay for any cost overruns associated with the stadium's construction, nor did he mention that Wolff has also agreed to fund operations and maintenance of the stadium for the next 55 years -- even if the Earthquakes stop playing soccer there.

  - Finally, Witt did not mention that the city attorney specifically stated at yesterday's meeting that NO TAX DOLLARS would be involved in the construction of the stadium.

  This proposal is shaping up to have amazing benefits for San Jose, both by improving the quality of life for its citizens and by increasing the city's long-term financial viability, all without negatively impacting the ratio of jobs-producing lands to residential. By including only piecemeal information about the negotiations, Witt is doing a disservice to the people of San Jose who depend on the Mercury News for unbiased information about the issues.

  
  

Posted by Jay at November 7, 2007 08:23 AM

Comments

Posted by: Pedro J. Martin at November 7, 2007 02:51 PM