Monday, October 25, 2010
Updated: A's Owners Give $25,000 to Perata Group After Ex-Senator Says Team Is Moving to San Jose
Politics / Business / Sports Robert Gammon — Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 2:19 PM
Updated: Oakland A's owners Lew Wolff and John Fisher, who desparately want to move their team to San Jose, are trying to influence the outcome of the Oakland mayor’s race, pumping $25,000 into a political committee that is backing ex-state Senator Don Perata. The move is unusual because Oakland sports team owners don't typically attempt to sway city elections and because Wolff is known for being frugal with his money. The large donations also came after recent statements made by Perata that stopping the A’s move to the South Bay will not be a priority if he becomes mayor.
At a debate last month sponsored by the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, Perata answered “no” when asked whether he would consider spending any taxpayer funds on helping keep the A’s in Oakland. By contrast, two of his main competitors, Rebecca Kaplan and Jean Quan said they would try to keep the A’s from leaving with the use of city redevelopment funds — which typically cannot be used for basic services, such a police, fire, libraries, and parks and recreation.
Quan favors a new ballpark for the A’s in Jack London Square, at the so-called Victory Court site along the Lake Merritt Channel. Kaplan supports a new ballpark on the existing Oakland Coliseum property surrounded by a shopping and entertainment district.
It’s becoming more common for cities to use redevelopment funds to help sports teams build new stadiums. San Jose plans to use such funds to acquire land for a new A’s ballpark and build needed infrastructure. And San Francisco limited its use of public money to redevelopment funds in helping the Giants build AT&T Park. Quan, Kaplan, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, and Council President Jane Brunner have ruled out using general fund money for the A's, but support using redevelopment funds to acquire land and build infrastructure for a new stadium. Indeed, it likely would be impossible to keep the A's from moving without spending redevelopment dollars.
In addition, at a recent editorial board meeting with the Oakland Tribune, Perata appeared uninterested in talking about keeping the A’s in town, according to several attendees. “He was very evasive,” said Kaplan, who was at the meeting with Quan, Perata, and fellow mayoral candidate Joe Tuman. “He basically conveyed that keeping the A’s is not very important.”
After the editorial board meeting, one of the attendees, Tribune columnist Dave Newhouse, published a piece on October 6 about the mayoral candidates and their thoughts on the A’s and the Golden State Warriors. Newhouse quoted Perata as being resigned to the fact that the A’s are leaving. “I don't think the A's are going to stay here,” Perata said. “We can't play in this game, putting up the money. We haven't been smart with our franchises.”
In an interview, Wolff denied that Perata's stance on the A's had anything to do with his $10,000 donation, saying he's supporting the ex-senator because he thinks he's the best mayoral candidate. Fisher donated $15,000. "I've known him for years," Wolff said of Perata, "and I respect him." Wolff also said he hasn't been paying attention to what Perata has been saying on the campaign trail.
But an attempt by an Oakland sports team owner to affect the outcome of a mayor's race may be unprecedented in recent decades. “I’ve been in Oakland since 1964, and I’ve never heard of anything like this,” Newhouse said in an interview after being told of what Wolff had done. Newhouse also said that Perata’s disinterest in keeping the A’s in Oakland “makes more sense” in light of Wolff’s attempt to get the ex-senator elected.
Indeed, it seems unlikely that Wolff and Fisher would support a candidate who would try to stop their San Jose plans. Wolff has been adamant in recent years that the team can’t survive in Oakland and that he’s determined to move the ballclub to San Jose. He expressed deep frustration earlier this year when Dellums, Brunner, and a local booster group led by Planning Commissioner Doug Boxer submitted a plan for a new A’s ballpark in Jack London Square. Wolff views the proposal as an unnecessary roadblock to his planned move to the South Bay and is angry that a Major League Baseball blue-ribbon panel has been studying Oakland’s idea.
Perata also has a long history of delivering for his donors. Newly filed campaign finance reports show that Wolff donated $10,000 on October 12 to a group with close ties to Perata called Coalition for a Safer California. A's majority owner Fisher donated $15,000 to the group on October 11. Both donations came after the chamber debate and after Newhouse's piece came out. Fisher also has been a strong proponent of moving the A's to San Jose.
Coalition for a Safer California has reported spending at least $141,000 trying to get Perata elected mayor of Oakland. The group is run by Perata’s longtime friend, Paul Kinney, and is financed primarily by the ex-senator’s employer, the California Prison guard’s union. The group also has sent out three hit-piece mailers that were full of falsehoods, attacking Quan and Kaplan — the two mayoral candidates who most strongly favor keeping the A’s in Oakland.
Earlier this year, Wolff also donated $500 to another Perata committee, Hope 2010. The committee is supposed to back a 2012 statewide ballot measure that would tax cigarettes to fund cancer research, but there’s some evidence that Perata has been using the committee to assist his mayoral candidacy — an apparent violation of state and local election laws.
Comments (8)
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Bob, whether it's General Funds or Redevelopment funds, public money is public money. It's not as though RDA funds can or should be somehow exempt from the requirement to make financial sense for the people of Oakland. If baseball is such good business, it needs to pay for itself. I agree with Len that there appears something amiss when Perata can do no right, even when he's making a very very hard call to let the A's go if they need Oaklanders to pay them to stay. The idea that Oakland has the time, money, and expertise to make a stadium deal work out is just pure fantasy. there are things more important than taking tax dollars to build millionaires' workplaces.
like
dislike
PERATA DOES NOT CARE ABOUT OAKLAND. He just needs a job. Who in their right mind would vote for Perata who has been investigated by the FBI? Bell California here we come.
Robert, i know the difference between RDA money from the real estate tax increment and general fund $.
Elected officials in Oakland are the ones who play fast and loose with RDA money, selling general fund owned real estate to the RDA either at inflated prices or just simply because they want basically an interest free loan to fund city operating deficits. Officials routinely concoct cost chargebacks to the the RDA for anything they can that passes the smile test, as lawyers would say.
Unlike Quan, Kaplan, Doug Boxer and most of the city council, I don't see RDA funds as "free money" to use as they wish so long as it goes for something that could increase economic activity in the RD area.
Their are many competing alternative economic development uses for the money Quan et al want to use for the A's stadium.
Quan et al have simply not done comparative analysis of the alternatives under best, most likely, and worst case alternatives before they decided that we should invest in a new stadium.
-len raphael, temescal
No on Q(uan)
Yes on P(erata)
Yes on K(ilian) for auditor
There is no need to put "lipstick on the pig." The Perata game is so transparent that no subterfuge is needed: The prime descriptor of Perata throughout his years in public service has never changed: The purpose of public office and it access to power is to benefit and further profit his corporate friends and family. No one should be deluded that these corporate big boys and their huge contributions to a campaign that is already financed by over a million dollars are "scratching their boy's back" in exchange for massive payoffs after he has assumed office -- and all, without guilt, at the expense of the Oakland populace. Any millionaire who votes for Perata is excused based solely on their avaricious greed. Anyone who votes for Perata who is not a millionaire has no such shameless excuse.
"most cities and sports economists would say that investing public money in attracting/retaining pro sports teams is stupid."
Len, you're conflating studies on the use of general funds -- money that is earmarked for police, fire, etc -- and redevelopment funds -- money earmarked for revitalization.
As the above story notes, San Francisco used redevelopment funds to help the SF Giants build AT&T Park. Even the most critical sports economists point to San Francisco as the prime example of cities doing it right when it comes to their sports teams.
As for $25,000 not being that much for Lew Wolff and John Fisher. Possible. But Wolff is famously tight with his money. State records show that he has never reported making a donation as large as $10,000 to a candidate before.
And if they like Perata so much, why wait to make the donations until after the ex-senator essentially said he doesn't intend to fight their planned move to San Jose if elected?
25,000 might be a lot of money to you, me, and Dave Newhouse, but to very wealthy people like Wolff and Fisher it really isn't that much. If they were seriously trying to influence a politician re. a transaction as big as moving an entire sports franchise, they would have contributed heck of more money than 25k.
No, the most likely explanation isn't as exciting as yours, but more likely they were just making a contribution to an old political buddy who had helped them out in the past.
What does surprise me is your conclusion that Perata is up to no good because he opposes using any public money to subsidize a new stadium for the A's.
Has it occurred to you that Perata really did learn from the infamous Raider's deal that as most cities and sports economists would say that investing public money in attracting/retaining pro sports teams is stupid.
Someone might suggest that that to our sports economist gurus Quan, Kapland, Doug Boxer, and Dave Newhouse who believe spending redevelopment money on a stadium is a wonderful use of public money.
What i like about Perata, is that like any smart politician he learns from his past mistakes and adapts. Quan unfortunately is doomed to keep repeating her mistakes because she never admits having made a mistake.
-len raphael, temescal
Proud Peratista
I never heard of this Butt guy before, but I see on his website he has accepted an endorsement from Don Perata. Are you sure he really stands for "good and ethical government."
If you believe as I do that Oakland citizens need to make more of a stand for good and ethical government, like Tom Butt in Richmond has brought to the table in that nearby city for many years, then join us! You can learn more about this nascent movement to put a glaring spotlight on issues of ethical conduct and misconduct by our candidates for office and current officeholders by contacting:
ethicsforoakland@gmail.com
MFraser
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