Saturday, February 2, 2008

Another bid on Marine Terminal

The Union-Tribune reported today that the private group San Diego Community Solutions will begin gathering signatures for a proposal to place a deck on part of the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal. This deck would be able to hold a new stadium, hotel or park. The proposal would have to be passed on the November ballot by voters in the cities that make up the Port Commission – San Diego, Chula Vista, National City, Imperial Beach and Coronado.

The deck’s purpose is for parking, but any type of building could be placed on top, according to SDCS spokesman Scott Maloni.

While the plan exudes creativity mixed with difficulty, this is not the first time a developer has brought new ideas to the table in locations deemed dead for discussion. In September 2007, a gigantic proposal by CB Richard Ellis Capital Markets Debt and Equity Finance called for a $2.2 billion residential and commercial redevelopment plan on the Qualcomm Stadium site, a place that the Chargers and the City of San Diego could not come to terms with. The similarity here is that ingenuity and money will swirl, and the Chargers and Aztecs are the beneficiaries of a larger plan for San Diego County’s future development.

I hope to talk to the SDCS in the near future to ask more about their plans to get out the message about the deck, including potential cost for the cities involved with the Port Commission.

Today's Links

Here are some links on current news issues:

• The last headline directly concerning the Chargers is the Chula Vista City Council’s unanimous vote to allow a six-month study on how the Chargers can privately finance a new stadium rather than ask for taxpayer money. The study will analyze both the bayfront and eastern Chula Vista to see if there is enough demand and money available to make the deal happen.

Some video from NBC 7 about the City Council meeting, mostly discussing finance issues.

• Chula Vista is having a war of words with the California Public Utilities Commission, which has drawn up plans to destroy the South Bay Power Plant in favor of a new stadium further south but still on the bayfront. Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox wants any new power plants to be built inland, saying that a plant near the water is “simply not aligned with [the] region's goals.” Representatives for the Chargers as well as Gaylord Hotels didn’t have much to say about the report – both won’t build on the bayfront if the South Bay Power Plant remains.

• KPBS reports on the Chargers’ search for a stadium partner here, and reports on the South Bay Power Plant as well.

This Fox 6 report done in the middle of January talks about whether fans will be taxed if a new stadium comes. Chargers spokesman Mark Fabiani talks about how the stadium will be financed privately, while die-hard fans claim that they are willing to pay to get a stadium done.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Where You Are

“I believe the city missed the chance of developing the (Qualcomm) site. I believe our future is in Chula Vista. I'm hoping that, by June or July, we'll know more about Chula Vista. We have no plans to be anywhere else … I can't sit here and say something's going to get done, but we're going to reach a point where we know where we're at. The Spanos family wants to be in San Diego. I am not planning on an exit.”


-Chargers President Dean Spanos
San Diego Union Tribune, January 11, 2008



Sometimes it is best to start with what you aren’t before what you are.

This isn’t a blog meant to be a hype machine. It isn’t a website dedicated to the mission of building a billion-dollar stadium on the South Bay, no matter the issues, demand or cause. While the readers are allowed to champion the construction, I am not.

This also isn’t a blog meant to defame those who want a state-of-the-art building in San Diego County. It isn’t here to expose the Chargers as money-grubbing landlords who are ready to run out of San Diego with a one way ticket to Las Vegas or San Antonio. While the readers are allowed to run roughshod on Mark Fabiani and the Spanos Family, I am certainly not.

Then what is this blog? Simply put, it is an oasis in the desert of information surrounding a major project that will change the lives of all those in San Diego County. The people reading this blog will be able to understand the stadium project on a new level that will make them educated and ready when someone turns and asks: “What’s the deal with that stadium? Is it happening or not?” In a world currently dominated by presidential dealings, the keywords ring true – this blog is about change. Change for San Diego County. Change for the Chargers. Change for the Aztecs. Change for community dealings. Change for transit, police, fire, power, water, and the rest of the city services. Change for every denizen of the county.

How can this all happen? How can one blog make the person understand clearer than ever before? That is simple – by giving the viewer more than one way to see the issues. This blog will tell two stories, both intended for the readers to get the issues from two different perspectives.

The first is straight from the headlines. Some will come from local and national news organizations. Some will come from me. These can be bulletins or features, but they are intended to give information.

The second is from a personal distance. What are the real people talking about? It is not just about the talking heads in the major media. It is also about the ones that will talk in their homes, offices, bars and stores. How does someone from Chula Vista interpret what they see and hear? Whose message will ring clearer to them on Election Day? Would a freshman at San Diego State University feel comfortable taking the Blue Line all the way from the College Area to the Bayfront on a Saturday night? Does a person taking a walk along the marina respond positively when they imagine a stadium in their sightline rather than a power plant and a wetland? The first two news posts on this site will show what I mean by the two viewpoints.

Hopefully, as voting time nears, you will join me on this journey. Tell friends, tell family, tell strangers, tell Chula Vista residents. A power plant and a mesa stand as the last frontier between a new place to call home and trucks rolling away the last pieces of Chargers Park. Don’t let misinformation get in the way of progress, and don’t let misconception get in the way of discern.

This is Stadium Watch.

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