OAKLAND (BCN) – Oakland city council members voted Tuesday on a non-binding financial plan for a new waterfront stadium for the Oakland A’s, but the team said it was a swing and a miss.
A’s president Dave Kaval said while progress has been made in negotiations, the plan the City Council voted on Tuesday afternoon is something that doesn’t work for his team.
The council voted to adopt a plan and amendments by the city for a stadium at Howard Terminal off Market Street in Oakland that “is not a business partnership that works for us,” Kaval said.
Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said the City Council’s amendments addressed the A’s biggest concern, which was having to pay for offsite transportation infrastructure improvements. However, the A’s still could not agree with the city’s overall offer.
About 1,000 people watched the meeting virtually and about 100 commented publicly before the vote. Six councilmembers voted “aye” for the city’s proposal while Councilmember Noel Gallo voted “no” and Councilmember Carroll Fife abstained.
Earlier live blog:
The one “no” vote on the Howard Terminal Ballpark term sheet came from Councilmember Gallo. He said the best bet for the A’s and city would be rebuilding the Coliseum site and redeveloping around it in East Oakland.
Clarification: Dave Kaval indicated the team is not in consensus on the city’s amended term sheet, but this vote SHOULD keep them at the negotiating table.
Joint Statement from Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas and Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan
“Today’s vote by the City Council marks a milestone in our mission to keep the A’s rooted in Oakland and build a world-class waterfront ballpark district that will benefit the community for generations to come.
Based on our extensive negotiations, shared values and shared vision, we believe the A’s can and should agree to the terms approved by the City Council today. This is the path to keeping the A’s Rooted in Oakland in a way that protects our Port and tax payers and will produce the benefits our community demands and deserves.
We look forward to continue working with the A’s to address their remaining concerns and to focus now on developing a final Environmental Report and binding Development Agreement that address the complex details of this visionary project.”
Votes are in: Oakland City Council votes YES to Howard Terminal proposal.
Voting underway:
Yes: Bas Kaplan Kalb Reid Taylor Thao
No: Gallo
Abstain: Fife
Oakland City Councilmember Noel Gallo responds: “This is not the first time we’ve dealt with the terminal… No to the A’s the council spending many meetings….but I wish we would take the same time….to be above to address those….that will do more for A’s baseball than the terminal will….that’s an opportunity that we have…to rebuild it (Oak)…if they want to tear down the stadium…. we’ll tear it down, but we will have the control…..I’m going to vote no today…..to build the coliseum for the future of Oak…..”
Councilmember Carroll Fife continues to question Kaval, “It seems like… We’re voting on something the A’s are going to turn down.”
Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato says “I want a win-win for Oakland… I am supportive of the amendments… This has to be a good deal for our taxpayers… I agree with the staff…”
Councilmember Dan Kalb responds: “It is disturbing that the A’s are not agreeing to pay for any infrastructure including the mitigation, including the EIR outside the walls of the future ballpark. I don’t understand why they’re not expected to pay for any of it.”
Councilmember Carroll Fife questions Kaval “I don’t even know why we’re here today… If the A’s are not happy with what was produced today… I don’t know where we go from here… After all of the things Oakland A’s fans have gone through… That they are not willing to accept what the city staff has put together. Do what we say or we leave, that’s not a negotiation, that’s not respectful, that’s not rooted.”
“It’s very important to us after working 5 years on this to see if we can actually have a shared vision for the waterfront stadium and a financial framework that works,” Kaval said.
Kaval essentially says voting yes today does not ensure the project will happen.
Oakland Athletics President Dave Kaval: “I want to thank the staff…..tremendous amount of work… public process and about the community and bring a better solution…. It’s important for us…to see if we can have a share of vision…. I appreciate Kaplan’s amendments… We’ve moved and made concessions….. It’s important that the current term sheet is not something that the A’s have consensus about…. Getting yes on something we agree with…make it a reality..”
“Today is not the vote on the actual deal. It is direction regarding the work to conduct such a deal by giving guidance,” Kaplan said.
Rebecca Kaplan, Vice Mayor of Oakland, presents the amendments to the resolution.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING: The council would like to target 35% affordability using onsite and offsite strategies.
PHASING PLAN: One of the key terms of the city’s proposed term sheet is that the ballpark must be included in the first phase of development.
NON-RELOCATION AGREEMENT: After much negotiation, the city and the A’s have decided on a term of 25 years for a non-relocation agreement. The team would be required to stay and play in Oakland. If the team were to relocate, they would be obligated to cover the city’s outstanding debt service.
Another look at the Howard Terminal proposal
KEY PUBLIC BENEFITS: The project includes over 18 acres of new, publicly accessible parks on the Oakland waterfront. The waterfront is currently inaccessible to the public today.
“THIS IS MUCH BIGGER THAN BASEBALL”: Oakland Project Manager Molly Maybrun presents the Development Agreement Term Sheet.
Oakland Assistant City Administrator Elizabeth Lake leads presentation on Howard Terminal development details. “We really believe that it represents a once in a generation opportunity to transform and enhance part of the city’s downtown while providing significant benefits to our communities, the city, and the region, all while keeping the A’s in Oakland.”
STAFF DISCUSSION: Discussion continues with a staff presentation on the terms of the proposed Howard Terminal Ballpark.
Kenyetta Gentry, who has been working at the Coliseum for 21 years, said she was nervous at first when the A’s started talking about leaving the Coliseum.
“We will keep our union jobs at the new stadium. What a lot of people don’t know is that these are good union jobs. A lot of us count on these jobs for our health insurance. Our families depend on income. This proposal is not just about a baseball stadium. This is not just about keeping the A’s in Oakland. It’s about keeping us in Oakland. We can’t afford to lose the A’s right now.”
Pastor Chris Scott believes a win-win is possible. “We can have affordable housing and a team in our city.”
Another commenter mentioned a rally will be held by Union workers at 1:00 p.m. to oppose the sale of the terminal.
“This is a fight for the entire working class working people. We need to unite. We need to stop this privatization which is destroying our lives for working people and the future of all of us. So let’s vote against this. We’re gonna rally at 1:00 p.m.” said Steve Zeltzer.
Some community members are worried about the impact the new ballpark would have on Chinatown.
“We are vulnerable which means our businesses will not recover from the pandemic,” said Evelyn Lee with the Oakland Asian Cultural Center.
The Oakland City Council is meeting right now to discuss and hopefully vote on the proposed Howard Terminal Ballpark.
The meeting started out with public comment where community members spoke out about concerns if the team were to relocate.