OAKLAND (KRON) — A glimmer of hope for Oakland Raiders fans on Wednesday night.
A private investment group wants to buy the Coliseum land and keep the team from bolting town once again. But one city lawmaker is saying no to that.
Raiders owner Mark Davis has his sights set on building a 65,000-seat stadium in Las Vegas.
But a group of investors said it is aggressively pushing a plan to build a new home for the silver and black right here in the Bay Area.
A group affiliated with Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott wants to purchase the Coliseum and the surrounding land in hopes of keeping the Raiders in Oakland.
But at least one city councilman is saying “no way.”
“Once I sell you public land, now you own the land and you can still leave, now you own the land and left, so I am not doing that,” Councilman Noel Gallo said.
Gallo also said the investor does have the option to sign a long-term lease.
“(That land) belongs to the people, now if the people of Oakland vote and say sell the land, then I’ll be able to do that, but right now, that land belongs to not just me, but future generations in Oakland,” Gallo said.
He even compared the selling of the land to a divorce, one in which the city won’t win.
“So, it’s like proposing to marry you…you can marry me now, but you can still take off with my house when you want to, and I think we can not do that when it comes to public land,” Gallo said.