jocstrap 8 Posted April 22, 2006 Mayor says city can't afford new SD stadium Story Tools: Print Email Blog This Associated Press Posted: 15 hours ago SAN DIEGO (AP) - Cash-strapped San Diego doesn't have the money to help the Chargers build a new stadium, Mayor Jerry Sanders said Friday, opening the door for Southern California's only NFL team to leave the city it has called home for 45 years. Sanders said he plans to ask the City Council to amend the Chargers' lease to allow the team to begin looking at sites elsewhere in San Diego County before the end of the year. If the team fails to find a new home in the county before Jan. 1, the Chargers would be free to negotiate a deal anywhere in the country. The Chargers can leave San Diego after the 2008 season if they pay off the approximately $60 million in bonds the city issued in 1997 to expanded Qualcomm Stadium. "I do not think it would be prudent or honest for me to say to taxpayers 'We can't resurface our roadways, but we can finance a stadium,"' the mayor said. Chula Vista and Oceanside, two smaller cities south and north of San Diego, have been mentioned as possible new homes within the county. San Diego is facing what the mayor called a financial and a managerial crisis, which includes a $1.4 billion city employee pension fund deficit and federal investigations into city finances. The Chargers have been in San Diego since 1961, the year after they started playing in Los Angeles under the ownership of hotel magnate Barron Hilton. Last year, the team proposed building a $450 million stadium as part of a commercial development the Qualcomm site, but dropped the plan because it could not find developers to share the estimated $800 million upfront costs. The team offered to pay for the stadium and traffic improvements, but wanted the city to give it 60 acres for development to recoup its costs. Earlier this year, the mayor of San Antonio signaled that his city would welcome the Chargers to fill the Alamodome, where the displaced New Orleans Saints played three games last season. Wow! I thought San Diego was a thriving US city? Who knew it was in such financial turmoil. Maybe that 4$ a gallon gasoline and energy prices come into play now. Isn't San Diego one of the highest cost of living cities in America also. Bye Bye lightning bolts...grab your cowboy hats b/c your wanted in SAN ANTONIO! Yea Ha Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
football_scooter 0 Posted April 22, 2006 SD is one of the most thriving cities in the nation, but the local gov't has had its head up it's arse for decades. There was a recent scandal over Petco Park even...can't recall the details, but it had something to do with a corrupt gov't/dirty mayor/something unsavory like that... The Los Angeles Chargers....man that sounds terrible. And the LA Coliseum is such a pit. My heart goes out to SD fans - they deserve better than this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eriadoc 4 Posted April 22, 2006 And we all know there's just NO way the Chargers could bear to play in their current stadium any longer, right? - NFL owners in general Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DaveJ 0 Posted April 22, 2006 SD crying poor is a laugh.. the city has a ton of revenue, but the local government insists on wasting it and the political environment is NOT friendly towards businesses. Hell, they even kicked the boy scounts out of their home of many years. SD elected these schmucks so they deserve what they get as a result... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ravens 03 0 Posted April 22, 2006 SD crying poor is a laugh.. the city has a ton of revenue, but the local government insists on wasting it and the political environment is NOT friendly towards businesses. Hell, they even kicked the boy scounts out of their home of many years. SD elected these schmucks so they deserve what they get as a result... Too bad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
