Coliseum deal, Selig's threat of move keep A's in Oakland for now New lease: After threat of move, city drops opposition - for now

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Oakland officials abruptly dropped their opposition, if only temporarily, Thursday to help approve a 10-year stadium lease for the Athletics, hours after the A's owner informed city and county leaders that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig gave the team permission to immediately seek a new home outside Oakland.

The stunning revelation was made by A's co-owner Lew Wolff in a 10 p.m. e-mail to officials Wednesday, in which he wrote that Selig authorized an immediate move for the team because of Oakland officials' "political maneuvering" that blindsided the A's and jeopardized a lease deal the team had agreed to with the board that manages the O.co Coliseum.

"I was informed tonight that Commissioner Selig, due to the possibility of not having the hearing and vote that we were purported to receive from the JPA (Joint Powers Authority), that we will immediately be allowed to seek a temporary or permanent location outside the city of Oakland," Wolff wrote in an e-mail sent to city, council and A's officials.

City Council President Pat Kernighan confirmed Selig's position with Robert Manfred, Major League Baseball's deputy commissioner.

The threat of losing the team prompted city officials to back off their plan to kill the lease deal Thursday - they had directed the four city representatives on the eight-member Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority to vote against the proposal. Instead, the Coliseum board approved the lease deal with a 6-2 vote Thursday morning.

The "no" votes were from Oakland Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan and sports agent Aaron Goodwin, a city-appointed representative on the board.

More approvals needed

O.co Coliseum, which was built in 1966, has been the home since 1968 of the A's, whose ownership has been trying to move the team for at least a decade. O.co Coliseum, which was built in 1966, has been the home since 1968 of the A's, whose ownership has been trying to move the team for at least a decade. Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 37 Caption Close Coliseum deal, Selig's threat of move keep A's in Oakland for now 1 / 37 Back to Gallery

But by Thursday evening, trouble for the deal appeared on the horizon - again.

Now that the lease deal has won approval from the Coliseum board, it must win separate approvals by the Oakland City Council and Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Both bodies are expected to vote on the issue before Aug. 1, in time for the A's to start building a new scoreboard system agreed to in the deal, so that it's ready for next season.

In a joint statement released Thursday night, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and Kernighan signaled the city's ability to hold up the lease deal unless the A's and Major League Baseball return to the negotiating table.

"We are pleased that we have made progress over the last few weeks, and we are looking forward to working cooperatively and expeditiously with the Oakland A's to close out remaining issues which center around economic and legal concerns," the statement read.

The deal is essentially the same proposal that the A's and Coliseum board made public Tuesday - but that the Oakland City Council opposed. The council wants the A's to pay $21 million over the 10-year term of the lease instead of $15.5 million, and it wants the A's to commit to playing in the Coliseum until at least Dec. 31, 2019, instead of Dec. 31, 2017.

The deal allows the team to give two years' notice of its intent to leave Oakland but requires the team to continue paying the lease for the remainder of the 10-year term, even if the team leaves. The deal lets the A's off the hook for making those lease payments only if they move to another stadium within Oakland.

Scoreboard agreement

For some Coliseum officials, the key was the scoreboard. The A's agreed to pay for and maintain a new $10 million scoreboard, replacing the decades-old and often-broken scoreboard that the Coliseum authority was charged with maintaining. The scoreboard will also be used for Oakland Raiders games, concerts and other events.

By turning the scoreboard over to the A's, the Coliseum authority saves about $4 million, said Deena McClain, Coliseum director.

In addition to approving the lease, the Coliseum board also voted to request that the A's drop a requirement in the lease for any Coliseum-area developer to put up a $20 million, nonrefundable down payment before building in Oakland. City officials said they feared the stipulation would scare off potential developers for the Coliseum City retail and housing project that they're planning. The board voted to ask the A's to drop the amount from $20 million to $10 million.

Councilman Noel Gallo, who initially opposed the lease proposal, said he changed his mind after receiving Wolff's e-mail and talking to colleagues overnight.

"I think this agreement will be fair," he said. "It might not be perfect, but I think it'll be good for Oakland and the region in the long run. ... Putting all the emotion aside, we're dealing with a business here. And the reality is, Oakland could use a credibility boost."

The Coliseum board's lead negotiator, attorney Jon Streeter, said the deal puts the city and county in the black, even after agreeing to drop a $5 million claim against the A's for back rent.

Doubling city's perks

Overall, the agreement more than doubles the perks for the city and county over the A's contracts of the past 10 years, he said.

"This is important to point out, to those who questioned whether this was a good deal for the taxpayers," Streeter said at the meeting. "We met that objective, and more."

Kaplan said she voted against the lease because she was legally obligated to do so, based on the City Council's directive from a closed-session meeting Tuesday, although she said she favors keeping all of Oakland's sports teams in the city. Councilman Larry Reid said he felt justified breaking with the council directive because several of his colleagues had changed their minds, and Wolff's e-mail added urgency to the situation.

A prime reason behind the City Council's hesitation is the 1990s Raiders deal that went sour. Council members want to be cautious before signing any sports deal, especially as they wrangle with an underfunded Police Department and other budget problems, interim city Administrator Henry Gardner said.

"The city's commitment to keeping the A's is absolute. It is unqualified," he said. "The A's have been here for more than 40 years, and we'd like to see them here for another 40 years. This agreement goes a long way toward achieving that goal, but it's not quite there yet."