Sacramento, Calif., Mayor Kevin Johnson

SEATTLE — Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has come up with a plan to try to hold on to the NBA’s Kings and keep the team from possibly moving to Seattle.

Johnson said he has permission from NBA Commissioner David Stern to make a counteroffer to the reported $525 million deal allegedly proposed by Chris Hansen’s Seattle investor group.

“Sacramento will get a chance to put our best foot forward,” said Johnson, who reportedly has put together a local investor group. “The commissioner says that our community has every right to present a counteroffer that’s fair and competitive and talk about what this team means, not only to this city but to our region.”

Thousands of Kings’ fans are also signing an online petition, vowing to buy season tickets if the team stays.

It’s the latest effort to keep the team in Sacramento, and very similar to what happened in Seattle before the Sonics left.

“I want them to fight as hard as they can, “said Steve Pyeatt, of Save Our Sonics. “I just don’t see this as being something that’s viable enough to get the NBA to stop the relocation.”

Pyeatt led the charge to try and save the Sonics in 2008, and said it’s déjà vu watching the scene unfold in Northern California right now.

In 2008, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels tried the same thing to save the Sonics, with a group that included Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, who is now part of Hansen’s group.

Sonics legend Fred Brown led another team of investors and even had designs for a new arena on the waterfront.

Neither could stop the Sonics move to Oklahoma City.

The Kings’ owners, the Maloof brothers, and Hansen are still not talking, but Pyeatt said it appears they’re just waiting for a thumbs-up from NBA owners.

“The bottom line is going to be what the ownership groups want and what the NBA owners want and right now it looks like they want a team back in Seattle,” the activist said.

SEATTLE — Images of new design options for a $490 million NBA/NHL arena to be built by investor Chris Hanson in Seattle’s Sodo District were posted on the city of Seattle’s website Friday.

The first one shown at left is an aerial view of the No. 3 option – and the “preferred” option – for the new arena.

From top to bottom, the view of No. 3 option is shown looking south along 1st Avenue; next is a drawing of the proposed arena under option No. 1, the view also is looking south on 1st Avenue;  a drawing below is of the proposed arena under option No. 2, the view is looking south on 1st Avenue. To view the entire document, click here.

The city of Seattle has released the first round of designs for the proposed NBA/NHL arena in SoDo. 

You can view the proposal here.

SEATTLE — The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 19 filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court Thursday challenging the decision by Seattle and King County to move forward with an agreement to build a sports arena in Seattle’s Sodo district.

On Wednesday, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and King County Executive Dow Constantine signed the Memorandum of Understanding with investor Chris Hansen to build a $490 million NHL/NBA arena.

Hansen has proposed building it in the Sodo district, where he has already bought $51 million in property.

The lawsuit, which is available for downloading at www.gendlermann.com, alleges that Seattle and King County violated the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).

“While it purports in several sentences to require future SEPA review and reserves final siting of the arena in the future, virtually all of the 38 page-long MOU consists of planning and financial terms that only apply to the Sodo site,” a news release by the union said.

“These provisions will create irreversible political momentum in favor of siting the proposed new arena on the Sodo site in the SEPA review process, making the SEPA alternatives and impacts review process a sham,” said Cameron Williams, president of ILWU Local 19.

“I repeat, ILWU is not against a new arena or bringing back the NBA to the Seattle area but we are not going to sit idly by while this arena and entertainment district, along with the traffic already generated by Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field, destroy the great working-class jobs provided by our port and industrial area,” he said.

The lawsuit asks the court to invalidate the MOU and to require the city and county to go back to the drawing board and work on an MOU and future SEPA process that does not make the arena site in Sodo a foregone conclusion.

SEATTLE — Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and King County Executive Dow Constantine on Tuesday signed an agreement to use up to $200 million in public funds for a proposed $490 million NBA/NHL arena, with investor Chris Hansen putting in the rest.

Approval of the Memorandum of Understanding allows Hansen, a San Francisco hedge fund manager, to begin an environmental impact study and to look around for a new Sonics team to bring to Seattle.

Hansen wants to build the arena in the city’s Sodo district, where he has already bought about $51 million in property, although the Port of Seattle and the longshoremen’s union oppose that site and want it built elsewhere.

The King County Council approved the MOU on a 9-0 vote while the Seattle City Council approved it 7-2 Monday.

“While we still have a long way to go, this is is the most significant step the region has made to bring back the NBA since 2008,” said King County Council Chairman Larry Gossett. “We have come this far because of the diligence of not only Chris Hansen, but also Executive Constantine, Mayor McGinn, both councils and the legion of fans who are working to return the Sonics.”

County Vice Chairwoman Jane Hague said, “This begins the process of measuring environmental, economic and transportation impacts on not only the Sodo site but other sites that also may emerge.”

The president of Local 19 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Cameron Williams, said his union would file suit to stop the project.

“We cannot stand idly by while Mr. Hansen and his well-connected lobbyists, along with our elected officials, build an arena in a location that threatens the livelihood of our members and many other workers in the maritime industry and Sodo,” he said in a statement issued last Friday.

The union says a new arena would create traffic problems and cost jobs, and it accuses the councils of not looking at alternative sites for such an arena.

The state environmental review, known as SEPA, is supposed to consider other locations, but the union local said, “Because only the Sodo site is acceptable to Mr. Hansen, the SEPA alternative process will be a sham.”

In response to the lawsuit announcement, King County Council’s Joe McDermott said, “I think we`ve all been careful to make sure we have a full, transparent SEPA process.”

McDermott said that includes looking at several other potential arena sites.

“This gives us the opportunity to perhaps bring back an NBA team, the Sonics, to Seattle and NHL hockey as well,” McDermott said. “Yet we`re still making sure we`re doing our careful work to make sure we have a full analysis of this site and more than would be typically required.”

As part of the “memorandum of understanding,” the city of Seattle would be asked to provide up to $120 million in bond money and King County up to $80 million if both NBA and NHL teams are secured. The money would be paid back over time from arena taxes and revenue.

SEATTLE — Investor Christopher Hansen said Wednesday night that he is patient and will continue with his plan to build a new NBA facility in Seattle even if it takes years.

Hansen, who lives in the San Francisco area, appeared before Seattle’s arena advisory panel and spoke to reporters afterward.

His comments also came after the Sacramento City Council approved an arena plan to keep the Sacramento Kings in that city. The Kings were seen as a likely NBA team to move to Seattle if Sacramento didn’t build a new facility.

Hansen addressed many concerns about the financial structure of his proposed Seattle arena deal, which calls for a $200 million contribution by the city, which will be repaid through admissions and parking taxes.

Hansen reaffirmed his commitment to building the arena in Seattle’s Sodo area over all other locations. And he confirmed that they’re not asking the city for money until they secure a team.

He also said that he and his investor group are not in it for financial gain, only to build a solid plan where the city is not left holding the bag.  He said that’s why there are provisions in the plan that hold the future ownership groups accountable for added costs and construction overruns.

SACRAMENTO – This letter was sent from Think BIG Sacramento to Christopher Hansen, the hedge fund manager who has negotiated with the City of Seattle about bringing a basketball and hockey arena to SoDo. While we’ve obtained the letter, we have not obtained any of the attachments referred to within.

Mr. Hansen,

On behalf of the 99% of us who make up the wonderful mosaic that is the great City of Sacramento, we have one message for the top 1/10th of the 1% who is engaged in actions detrimental to our community:

KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OUR KINGS.

If you have ever been to Sacramento, you would know that this is a big city with small town values and a big heart, which will fight for the more than 4000 construction jobs, seven billion dollars in economic development and $150+ million in annual economic activity that will be created as a result of the building of a new downtown-based Entertainment and Sports complex.

In this age of historic economic challenges, regardless of where one lives, we should all be working together to create jobs. Our country has always been at its best when people have come together to work for the common good. And that is precisely what we have done in Sacramento under the leadership of Mayor Kevin Johnson and the Sacramento City Council.

Today, the entire community, Business and Labor, Republicans and Democrats, the Mayor and the City Council, is working for the greater good of Sacramento.

We are especially troubled that you would be actively pursuing an initiative that you know will short-change our community of badly needed jobs given that your native city of Seattle knows the economic pain and suffering that comes when one city raids another city. One would think that Seattle of all places would be sensitive to engaging in such predatory behavior.

Given what is at stake for Sacramento and your highly publicized effort to steal our team, we challenge you to come to Sacramento and participate in a debate at high noon on February 23rd at the Oak Park Community Center where you can defend the indefensible and explain the inexplicable: your effort to steal our jobs.

Participating in this debate on behalf of Sacramento will be a construction worker representing the thousands of workers from the Building Trades who have been out of work with unemployment for construction workers in excess of 20%, a current employee at Power Balance Pavilion who will lose their job should the Kings depart, and a representative of our youth community who love their Kings and wants them to stay in Sacramento.

To help prepare you for this debate, we are attaching to this challenge a report prepared by Think BIG entitled Truth or Consequences, which lays bare what is at stake, including documenting the impact on Seattle caused by the SuperSonics relocation.

We hope this report will help you prepare to defend why you want to inflict the kind of economic harm on working people that took place in Seattle.

Keeping the Kings in Sacramento as the cornerstone for the economic revival of the City is really a question of whose side are you on:

Are you on the side of jobs for Sacramento; the future of Sacramento; and the people of Sacramento or are you trying to kill our jobs; working against our future; and anti-Sacramento?

We look forward to seeing you in Sacramento.

Sincerely,

Jeremiah Jackson Think BIG

http://www.thinkbigsacramento.com

SEATTLE — Talk is growing in Seattle of a possible return of an NBA team to the city.

Seattle city leaders were recently briefed on a proposal to build a new arena that likely would enable a return of an NBA team to the city and perhaps an NHL team, too.  But not everyone appeared to be on board Friday.

“I definitely have some concerns,” Seattle City Councilwoman Jeanne Godden said of the idea.

The arena deal, proposed by wealthy Seattle native and current San Francisco resident Christopher Hansen, would be privately financed.

But Godden said she’s worried about traffic flow in the proposed location, in the Sodo (south of downtown) area – the same general location as CenturyLink Field, where the NFL’s Seahawks play, and Safeco Field, home of the MLB’s Mariners.

“Traffic is one of the concerns,” Godden said. “Parking is one of them. What would happen if you had three major league teams (playing) in one night? It would be pretty horrendous.”

Godden said the city’s credit rating also could be hurt if bonds have to be issued for construction.

The Port of Seattle, which oversees cargo ship unloading in the same area, also has concerns about how a new arena would impact the movement of freight and about the loss of industrial land.

Councilman Bruce Harrell said, “All those are issues that can be addressed, so I don’t see those as deal-stoppers.”

Dave “Softy” Mahler of KJR Sports Radio said he believes the proposal is a no-brainer for the city.

“To me, it`s a huge deal,” Mahler said, “and it`s exactly what this city has been waiting for because, let’s face it, we live in a town, we live in an atmosphere right now, where no one wants to spend any money from the public” on professional sports arenas.

“Getting in this guy’s (Hansen’s) way is going to be a disaster, a deal like this is never going to come around again for this city,” Mahler said.

The Seattle Sonics played in the city from 1967 until the end of the 2008 season, when they relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder, partly because the owner could not find public funding to construct a new arena.

Harrell said a public/private partnership may be the city’s best shot at building a new arena and getting a new Sonics team back.

Ultimately, any deal will need the approval of the City Council.

And it may also hinge on what happens in Sacramento, Calif., where there is a March 1 deadline to come up with plans for a new arena for the Sacramento Kings. If that does not materialize, speculation is that the Kings could move north and become the new Sonics.  The New Orleans Hornets have been suggested as another possibility for moving to Seattle.