Talked with Oakland Mayoral candidate Ignacio De La Fuente

by NotJohnnyDamon on May 1, 2006 1:11 AM PDT

at a neighborhood meeting this evening.

I asked him what, if elected, he would do about keeping the A's in Oakland. He stated, and I'm paraphrasing since I didn't bring a recorder to transcribe...

Keeping the A's in Oakland is an important asset to the community. It is one of the last professional sports available and affordable to the whole family. It won't be officially announced for a couple of weeks but we are in the process of extending our contract with the A's for another three to five years so we can work out a solution.

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3-5 years?

To me, his statement sounds pretty discouraging for those hoping to keep the A's in Oakland. It's great that Oakland is extending the contract of the A's, but in his answer he gives the impression that there is time to spare on this issue. The A's are moving on the Fremont site. If Oakland drags its feet it will be too late.

I miss Bill King :(

by gojohn10 on May 1, 2006 3:22 AM PDT reply actions

i thought their contract was already extended?

it was in the news a couple of weeks ago.

by gotgreen on May 1, 2006 7:52 AM PDT reply actions

That's what

I thought I had heard too...

By Postmaster Poppy's orders, <<SIGLINE RETURNED TO SENDER>>
My Blog.

by rungood on May 1, 2006 8:35 AM PDT up reply actions

Contract Extension Old News

If that's all Ignacio had to say he was either blowing you off or had nothing to say because that was in the press 2 weeks ago.

~This is a simple game...You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball. YOU GOT IT!?!

by BornInOakland @ Athletics Nation on May 1, 2006 11:44 AM PDT up reply actions

Code for:

Odele Go Raiders!!!!

"Macha, Howe...whatever." --salb918

by BruceBochte on May 1, 2006 11:20 AM PDT reply actions

Neither De la Fuente's or Dellum's websites

Mention the A's at all, which isn't surprising.

Consider the mindset of your average VOTER in the city of Oakland, and you probably have someone who is apathetic at best.

One of problems with being an active fan is that we assume that everyone else feels the way we do, especially if those we hang with are active fans as well.

I get criticized every time I mention "casual fans", but we need to win them and the non-sports fans over if we want any type of help from Oakland City Hall. Otherwise, the politicos put their finger to the wind, do nothing, and voila....The A's are in Fremont!

It may already be too late, but Rome wasn't built(or burned) in a day.

by Rob @ Athletics Nation on May 1, 2006 11:48 AM PDT reply actions

More of the same. Let's procrastinate.

Lew Wolf probably just threw up in his mouth a little bit.

Frank Thomas is big.

by robber23 on May 1, 2006 3:09 PM PDT reply actions

Intrestingly bad spin by AN'rs...

on what I thought to be at least a somewhat positive comment. At least he is trying to keeps the A's in town and recognizes their value to the community.

IDLF was really impressed by the stadium/condo idea and the hope that it would revitalize the community around it. He has been on the council for a while and worked to get his district, Fruitvale, turned around from a sh*thole to something somewhat useful.

It's a given that nothing will happen while Jerry "I hate professional sports because I was picked last for every sport in my youth" Brown won't do anything. Our only hope to keep the A's in Oakland is to elect someone that give a crap.

So, I'm guessing, with the negativity posted here that you want the A's to leave? Why post on AN, then? And, of course, keeping the A's in town is the most important issue for the city of Oakland. Good thing all the schools are top rate, the unions aren't strangling the city, and crime is non-existant, right?

by NotJohnnyDamon on May 1, 2006 7:58 PM PDT reply actions

IDLF is in a bad position

On one hand, he's the one guy running that shows even the slightest interest in keeping the team in town. On the other hand, he knows that putting "keep the A's in Oakland" on his platform is not exactly a winner, given recent history.

I've had IDLF supporters tell me that he's simply working in secret and prefers not to work through the press (something that Wolff has reneged on himself). But IDLF tried to push the Estuary site last year even though the pre-existing development plan was already well on its way to completion and there wasn't any room to accommodate a ballpark - at least not without potentially sinking Signature's project altogether.

At this point, with IDLF trailing Dellums, he might want to consider appealing more openly to A's fans.

Don't be too down on AN'ers. It's hard not to be cynical about the political process.

by vertig0 on May 1, 2006 10:15 PM PDT up reply actions

Gotta agree with you on that...

not being cynical about politics in general, and Oakland politics in particular, is especially hard. Sorry if I came off harsh.

I said to IDLF that it wouldn't hurt to court A's fans and I would pitch what he said on AN. We both agreed that it might be a hard sell to convince people that WolffCo in Oakland would be a good idea given how AlDavisScrewYouCo railroaded Oakland and Alameda county.

Perhaps we should appeal to WolffCo to back IDLF? If he (Wolff) wants a working deal in Oaktown, that might be the best route.

On another note, IDLF stated that they were planning on tearing down the buildings on Broadway next to the freeway downtown in the next three to five years. This is the city jail, police hq, county stuff and such. He said they are in the process of soliciting offers from developers with special attention being given to creating a space to connect Jack London Square with the Convention Center on the Broadway Spine to make the downtown a "destination".

To be hopelessly optomistic, how about a new stadium and condo complex in that area? Freeway and BART access, and market rate (or better) housing. A smart Mayor and Developer (Wolff) could make this happen and it would make everyone look like a genius.

The cynic in me says WolffCo should bankroll IDLF, and then make it happen. The realisitic side of me says that it will not happen.

by NotJohnnyDamon on May 1, 2006 10:47 PM PDT up reply actions

No bankrolling

Aside from the severe donation limits, the in the Mayoral race all candidates are limited to spending less than $350,000 - Ignacio De La Fuente reached that limit ages ago.

As for the rest of it - Ignacio is the only candidate who has been willing to talk about keeping the A's as an option. Ron Dellums said at one of the debates that the idea of keeping the A's is a "flight into fantasy." Also, one of his endorsers is Scott Haggerty.

Several people who are more of city hall insiders than me have told me that Ignacio is trying to work on plans with the A's behind the scenes - I can't say if that is true or not, it's just what I've heard. But I'm pretty sure that the idea behind getting the extension was that it will take some of the pressure off until the Mayoral race is over. With the city's future so up in the air right now, we can't do anything.

Anyway, I don't know what exactly what Ignacio can/will do, but out of the three candidates, he's the only one who is even willing to say that he wants to keep them, and I'm pretty confident is our only hope.

by tempest in a d cup on May 6, 2006 3:47 PM PDT up reply actions

Not gonna happen

The Oakland Campaign Reform Act severely limits campaign contributions to basically $100 or $600 depending on status. The Wolff family has been contributing to San Jose mayoral candidate Michael Mulcahy's campaign, $500 apiece. I don't know if they've contributed anything in the Oakland race.

I understand the idea of tearing down the jail and police HQ. The jail closed because it was difficult to fund and was considered unsafe. But where are the non-jail facilities going to be relocated?

by vertig0 on May 1, 2006 11:25 PM PDT reply actions