Stadium Watch: Negotiations continue between Mayor and Chargers
SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – KUSI’s Steve Bosh had a chance to sit down with Mayor Kevin Faulconer to talk about negotiations with the Chargers and get a sense of how the talks are going and what the major differences might be.
The Mayor is a firm believer that success comes when all sides are focused on the same goal.
“We’re spending time on certainly issues of timing, an approach, its absolutely essential that we work together,” Mayor Kevin Faulconer said.
CEQA, the environmental regulations, is a big issue with the Chargers. It not resolved, it could delay a deal for a year or more.
The Mayor said he was not concerned.
“There’s multiple avenues that we can pursue and we have some of the foremost experts not just in CEQA but financial that are part of our team,” he said.
The Chargers have always favored a stadium downtown, but did that come up?
“No, not at this point, its very clear that mission valley is our opportunity for success and I’m confident we can achieve that success, the public strongly supports a new stadium in Mission Valley,” the Mayor said.
The vote is December 15th if there is an agreement.
“Final ballot will have to have the financial terms in there, be certain about what’s going to happen and that’s why I feel so strongly the time and effort we need to be putting in now to achieve success so San Diegans will understand exactly what will be on the ballot,” the Mayor said.
But the financial numbers are projects. What if they come up short?
“One of the things that I insisted as we embarked upon this process is that the city was going to be protected and represented by some of the best experts in the business,:that has not happened in the past,” he said.
The NFL has imposed this timeline to have a vote by year’s end. The league waited 20 years to return football to Los Angeles so what’s one more year?
Another negotiating session is set for Tuesday of next week and the Mayor said he will also be talking to the NFL sometime next week.
