News of the Arroyo
Title: | NFL camp not giving up fight |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2005-06-09 |
Summary: | June 9, 2005 - Subtitle: "Plan to take case to voters under discussion" NFL backers are considering an initiative campaign to take their plan directly to the voters. But how would the NFL read that? |
Author: | Gary Scott, Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | Wednesday, June 08, 2005 - PASADENA -- Though the Pasadena City Council on Monday decisively rejected the prospect of bringing pro football to the Rose Bowl, a few hard-core NFL supporters are holding out hope that the bid can be revived. Councilman Chris Holden confirmed Wednesday that he and a small group of NFL proponents are looking at the possibility of launching a ballot initiative to force the council to reopen negotiations with the league. \"Every now and then you have to go directly to the bosses, and they are the taxpayers of the city,\" said Holden, who has expressed frustration that the bid died. \"We\'ll see if this turns out to be a viable approach and we\'ll go from there.\" The proposal appears to be only speculative at this point. The proponents have yet to raise any money or draft language for a measure. Moreover, there is no indication of how the National Football League would react even if such an initiative were passed -- proponents are working through back channels to gauge the league\'s support for the idea. When the initiative proposal was broached Wednesday with NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, he said: \"It is up to the city to determine how to pursue its opportunity for the NFL to build a stadium in Pasadena,\" adding, \"we would need to understand the details of (an initiative) and then evaluate if and how we could support such a process.\" Few give the proposal much of chance for success, considering the difficulty and expense of mounting a citywide campaign in the face of a well-organized and well-funded opposition --the West Pasadena Residents\' Association. \"Municipal elections are low-turnout elections. Therefore, the passion of either side is an extremely important element of any campaign,\" said political consultant Martin Truitt. \"The parts of town that are most likely to be against it are passionately against it, and the parts that are for it are apathetic.\" Truitt advised the WPRA in its successful campaign to persuade Councilman Steve Madison to oppose the NFL bid. Campaign consultant Fred Register, an NFL supporter, said it is not clear an initiative would be binding on the council, which means that even if the measure passed the council could still reject the NFL. \"I\'m not sure people would be interested in going through that without a guarantee of success,\" Register said. There is precedent for turning to the ballot box to override council opposition to a project. In 2001, voters passed a measure directing the City Council to support completion of the Long Beach (710) Freeway extension despite the council\'s opposition. The election might also serve as a warning to NFL proponents since the freeway is no closer to being built four years later. Nat Read, who helped run the pro-freeway campaign, encouraged NFL supporters to take their case to the voters. \"All too often the City Council of Pasadena has taken positions which the public at large doesn\'t support,\" Read said. \"The initiative forum is a way for the people to affirm their will when the majority of citizens feel one way and the City Council feels another.\" A poll conducted by the Rose Bowl Operating Co. found a majority of registered voters favored pursuing an NFL deal. Opponents dismissed the results as mostly meaningless. Launching a campaign will be expensive, Read added. More than $100,000 was raised in the fight over the freeway initiative. \"It was expensive. And the expense to us was double what it was to the opponents,\" Read said. He attributed the disparity to the cost of hiring signature gatherers. Madison, who cast the deciding vote against the NFL, said he had heard rumblings about a possible initiative in the weeks before Monday night\'s council meeting. He put little stock in its success, noting NFL proponents were never able to build a strong coalition to push the proposal. \"All of a sudden this ‘huge coalition\' is going to do all that is necessary to get something on the ballot and win a campaign? I just don\'t see it,\" Madison said. \"Even if they could, that is not what the NFL is looking for,\" he said. \"The NFL is not looking to cram this down the throat of a small city like Pasadena without the support of the political leadership. I think it would be dead on arrival.\" Holden thinks voters will see the wisdom of the NFL proposal when told about the costs to maintain the aging Rose Bowl. \"In understanding the alternatives, and the implication of them having to reach into their own pockets, I think they are going to support further negotiations with the NFL.\" -- Gary Scott can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4458, or by e-mail at gary.scott@sgvn.com. |
Url: |