News of the Arroyo
Title: | Drive is alive for NFL team - Pasadena backers circulate petition |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2005-10-09 |
Summary: | October 9, 2005 - The petition to force a vote on bringing an NFL franchise to the Arroyo Seco is now being circulated throughout Pasadena. |
Author: | Gary Scott, Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | PASADENA -- The signature drive has begun to put a measure on a citywide ballot to bring the National Football League to a rebuilt Rose Bowl. Councilman Chris Holden, who is leading the effort, said he was personally walking precincts in his own council district last weekend to collect some of the 9,816 valid signatures needed to call a special election. Paid signature gatherers also have been spotted at area shopping malls. \"I spent some time out there and the reception was real positive,\" Holden said Friday. \"I feel very confident. We should be able to qualify for the ballot fairly straightforwardly.\" The proponents have about six months to do the work. With time on their side, and funds somewhat scarce, the signature drive is getting a rolling start. Holden said a few volunteers have been canvassing neighborhoods that are believed to favor an NFL deal while paid signature gatherers are slowly fanning out to malls and markets across the city. \"We don\'t need an army of people because we can\'t afford to pay for an army of people, which is why we are looking for volunteers,\" Holden said. \"We are trying to be cost-effective in this process.\" Holden will not say how much money he has raised thus far, but it was enough to hire a professional firm, Progressive Campaigns, to run the paid-signature gathering. Meanwhile, NFL opponents, working under the name Pasadena First Political Action Committee, have been mustering funds and legal advice to oppose the initiative proposal. Headed by Carolyn Naber, a past-president of the West Pasadena Residents Association, Pasadena First said Friday a lawsuit \"is imminent\" to block the measure before it ever makes the ballot. \"I saw them Thursday at Target,\" Naber said about the signature gatherers. \"We\'ve been waiting to see when they start their signatures and this triggers the plan we have in place. We have every intention of pursuing this\" on the legal front. Opponents have long contended that professional football will ruin the Arroyo Seco, breed chaos in the nearby neighborhoods, and destroy the historical integrity of the stadium. Affluent and active, the Pasadena First crowd has already hired a top expert in initiative law to handle the suit. In addition to provoking the ire of NFL opponents, the signature drive has triggered a requirement that initiative supporters create a political committee to operate the campaign. Holden said he plans to file papers Monday with the secretary of state to form Citizens to Save the Rose Bowl. Thus far, the pro-NFL campaign has been headed by Friends of the Rose Bowl, an advocacy group formed by the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce back when the City Council was still pursuing the NFL. The council walked away from negotiating table in June when it became clear a majority of the members opposed bringing a professional football team here. The initiative proposal encapsulates the deal points that were being negotiated with the league -- basically, a 25-year lease in exchange for a $500 million to $600 million renovation of the aging Rose Bowl stadium. \"We would all like to see the stadium continue and be used for the reason it was built, which is football,\" said Marilyn Buchanan, a downtown developer and member of the Friends of the Rose Bowl. She and her husband Gene have contributed $1,000 to the campaign. Buchanan said the opposition has been \"shortsighted\" when it comes to facing the bowl\'s future. \"I think they are no-growth, no-business and not-in-my-neighborhood\" types, she said. While out gathering signatures, Holden said the one issue that most grabs voters is the economic reality facing the bowl. The city already subsidizes the stadium to the tune of $2 million a year, and \"tens of millions or more\" will be needed to renovate and maintain the aging stadium, he said. Asked whether the city or the NFL should pay for all of this, Holden said, \"the response is pretty easy: Let\'s go with the solution that has someone else paying these costs.\" -- Gary Scott can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4458, or by e-mail at gary.scott@sgvn.com. |
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