News of the Arroyo
Title: | NFL legal fight nears conclusion |
Subtitle: | Ruling expected on Pasadena ballot measure |
Date: | 2006-08-10 |
Summary: | August 10, 2006 - There will be a showdown in court on Friday over efforts to keep the Holden NFL initiative off the Pasadena municipal ballot in November. |
Author: | By Gary Scott Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | PASADENA - A legal battle over a local NFL initiative returns to the courtroom Friday morning, when the judge in the case is expected to decide whether the measure will appear on the November ballot. Officials on both sides of the lawsuit expressed optimism that their arguments will win the day. The outcome of the hearing should finally determine if the city\'s bid for an NFL team will remain alive or be snuffed out for good. In the first showdown two weeks ago, Superior Court Judge C. Edward Simpson gave the initiative\'s supporters a technical victory when he turned away a motion to block the measure based on a question of law. But Simpson indicated he might rule differently if he were to evaluate the initiative strictly on its legal merits. That has given activists with Pasadena First, the citizens\' group that brought the lawsuit, reason to feel encouraged that he will find the measure unconstitutional and therefore unfit for the ballot. \"The judge must have said 10 times that we, the plaintiffs, have shown we will probably prevail in our lawsuit,\" said Carolyn Naber, chairman of Pasadena First, on Wednesday. Her group has raised tens of thousands of dollars to mount its legal challenge. Most of the supporters, including West Pasadena residents and preservationists, say professional football would ruin the Rose Bowl and surrounding neighborhoods by flooding the Arroyo Seco with vehicle traffic and drunken rabble-rousers on game days. Pasadena First initially filed suit to stop the measure in October, but waited until it qualified for the ballot before taking the matter to court. The initiative, which was sponsored by Councilman Chris Holden, would offer the NFL a 25-year lease to play at the Rose Bowl in exchange for $500 million or more in stadium renovations and $500,000 a year in rent to the city. Holden and his backers gathered more than 10,000 valid signatures to get the measure on the ballot. He continues to argue that voters should have the final word on what happens at the Rose Bowl, and he has chided his colleagues on the council for failing to back his effort. \"I think the judge indicated that the vote is a precious right that needs to be protected at all costs,\" Holden said Wednesday. \"We\'re looking forward to a victory Friday and we will go from there.\" The last day a measure can be pulled from the ballot is Aug. 16, according to county elections officials. Pasadena was a leading contender for an NFL team until a majority of the City Council decided to end negotiations in June. Those same members are now pursuing a \"plan B\" option that would use bond revenues to fund renovations at the aging stadium. Holden says that means digging into the taxpayers\' purse for something the NFL would readily fund from its own coffers. But even if the initiative makes the ballot and passes, it remains unclear whether the NFL would still consider locating a team in Pasadena after all the political turmoil. NFL leaders are actively negotiating with stadium sites in Los Angeles and Anaheim. The league has been without a team in the Los Angeles area since 1994, when the Rams departed for St. Louis and the Raiders returned to Oakland. gary.scott@sgvn.com (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4458 |
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