With work on a new Los Angeles NFL stadium proceeding, a San Diego stadium task force and the Chargers’ Mark Fabiani will be meeting to map out potential areas of agreement.
The committee, appointed by San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, is comprised of local business and civic leaders, but does not include any representatives from the Chargers. Now, we all know that committees can be dead ends when it comes to solutions to complicated issues, and the Chargers front office wasn’t too pleased when the stadium committee was formed.
And, to be sure, the San Diego stadium issue is complex, to be sure. The Chargers have indeed put forward a plethora of plans with different funding options, and public money is a key part of any funding plan. Elected officials have been loathe to commit public money to a new San Diego stadium; hence the drama. From the Los Angeles Times:
The committee is “looking forward to a robust discussion with the Chargers about their finances and their deal points,” said committee spokesman Tony Manolatos. “The Chargers are obviously a very important piece of this puzzle.”…
Fabiani said he wants to make sure the committee understands “our work product from the last 14 years of effort,” including details on “nine different stadium plans that the Chargers have unsuccessfully proposed over that period of time.”
The city has been able to avoid tough decisions because the Chargers haven’t invoked the nuclear option: credibly threatening a move to Los Angeles. With work on a new Inglewood stadium moving forward fairly quickly, San Diego officials acknowledge the potential of a move:
“At no point in San Diego’s history has the possibility of the Chargers moving to Los Angeles been more real,” Faulconer said in his recent state of the city address.