MLS at McKalla: Deal or no deal?
As vote looms, council member’s Columbus trip raises some eyebrows.
Less than 24 hours before the Austin City Council contemplated a vote that could decide the future of Major League Soccer here, one council member was returning from a trip to Ohio where she met with fans trying to stop Columbus Crew SC from moving to Austin.
The run-up to Wednesday’s special meeting, in which Mayor Steve Adler expects an up-or-down vote on Precourt Sports Venture’s proposal to build a $200 million soccer stadium on a city-owned North Austin site, was jolted by the report that Council Member Leslie Pool traveled to Columbus on a soccer tour that included mingling with the fan-based Save The Crew movement seeking to keep the team there.
“Part of going up there was to maybe have a chance to meet a couple of people,” Pool told the American-Statesman. “I feel like I’ve been engaged in the same kind of fight as they are. The outcome down here is going to have a direct impact on them and the economy of that city. I wouldn’t want that to hap
pen to us if the shoe were on the other foot.”
Pool, whose council district includes the McKalla Place site where the stadium would be built, leads the opposition to a Precourt deal. Wednesday’s vote of 11 council mem- bers is expected to be tight, possibly 6-5 one way or the other.
The excursion, which Pool said she paid for, didn’t sit well with some of her col- leagues or Austin soccer fans.
“It feels a little bit like the state senator that went to Russia to tell them to stop meddling in our elections,” Council Member Jimmy Flannigan said. “A fact-finding mission or a base-building mission? Most people that travel to Ohio for an election are running for president.”
Adler said pointedly: “I am only focused on Austin residents and what is best for our city.”
MLS in Austin member Derek Ensign said Pool’s visit with Columbus soccer fans was more extensive than her interactions with the Austin supporters group founded in 2013 by Josh Babetski.
“I’m disappointed and con- fused that an Austin elected official would seemingly care more about the perspective of soccer fans in Columbus compared to the city she’s elected to represent,” Ensign said. “I’m confused looking at some of her comments in the last week about wanting to remove the emotions from this argument and look more at the numbers, then she’s quoted talking about the emotional impact in Columbus.”
Council Member Kathie Tovo, a key swing vote, said she supports Pool’s journey.
“We all have an obligation to research the issues care- fully,” Tovo told the States- man. “I think the trip was completely appropriate.”
In the 10 months since Precourt announced his intention to move his franchise to Austin, Tovo has spon- sored pro-soccer resolutions, including one to vet McKalla Place as a stadium site. Yet she hasn’t been satisfied by the negotiations and said she isn’t sure how she will vote on the final plan.
“My position all along has been I’m interested (in the deal) if the city is getting a proper level of benefits,” she said. “They’ve been work- ing on revisions. It will give us some sense where Precourt is.”
Precourt would privately finance the stadium, and the city would provide the 24-acre vacant tract near The Domain.
Concerns raised by several council members remained in a revised term sheet released Tuesday afternoon. For exam- ple, members are asking that the team’s rent be doubled to close to $1 million a year with escalator clauses and that the team pay for a $12 million to $13 million Capital Metro rail station. Others have sought a $3 ticket surcharge and 4,000 on-site parking places instead of PSV’s proposed 1,000.
Progress was made in other areas of transit, gender equity and complimentary ticket distribution. PSV will give Cap Metro $3 million over 15 years and $640,000 upfront toward transit facilities. PSV will begin new girls and boys school soccer programs and enter into a nonexclusive agreement with Lonestar Soccer to support its girls programs, along with a new East Austin initiative.
Precourt is seeking a vote to negotiate and execute the term sheet, but the council could opt to negotiate only, pushing the process into the fall. Precourt and the soccer league say they can’t wait that long, since they want to move the team here by the end of the year.
“I can definitely see a negotiate but not execute,” Tovo said. “That allows for more time to make it satisfactory.”
Flannigan said he has faith that the city’s negotiating team has worked out a good deal for the city.
“I really trust the staff we have here,” he said. “I’ve found them to be very thorough and very professional. I trust they are doing the right thing.
“I sense there is desire to see this happen. But the devil is always in the details.”
Adler, the political face of the pro-MLS forces, told the Statesman the revised term sheet is a winner.
“This is a great deal for Austin,” Adler said. “Major League Soccer has the potential to unite our community in ways we’ve never had and sorely need, and it’s at no cost to the city and with no subsidy. We also get a worldclass facility free of charge that generates rent.”