Vegas park handout contested in court
The $380 million taxpayer-funded handout earmarked for Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher’s Las Vegas stadium construction was contested in Nevada’s Supreme Court on Tuesday.
It could be a week or more before a decision is made on the hearing, but Schools Over Stadiums — a political action committee that’s trying to detour Fisher’s public-funding plan — hopes it’s soon because of an approaching deadline.
The PAC, which has argued that much of the $380 million would be better served going to education — Nevada ranks 48th in the nation in education funding — is trying to put the matter on Nevada’s statewide ballot in November and would need 102,000 signatures by June 26 to do so.
“With a favorable decision this week, we could physically get the required signatures by June 26. As the weeks expire, it gets harder,” Chris Daly of Schools over Stadiums said in a phone interview. “There’s been legal wrangling for six or seven months, but the fundamental question is about public financing for a stadium. Fisher is doing everything he can to keep us off the ballot. We saw from the Emerson Poll that Nevadans are overwhelmingly against giving money for a ballpark.”
The recent Emerson College Poll showed 52% of likely Las Vegas voters oppose the use of public money for Fisher’s stadium, 32% were in support and 16% were uncertain. Daly said the gap likely would be wider in Northern Nevada, which is far removed from the Strip.
Schools Over Stadiums took its case to Nevada’s seven-member high court after appealing a November ruling from Carson City Judge James Russell, who rejected the PAC’s petition, citing the wording was “legally deficient” and “confusing.”
Fisher’s legal team is opposing the PAC’s intentions, realizing a public vote could prevent him from pocketing the full taxpayer subsidy awarded to him in June by Nevada lawmakers with the approval of Senate Bill 1.
“We’re trying to change Nevada’s priorities, and we continue to ask for more resources for schools,” Daly said. “Fisher has to cover $500 million in financing to build a Las Vegas ballpark, and we’d very much like to see him not be successful getting those funds.”
In September, a lawsuit was filed by a coalition affiliated by the A’s to invalidate the referendum petition. At the time, Schools Over Stadiums called plaintiffs Danny Thompson, former head of the Nevada AFL-CIO, and Thomas Morley, a political agent of Laborers Local 872, “well-connected lobbyists with close ties to a member of the Las Vegas Stadium Authority,” which is overseeing Fisher’s ballpark pursuit.
Attorney Bradley Schrager represented labor leaders in Tuesday’s hourlong court hearing. Frank Flaherty represented Schools Over Stadiums, requesting a quick decision.
In a statement to the Chronicle, Schrager said, “The Nevada Supreme Court appeared to discern multiple problems with the form of the referendum petition, as we have long argued. All Nevadans have the right to propose ballot measures, but they also have to comply with the laws regarding those petitions if they seek placement on a general election ballot. This referendum simply failed to do that in several important respects.”
At the fan boycott in the Coliseum parking lot on the A’s March 28 Opening Night, orchestrated by the fan group Last Dive Bar, $44,364.28 was collected as a donation to Schools Over Stadiums and more money continues to be raised.
Last week, the A’s pivoted from Coliseum lease negotiations with Oakland and Alameda County and agreed on a three-year deal to play in Sacramento starting next season while Fisher’s stadium in Las Vegas is under construction.