by Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–Oakland A’s owner Lew Wolff says no more negotiating regarding the A’s ten year lease at the Coliseum. Wolff said it’s time to sign the deal and get onto other business. Mayor Jean Quan has asked the Oakland City Council to delay the scheduled July 27th vote until July 30th. Quan is trying to buy time to get Wolff to agree to a new Coliseum sports village that would accomadate the A’s and Raiders.

Quan who is seeking re-election is looking into building a new ball park for the A’s and build a new stadium for the Oakland Raiders on 850 acres of Coliseum land. “Mayor Quan’s priority is keeping the A’s at home in Oakland for the long term, and she is fired up to make that happen. She is confident they will join her in supporting a lease that secures the team’s near-term future in Oakland, protects the ongoing Coliseum City negotiations with the Raiders, and let’s us all move forward working on a new ball park for both teams.” said Quan spokesman Sean Maher.

With the Warriors moving out of Oakland the goal is to clear space after the Warriors leave for the A’s and Raiders to build two stadiums in Coliseum Sports Village Complex. Negotiations have been tangled with the A’s lease and the Raiders asking the City and Oakland Alameda County Colisuem Authority to tear down the Coliseum and build a new stadium and have it ready by 2016.

The A’s have said that they doubt any such agreement would happen but want a two year out if it did, sources say that Quan in asking for the vote delay that would buy her time to get an agreement into the lease that would build a new stadium for the A’s at the Coliseum site and that Quan wants to work with the City Council and Coliseum Authority on the new stadium for the A’s and Raiders.

Councilman Larry Reid said that the city has no money for such a project and said that the city already owes $180 million for Mount Davis being built for the Raiders that was paid by county tax money in the 1990s. There also is another wrinkle the Council says that the Coliseum Authority is not looking out for the best interests for the city. There are three government agencies who are overseeing the Coliseum management and each side and even in at the city council there are divided ideas.

At the city council they are asking A’s owner Lew Wolff to approve a four year notice before the team can leave Oakland, Wolff is asking for two years, also the City Council is asking for part of the advertising revenue from the new $10 million scoreboard the A’s plan to install. Right now there are three government bodies that oversee the Coliseum Sports Management, the City Council, Coliseum Authority board, and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

These are three big groups that Quan has to hurtle over to get the A’s a new lease agreement plus keep the Raiders happy who want to tear down the Coliseum. It was suggested that one body should oversee the Coliseum instead of the three which is creating gridlock nearing the July 27th voting deadline on the lease, “part of what I think we need to be seriously considering is to change the government structure, having a two headed combination of two government agencies overseeing the management of a sports and entertainment facility is not necessarily the most effective way to run this facility.” said Rebecca Kaplan who is a candidate for mayor of Oakland.

Jerry Feitelberg covers A’s baseball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com