Tag: Danny Thompson

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Oakland Mayor hoping to sway owners vote with A’s resolution; Schools over Stadiums to appeal Judge’s ruling

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Howard Terminal rendering. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, City Council, and the Port put on a presentation on Tuesday that City Hall hopes to sway some of the MLB owners to vote no on an A’s relocation (Rendering of Howard Terminal from the Oakland Athletics)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, among the Mayor and the City Council goals in adopting a resolution at City Hall. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the City Council are showed the infrastructure of Howard Terminal, the benefits of having a park at the Terminal and something on the drawing board that might change the MLB owners vote. After today’s meeting do you see owner changing they’re minds and giving the A’s a chance to build at Howard Terminal?

#2 Amaury, the odds are starting to dim and Mayor Thao is hoping for a ninth inning rally to stay in the hunt to persuade the owners vote. Thao says that the city does have a plan and budget to build at Howard Terminal but the A’s walked away. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Oakland had no deal hence Manfred and the A’s are ready to open for business in Las Vegas.

#3 Nevada District Judge James Todd Russell ruled in favor of Oakland A’s lobbyists Danny Thompson and Thomas Morely who took Schools over Stadiums to Monday’s court hearing in District court to throw out Schools over Stadiums attempt to put a referendum on the Nov 2024 ballot to stop public funding for a Las Vegas A’s ballpark and that funds should be used to support schools.

#4 Judge Russell said that Schools over Stadiums would have to refile their petition and that Schools over Stadiums would need to use the full text of SB1 or appeal the case to a higher court.

#5 Thompson and Morely didn’t respond to media inquiries for comments. Schools over Stadiums spokesman Alexander Marks made it clear that they will appeal saying the decision was disappointing but not uncommon adding that Schools over Stadiums plans to refile the referendum and that there is plenty of time to refile as the signature deadline is June of 2024.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead radio voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Daniel Dullum: A’s lobbyists suing Schools over Stadiums for blocking Vegas ballpark public funding

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Las Vegas Tropicana Hotel and Resort Park renderings. The Park is expected to be ready for the 2028 season upon approval by the MLB owner relocation vote in mid November. If the Schools over Stadiums initiative makes the ballot and is voted down in Nov 2025 shovels could be in the ground as soon as Dec 2025. If it doesn’t make the ballot or A’s lobbyists win their lawsuit to stop the ballot measure shovels could be in the ground as soon as Jan 2025 (renderings from the Oakland A’s)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Daniel:

#1 Daniel, Schools over Stadiums is being sued by Oakland A’s representatives for trying to put a measure on the ballot to stop the use of public funds that will go towards a Las Vegas Tropicana ballpark to the tune of $380 million.

#2 Schools over Stadium are seeking repeals of the State of Nevada’s funding to build the A’s Tropicana ballpark on the Las Vegas strip. Nevada is 49th in the US in education. During the Nevada Legislative special session where the A’s were awarded the $380 million public funding education was left out of the budget in June, Schools over Stadiums seeks to block the funds for the ballpark.

#3 The teachers group says that the state should have invested public monies for education and not a baseball stadium. At the time Schools over Stadiums were considering launching the petition drive critics of the petition drive said it would not impact they’re plans to move ahead to fund a ballpark in Vegas but now they are filing the lawsuit to try and block the potential ballot measure. If the A’s representatives weren’t so concerned before why be concerned now?

#4 Plaintiffs Danny Thompson and David Morely who filed the lawsuit in First District Court in Carson City against Schools over Stadiums because language in Senate Bill 1 are only in portions, the petition is invalid, the plaintiffs want the Nevada Secretary of State to block the measure from getting on the Nov 2025 ballot, block Schools over Stadiums from circulating the petition for signatures, and invalidate any signatures that have been collected.

#5 Defendants named in the lawsuit Schools Over Stadiums, its officers Dawn Etcheverry, Chris Daly and Andrea DeMichieli, and Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar in his official capacity. Chris Daly is a former San Francisco Board of Supervisor and is familiar with the Bay Area landscape and can explain how a move by the A’s to Las Vegas would have a tremendous economic impact Oakland and the greater East Bay.

Daniel Dullum will continue his Oakland A’s podcasts regarding the MLB relocation of the Oakland A’s to Las Vegas each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Lawsuit filed against Nevada Schools Over Stadiums; A’s lobbyists say educators leave out crucial information on petition measure

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Laborers Union Local 872 retired political director of Laborers Thomas Morely is one of the plaintiffs who filed a challenge in First District Court of Carson City challenging Schools over Stadiums from putting an initiative on the Nevada ballot to stop public funding of the Tropicana Hotel Ballpark for the Oakland A’s. If Schools over Stadiums get enough signatures in four Nevada districts the measure would go on the ballot Nov 2025. A no vote against funding the ballpark with public money would stop the ballpark funding unless the A’s can raise the money privately. (photo from Laborers International Union 872)

Lawsuit filed against Nevada School Over Stadium

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

ByAmaury Pi-González

A Lawsuit by two labor leaders in Nevada challenges the Nevada teacher union-led PAC “School Over Stadium.” A petition to repeal public funding for the new proposed stadium for the Oakland A’s in Las Vegas. Who filed it? Once the head of the Nevada AFL-CIO, Danny Thompson was joined by Thomas Morley, a retired political director of Laborers Local 872.

Morley is currently a private consultant. The filing took place in the 1st District Court in Carson City, the capital of the State of Nevada, where all legal challenges are filed. Oakland A’s representatives deferred comment to the attorney working on the case.

According to The Independent of Nevada, Bradley Schrager represented a broad, emerging coalition of business and labor interests. The Oakland A’s are part of that coalition, according to Mr.Schrager, who said, “SB1 passed with majorities in both houses,” referring to the bill that authorized public financing to help the A’s construct a 33,000-seat ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip. “The governor approved it, so it’s no surprise that support exists.”

The lawsuit argues that the School Over Stadiums petition “doesn’t include the full text of the proposal as required by Nevada State Constitution and alleges the referendum is “inaccurate, misleading and argumentative, and therefore is legally inadequate and does not meet the requirement of Nevada State law.”

This is a battle between the educators in Nevada (not all but the School Over Stadium group) vs. Labor and Business interests in Nevada. Organized labor backed the A’s when the bill was before the Legislature. The Southern Nevada Building Trades has a project labor agreement with A’s for the ballpark construction.

Culinary Workers Local 226 has an agreement with the team to organize workers at the stadium once it opens. The A’s were also the main sponsors of the Nevada AFL-CIO Convention in August at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno.

The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 is the largest labor union in Nevada and alongside the Bartenders Union Local 165, represents 60,000 guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen workers statewide in Nevada.

This is very interesting, schools are very important any place in the country, but Nevada is the one place in the US where the hospitality business has ruled since Las Vegas was founded from the days of the first hotel resort, El Rancho Vegas, on the Las Vegas Strip in 1941, to this day.

Could the Schools over Stadiums group have been late to the party? The PAC behind the ballot measure was launched in June by the Nevada State Education Association following the approval of SB1. The Legislature approved the funding bill, and the A’s are waiting for Major League Baseball to vote for the team’s relocation request, which the Commissioner expects to take place this November, with the beginning of the construction of the new Las Vegas ballpark in early 2024.

In 2024, the American League schedule calls for the Oakland A’s to play their 81 home games at the Oakland Coliseum, where they have been playing since 1968. So what happens now? Who is going to win this? Only God knows when lawyers decide this type of stuff; if you do not understand it, you are not alone. Q:What do you get when you cross the Godfather with a lawyer? A: An offer you can’t understand.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com