<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Initiative would lock Key lease Group wants city to hold Sonics to deal By GREG JOHNS P-I REPORTER Before Sonics majority owner Clay Bennett and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels agree to terms of a buyout of the team's KeyArena lease, they may have to deal with a new hurdle. Brian Robinson, co-founder of the Save Our Sonics group, is organizing an initiative drive that would put a measure on Seattle's February ballot requiring the city to hold the Sonics to their arena lease through 2010. Whether that idea will fly with Seattle voters or courts remains to be seen, but Robinson and his group -- formally registered with the state as A Deal Is a Deal Committee -- intend to kick off their campaign Thursday afternoon with a news conference at the Mainstage Comedy Club on First Avenue. The site of the news conference isn't the only irony surrounding the event. Robinson is being endorsed in his efforts by Chris Van Dyk, the outspoken leader of Citizens for More Important Things, whose own initiative campaigns have seemingly made it harder for the Sonics to remain in Seattle. Van Dyk, however, says his Initiative 91, which Seattle voters approved by a 74-percent margin in November, was meant only to hold pro sports clubs accountable financially, not to drive them away. I-91 prevents Seattle from supporting teams with city tax dollars unless the investment yields a profit on par with a 30-year U.S. Treasury bond, currently about 5 percent. He says he'll encourage all I-91 supporters to sign and vote for Robinson's initiative as well, with the idea that Bennett and his group should be responsible for carrying out the arena lease agreement inherited when they bought the team a year ago from Howard Schultz. "We're endorsing it because the principle behind it seems to be that major league sports owners have to stop kicking their fans around and acting like they own the bloody world and can do whatever they want," Van Dyk said. "The Sonics committed to play at KeyArena through 2010, and a lot of businesses made decisions based on that. The Sonics need to pay in full for all the possible impacts they have on the local economy. It seems imminently reasonable and fair to us." Both Nickels and Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis are on record as saying they intend to make the Sonics fulfill the terms of the KeyArena lease, while also acknowledging that no lease prevents both parties from negotiating a buyout. Nickels said last week that if the Sonics offered full financial terms for the remainder of their lease, a court could support their contention that they had fulfilled their obligation. A statement released Tuesday by the A Deal Is a Deal Committee said the initiative would "mandate that the city not be a partner to any agreement in which a professional sports team relocates prior to the expiration of their existing lease," which would prevent Nickels from negotiating a buyout with Bennett. "We are confident this initiative is legally viable and -- more importantly -- that it will send a clear message to the mayor's office that engaging in conversations regarding a lease buyout are against the wishes of his constituency," Robinson said in the statement. Nickels' office didn't respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Van Dyk said he's confident Robinson's group will be able to gather the necessary 25,000 signatures to get the initiative on the ballot and, if nothing else, will provide negotiating strength for Nickels if Bennett seeks a way out of the lease. "What Brian is doing," Van Dyk said, "is getting the public to sign off on the idea of playing hardball with Bennett." </div> Props to SOS&S for stepping up big time. Let's atleast try to keep this team in Seattle until 2010. Seattle PI
That would piss Clay Bennett off and only delay the inevitable. I guess if Sonics fans want to wait three years before having to watch Kevin Durant leave, it's a good idea.
I'm so glad that we're delaying the process, I really hope in the future the Sonics do stay in Seattle. Who in Oklahoma wants to pay for Seattle? Nobody.
