Anti-arena proposal e-mail may have backfired on Seattle councilmember

One Seattle City councilmember’s dissent of the arena
project has instead inspired kind letters of support for
the stadium project that could bring back the Seattle
SuperSonics.

Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin listed in an e-mail the considerations the
council would undertake as they read and analyze the arena
proposal. He then followed the outline by stating that he
thought it was unlikely the arena proposal would pass.

“I think it is unlikely that this proposal will be
approved,” said Conlin in the e-mail. “I encourage
proponents of a new basketball team to lobby Mr. Hanson
[sic] to pursue this as a private enterprise with public
cooperation but without the complex financial arrangements
and public investment that the current proposal appears to
rely on.”

Arena investor Chris Hansen has committed $300 million in
private funds to the arena project. In the proposal before
King County and Seattle City councils, he has asked for an
additional $200 million in public funds.

Other council members said, following Conlin’s remarks,
that the opinion of Conlin is not their own and they are continuing to
review the proposal.

Last week, an optimistic Mayor Mike McGinn joined 710 ESPN’s Brock & Salk
and told them the proposal before the councils is unlike
any other they’ve seen before.

“Normally, what happens is somebody comes to town and says
‘Come up with a new tax. Start taxing hotels, restaurants
or car rentals, or something and give that new money to
us,'” McGinn said.

The proposed $500 million facility would sit just south of
Safeco and CenturyLink fields.

Instead of following Conlin’s suggestion of writing to
Hansen to encourage him to foot the bill for the arena
without public investment, the guys behind SonicsGate have
encouraged basketball fans to respond
to Conlin.

“Write a polite but firm e-mail to Seattle Councilmember
Richard Conlin letting him know his reasons for opposing
the plan are misinformed. The Chris Hansen arena deal is
too good to pass up,” wrote SonicsGate on their Facebook
page.

One letter posted in the comments below the SonicsGate
call-to-action garnered attention from fellow arena
supporters:

“Thank you for conscientiously seeking to
represent the citizens of Seattle,” wrote James T. Wood.
“I know you want what’s best for the city and for your
constituents. You’ve done an admirable job of looking at
the figures involved with the new arena plan and the data
surrounding the Sonics departure in 2008. There’s more to
this, however, than just numbers.

“If weight loss were only about numbers, no one would be
obese. If debt management were only about numbers, no one
would go bankrupt.

“It’s about people, not just numbers.”

While councilmembers have yet to vote on the arena
proposal, Chris Hansen asked fans for patience in addition
to support, to bring the SuperSonics back to Seattle.