A’s lobbyists want to stop a petition drive asking Nevada residents to vote on state aid for Fisher’s planned Las Vegas stadium.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, a Harvard Law School grad who claimed he knew very little about the negotiations between Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher and the city of Oakland in Fisher’s quest for a new baseball facility in the city, is concerned about a Nevada school teachers union attempt to block state funding of a potential Las Vegas stadium for Fisher’s business. Manfred wanted to get the Fisher business out of Oakland and on its way to Las Vegas by mid-November. But there may be a fly in the ointment. Schools Over Stadiums wants to collect signatures for a petition which would give Nevada voters a chance to say yes or no to the state handing $380 million over to Fisher to help pay for his Las Vegas MLB stadium. If the petition drive is successful, a vote would be held on November 5th, 2024 which would drastically impact the Las Vegas stadium building timeline. Schools Over Stadiums was served a lawsuit on September 26th by “representatives with ties to the A’s” over its referendum petition seeking to stop state tax funding for stadium bonds. The representatives include Fisher hired lobbyists. A lawsuit asking a court to drop the petition due to technical deficiencies will be heard on November 6th according to the teachers union.
Manfred is having a difficult time dealing with Fisher’s business situation. If things go awry in MLB’s viewpoint, if state money is temporarily unavailable or is never available for Fisher that is a major problem. “If there was a negative development regarding this referendum, that would be a significant development,” Manfred said. “That’s all I can say.” Fisher’s initial Las Vegas stadium plan fell apart. A new plan was quickly developed. The teachers are against it and MLB is fuming.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
