Remember that 10-year O.co Coliseum lease announced last week by the A’s and Major League Baseball? The one that could complicate the efforts to keep the Raiders in town? It’s not official yet.
It’s not official because Alameda County and Oakland officials are at odds over whether to proceed with it. Oakland’s four representatives to the Joint Powers Authority that oversees the venue skipped a Friday meeting intended to vote on the lease, preventing its adoption.
“We are constantly frustrated by the actions of our partners,” Alameda County supervisor Nate Miley said, via the Oakland Tribune. “Not being able to vote on this deal [Friday], I think that sends a chilling message . . . to Major League Baseball that is very disappointing.”
A’s co-owner Lew Wolff remained optimistic, even though the vote originally was expected for June 20.
“We understand the city will take one last look at the transaction early next week,” Wolff said. “And we would expect a formal vote by the JPA by the end of the week.”
The decision by Wolf and Commissioner Bud Selig to announce the deal before it became official now makes sense; they want to get the deal done, and making it known publicly placed pressure on the powers-that-be to proceed. So far, that hasn’t worked.
Oakland officials object to a term in the lease that would allow the A’s to leave the city after the 2018 season, making it a four-year commitment, not a 10-year one.
The Raiders aren’t mentioned in the Tribune article, but the football team that shares the dirt infield-infected sod with the A’s surely is paying close attention to how this plays out, since any deal beyond 2014 with the A’s affects the football team, which has a one-year lease and can go anywhere it wants as soon as 2015.