A’s upset after Oakland city council changes terms of stadium lease
By Dan Zinski
There should have been nothing but good news coming out of Wednesday night’s Oakland city council session in which the council voted 5-2 to approve the A’s new ten-year lease at O.co Coliseum. So why did Oakland A’s president Michael Crowley leave the meeting saying he was “disappointed” and “caught by surprise?”
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The council caught the A’s by surprise when they ordered some sudden changes to the terms of the lease. The council says these changes were just language tweaks meant to prevent further disputes, but the A’s and their allies on the council certainly acted like the changes were more important than mere procedural matters.
Oakland councilman Noel Gallo, who voted against the re-worded lease, even stormed out of the session grumbling about the A’s possibly leaving Oakland.
Councilman Dan Galb voted for the lease and says the changes aren’t that big a deal and everyone needs to chill (via The San Francisco Chronicle):
"These are really, really easy changes. It would be embarrassing to the A’s to not go along with these changes that are absolutely modest and reasonable."
The A’s of course are seeking a new stadium in Oakland, so they can get out of that hole they share with the Raiders. One Oakland official said the new lease deal is just a holding tactic until the A’s and the city can work out a plan to build them a new, non-crappy home.
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