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Around The -Ists This Week
Seattlest John pointed out earlier today that Dino Rossi is looking to use the Sonics impending departure as yet another wedge-issue in his re-match with Gov. Gregoire. We'll refrain from commenting on how awful we think Rossi is and won't say anything about how if Rossie were still in the State Senate, he'd be fuming mad at the idea of the state taxing citizens for a basketball team.
No, we won't comment on that. Instead, we'll draw your attention to the news that Seattle seems to think the Legislature is not going to take on the Sonics this year, according to the PI.
Seattle deputy mayor Tim Ceis said Wednesday the city's hope for KeyArena funding help from the Legislature appears dead in the water."I think Olympia is all done," Ceis said of the request for $75 million in tax revenue approval. "There is no real pulse left in that one."
Though we're not in favor of re-doing Key Arena, a small part of us remembers when the idea of a home team still meant something in pro sports. So we think it's a shame if Ceis is right and Olympia is willing to let the Sonics go without a fight at this point. Sure, we know they tried and Seattle balked. We know there's some bad feelings on both sides and we know there's more important things to spend money on now, but if Olympia stays out of this deal, the effects here could range from all-out win to disastrous.
Of course, the best-case scenario is that the Sonics stay. But Ceis told the PI that getting more than the $75 million the city's already put on the table would mean some serious cost cutting elsewhere. "The mayor has directed me to pull out all the stops. Clearly we can not guarantee the full $150 million on our own without having an effect on parks, public safety, libraries and the like."
That's not a plan we can get behind.
We can get behind the kind souls who put pictures in the Seattlest Flickr Pool. That shot of a full house wasn't taken at a Sonics game. It was during the appearance of a politician we can also get behind. Thanks to Life as Art for adding it.
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good.
Personally, I won't miss the game-night traffic.
I think Gregoire not taking Ballmer and Co's money could be her undoing.
This feels like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory to me. I go to one or two Sonics games a year, so I don't really have a dog in this fight, but this *looks* like exactly the kind of majority-private/minority-public funding deal that would have sailed through had it been offered earlier. I mean, it seems like the city held firm, got a great offer, and now can't take advantage. Too bad.