San Diego

Karen Luce, head of the San Diego Stadium Board, delivered a public tongue-lashing Thursday to fellow board member George Mitrovich for his statements “that made us appear sort of wimpy.”

The rift in the board came to a head last month when Mitrovich unsuccessfully urged board members to demand a clause in the San Diego Padres’ sale agreement requiring the new owner to keep the team in San Diego.

Luce charged that Mitrovich had gone public with the proposal after the Stadium Authority failed to back him, using his position on the board “as a soap box to stand on,” and making it appear that the board was afraid to take action on the matter.

She told Mitrovich that she and other board members resented his editorial commentaries in local newspapers that “made us appear sort of wimpy” for not endorsing the proposal to tie the Padres to San Diego.

Luce said negotiations between Padre owner Joan Kroc and George Argyros over the sale of the team, a deal that has since fallen through, were “none of our business.”

Mitrovich refused to apologize, commenting that, “I intend to express my views when . . . I think there needs to be public dialogue on opinions that I hold. I admit that I’ve been wrong lots of times, but this time I was right.”

After the sale fell through, Kroc removed the team from the market and announced that she will negotiate a long-term lease committing the team to remain at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.