Oakland Negotiator Might Jump Off Raiders Wagon

The Alameda County supervisor who led Oakland negotiators in fashioning the $660-million deal to bring the Raiders back to the Bay Area now says he will take steps to kill the plan himself if opponents in Oakland succeed in obtaining a popular referendum on it.

Don Perata, who could end the necessary county participation in the Raiders agreement simply by changing his “yes” vote to “no,” said:

“If they are able to obtain the necessary signatures to put this on the ballot this fall, and if the city moves to delay action until after the November ballot, then I’m ready to get off the train. I’m not ready to prolong this for another six months.”

The supervisors approved the Raiders deal on a vote of 3 to 1 with one abstention. If Perata changed his view, it would result in a 2-2 deadlock on the board.

The opponents have until April 11 to submit 19,000 petition signatures required normally to qualify for a referendum, although the final decision whether a referendum would be legal might be made in the courts. Oakland City Atty. Jayne Williams has issued a legal opinion that a referendum is not a proper remedy in the case of Raiders football.

Perata said emphatically he would be unwilling to try to renegotiate with the Raiders for terms more favorable to the city and county.

In another development, the East Bay branch of the Voter Revolt organization, headed by insurance reform advocate Harvey Rosenfield, said it would join in the petition drive to put the Raiders deal on the ballot.

State officials have also questioned whether necessary state approval will be forthcoming for Oakland and Alameda County to issue bonds to make initial payments to the Raiders.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Ed Snider, head of Spectacor Management Group, the private managers of the Coliseum, said it would be a few days yet before a new offer was ready to put to team owner Al Davis to keep the Raiders playing in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.