Pasadena Keeps Behring at Distance While Suits Are at Issue

Ken Behring, who wants to move his Seattle Seahawks into the Rose Bowl until a new stadium can be built for them somewhere in the Southland, met Tuesday with Pasadena Mayor William M. Paparian but no business issues were discussed, Paparian said.

“Mr. Behring was advised the city of Pasadena cannot enter into any negotiations until there has been a clarification and analysis of the legal issues raised in Seattle,” Paparian said.

He added that the city has received a letter from the office of the prosecuting attorney for King County, advising of pending litigation against the Seahawks there.

Paparian said he and Behring discussed Behring’s classic cars.

In Seattle, attorneys for the Seahawks convinced a Washington state judge that their suit against King County, seeking release from their lease because the Kingdome is unsafe and not a first-class venue, should be heard in a neighboring rural county instead of Seattle. But Judge Michael Cooper left in place a restraining order preventing the Seahawks from taking action that would oblige them to play their home games somewhere other than the Kingdome.

The Seahawks and King County filed suits against each other last Friday. But Cooper, in Ellensburg, Wash., 100 miles east of Seattle, ruled that the team’s attorneys completed their paperwork sooner, granting jurisdiction to Kittitas County, population 29,000, where their suit was filed.

King County prosecutor Norm Maleng downplayed the ruling, predicting that “jurisdiction will be sorted out eventually, and the case will be consolidated into one action. For now, the important thing is that our [temporary restraining order] remains in place.”

Barring appeals, the next hearing is set for Feb. 22 in Ellensburg.