Critics Can Step Up to Plate on Stadium Plan

ANAHEIM — As city and Disney officials edge toward completing an agreement that would keep the California Angels at the Big A for at least 23 more years, municipal leaders are preparing to answer critics of a deal that would use $30 million of taxpayers’ money to help pay for a $100-million renovation of the stadium.

The deal, which received tentative approval from the City Council last month, has become the center of an increasingly bitter political and philosophical struggle in recent weeks. A major debate will take center stage at 7:30 p.m. tonight at a special public forum at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The forum is likely to be the last opportunity for public statements on the pending deal, which paves the way for Disney to purchase the ballclub and rename it the Anaheim Angels in 1997. The council is likely to finalize a new baseball lease with Disney within the next few weeks, ending months of painstaking negotiations that at one point had been declared dead by Disney.

“We want everyone to walk out of [the forum] feeling satisfied that their questions have been answered,” Councilman Frank Feldhaus said. “Either they will be satisfied or they’ll think it’s not a good deal. But at least they [will] have had the opportunity to express themselves and have their questions answered.”

The City Council has been bitterly divided during the negotiations with Disney over the last three months. Feldhaus, Mayor Tom Daly and Councilman Lou Lopez are in favor of the current deal, which calls for a $100-million renovation of Anaheim Stadium--70% of which would be paid for by Disney. The entertainment giant would purchase 25% of the baseball team and take over the operations of the ballclub and the city-owned stadium.

Council members Bob Zemel and Tom Tait are against the arrangement. They contend it is not a good economic deal and does not guarantee the city a way of recouping its $30-million renovation investment, but allows Disney to directly make its money back through stadium revenue.

The city will not receive any profits from the stadium unless certain high thresholds are met in attendance and parking, according to the terms of the tentative agreement.

Tait has remained largely silent on the issue, but Zemel has been particularly outspoken in his opposition.

“We can’t do this deal just because it’s Disney,” Zemel said. “Because of my opposition to this, I’ve been asked if I care about my career. I care about the taxpayers, and that’s my current career.”

Two weeks ago, an unlikely figure joined the fray: the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, head of the Traditional Values Coalition and a 25-year Anaheim resident. Sheldon has formed the Anaheim Taxfighters Assn. in an effort to delay any final action.

Sheldon’s group is leading a campaign to have the issue placed on the November ballot, contending the deal falls too heavily on the shoulders of Anaheim citizens instead of those who use the stadium or profit from it. The group wants the council to delay making a final decision until July 1 to give the public more time to examine the lease agreement between Anaheim and Disney.

“There is no animosity concerning Disney or the City Council,” Sheldon said Monday. “It’s basically an issue of taxes and who is going to foot the bill. There’s not a lot that the city benefits from.” City officials have repeatedly vowed not to raise taxes to finance the deal.

On Monday, Sheldon’s group released the results of a poll it conducted of 300 Anaheim residents. The group asserts the poll shows respondents are overwhelmingly opposed to the current deal.

City Manager James D. Ruth said Monday that the final lease agreement, which has not yet been made public, varies little from the memorandum of understanding approved by the council last month. That document signaled agreement by both parties on all major issues.

“There are no new issues,” Ruth said. “I don’t think anyone is trying to shut down the public. The intention here is to make sure we get good, accurate information out to the public. Then the council will decide what to do. All of these deals are very complicated. “

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The city’s $30-million investment in renovation of the stadium has been the topic of most debate. The first $10 million would come from stadium advertising revenue. The next $10 million would be generated by surplus hotel bed tax revenue. The final $10 million would come from the city’s reserves, which currently stand at more than $110 million, officials said.

Ruth said Monday the baseball deal would not hurt the city financially, underscoring his confidence by announcing he will propose the hiring of five additional police officers at an upcoming budget hearing. Zemel and others have argued that the city’s money could be better spent on such hires.

Critics say that in addition to the $30 million, the city must find a way to pay off $9.2 million in remaining debt from the construction of the stadium--without revenue from the facility. There also is more than $300,000 a year in stadium revenue that is used to help run the offices of the city manager and the city attorney that will have to be found elsewhere.

Daly, a staunch supporter of the deal, continued to push for a resolution in mid-March, when Disney vowed to walk away from plans to buy 25% and operating interest of the Angels. Within days, the two sides resumed top-secret negotiations and on April 3, announced they had reached a tentative agreement.

“I don’t think the critics have done their homework,” Daly said. “They have not suggested a reasonable alternative. When the stadium was built 30 years ago, it was 100% paid for by taxpayers. Thirty years later, we are restoring and modernizing the stadium with a $70-million contribution from a major tenant. That is a major shift in shifting the burden of this private enterprise from the government to a private business.”

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Daly said that while the deal calls for Disney to get much of the stadium’s various revenues--from tickets, parking and concessions, for example--the entertainment giant also must pay all stadium operating expenses.

Proponents of the deal also point to the fact that with Disney on board, the city can immediately begin to develop Sportstown Anaheim, the sports, entertainment and retail complex it wants to build on stadium property. Ruth said sales and property taxes from that development would help make up for some of the expenses the city would no longer be able to cover with stadium revenue.

Without approval from the Angels, the Sportstown project could have been delayed until 2001. A long-term commitment from the baseball team is considered crucial in getting the project off the ground.

As a concession to Disney and its demand for 12,500 ground-level parking spaces, the city has agreed to scale down its plans for the complex. Still, there is room remaining for a new football stadium should one be required for a new National Football League franchise.

But if a football stadium is built and Disney makes less than $2 million a year in profits from events at the baseball stadium as a result, the city would be required to make up the loss, officials said. Zemel said that part of the lease will make it very difficult for the city to entice a new franchise to Anaheim, because “that $2 million should go to entice a football team.”

Tonight’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30 in Meeting Room B at the Convention Center. Parking will be free. Those attending are advised to enter the facility from Katella Avenue.