Meeting to Shed Light on Deal to Move Suns

For the first time since city staff began secret negotiations with the Suns minor league baseball team, the City Council today is set to receive a formal presentation on an agreement to move the team from Palm Springs.

Without any public discussion, the nonbinding deal was signed Oct. 28 by City Manager Tom Frutchey, Suns owner Don DiCarlo, City Atty. Gary Gillig and Judith Valles, interim president of Oxnard College, where the Western League team would play.

The public got its first chance to hear details about the agreement at Oxnard College last week.

Despite more than a week of individual briefing sessions with City Council members, the council is not likely to vote on the agreement today, Frutchey said. Tonight, the community college board of trustees is scheduled to discuss a lease on the Oxnard College baseball field.

Western League President Bruce Engel has set a Wednesday deadline for the Suns to secure a place to play during the 1997 season. DiCarlo’s attorney is currently discussing an extension of the deadline in case the council does not approve a final plan at its meeting today.

Mayor Manuel Lopez said he has several questions regarding the deal that need to be answered before he approves it.

“There are some unknowns here that we should be getting some information on,” Lopez said. “I will not be driven by the time crunch. If they can respond to the questions I have, then it’s a different matter.”

The city is considering loaning the team about $200,000 to improve lighting and add bleachers and other amenities to bring the dilapidated college field up to minor league standards.

Lopez said that he would not oppose a city loan to the Suns for ball field improvements if there were sufficient collateral and if the city first received a record of the team’s finances during its two years of play in Palm Springs.

Although all members of the council have said that they would support a minor league baseball team in Oxnard, Lopez said he was concerned because the preliminary agreement was signed without his knowledge.

“It could’ve been handled a lot cleaner than it was,” Lopez said.

DiCarlo said he hopes the council approves the deal today, but he would understand if no action is taken.

“I understand that they have a time frame they have to live with,” DiCarlo said. “We hope the league will be patient with that. . . . We have always been working on a short time frame to get everything completed. I do think we are going about it as well as possible.”

If the team relocates to Oxnard and the 1997 season is a success, DiCarlo and the city hope to build a permanent stadium in Oxnard with private financing, said Steve Kinney of the Oxnard Economic Development Corp., a city-funded agency that attracts development to the city.

The Suns, who are not affiliated with any major league baseball team, last year finished fourth in the eight-team Western League, with a 46-44 record, said Tom Kowitz, the league’s executive director.

The team was facing serious financial problems in Palm Springs because of poor attendance. The desert’s intense heat discouraged many fans from sitting in the stadium, despite DiCarlo’s $500,000 investment in misting cooling systems and other upgrades.

For months, DiCarlo searched for a new city to call home. He had been in contact with Oceanside and Chula Vista before agreeing last month to move to Oxnard.