Concession Made in Stadium Dispute

After weeks of trading accusations, the warring sides in the controversy over expanding San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium appeared to be working Tuesday to reach a settlement to keep the Chargers and the 1998 Super Bowl from moving to the Rose Bowl.

Attorneys for expansion proponents and for Bruce Henderson, the leading expansion opponent, were engaged in what were described as “intense, ongoing negotiations.”

The City Council met in closed session for several hours Tuesday to discuss strategy. Plans were made for a possible emergency session Friday or Saturday, depending on the outcome of a court session Thursday.

“Nobody wants this train wreck to occur,” said one party to the controversy.

If no settlement is reached, Superior Court Judge Anthony Joseph is scheduled to rule Thursday on a request by Henderson’s attorneys to declare that the stadium construction, which began Dec. 31, is illegal and must be stopped.

But Tuesday, in another sign that the conflict may be coming to an end, Henderson’s attorneys filed papers asking that, if Joseph rules in Henderson’s favor, he should wait 10 days to order the construction stopped.

In those 10 days, according to the motion, construction could continue and the City Council could adopt a new method to pay for it, thus making the project legal. Presumably, the new funding method would have to be more acceptable to Henderson and his supporters.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has said that a delay of even a few weeks would cause the 1998 Super Bowl to be moved to the Rose Bowl, which has hosted five Super Bowls. The Chargers have said that stopping construction would force them to move their 1997 games, probably to the Rose Bowl.

Henderson, a former council member, led a petition drive aimed at forcing a public vote on the expansion plan and the underlying agreement with the Chargers. He submitted more than 60,000 signatures in mid-December.

The city, however, began construction, despite the referendum petitions. City officials said the referendum deals only with an $18-million addendum adopted Dec. 10 to the original $60-million expansion plan passed in early 1995. Henderson insists the referendum deals with the entire project.

The council, in an effort to sidestep Henderson’s referendum, has since canceled the $18 million in additional funds. QualComm, a San Diego-based telecommunications firm, has offered to pay most or all of the $18 million in exchange for putting its name on the stadium in place of Jack Murphy, the late sports editor of the San Diego Union.