Holden to Be the Lone Voice for Raiders at NFL Meeting

When the National Football League owners think football and Los Angeles, the names that come to mind now are Mike and Ed. But after their upcoming meeting in Kansas City there will be another: Nate.

The unforgettable City Councilman Nate Holden--a man willing to make a statement by throwing his body across abandoned railroad tracks--is the lone crusader to bring the Raiders back to the Coliseum.

He won’t travel to the Kansas City meeting with an entourage of superagents a la Carson’s Mike Ovitz, nor will he bring millionaire sports owners like the Coliseum’s Ed Roski.

Instead, Holden will travel by himself, bringing only his strong--albeit singular--support for the Raiders.

And he will let that be known.

“I think L.A.’s wasting their time. I’m just going to go there to watch them do it,” Holden said, adding that he will seek city reimbursement for the trip.

When advised of Holden’s plans, Coliseum supporters laughed at first, but then began worrying.

As one put it: “He’s as harmless as a guy on a night bombing mission through Vietnam who yells out, ‘It’s clear over here! . . . Everyone could get shot.”

Holden, who clearly enjoys the role of civic Quixote, says he won’t attend the private meeting between the NFL owners and the New Coliseum supporters. On the other hand, he wasn’t invited.

“I’m not going to tell any other politicians that they can’t come,” said John Semcken, vice president of Roski’s Majestic Realty. “But he’s not on our team. He’s not our supporter.”

Mike Roos, president of the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission, said Holden’s enthusiasm is “extremely charming and sincere.”

He added: “The purpose of our mission in Kansas City, though, is not a Raiders agenda. It’s a mission for a partnership and an appeal to the NFL for an expansion team.”

To that end, the City Council approved a statement Friday to be presented to the NFL owners, expressing the city’s commitment to obtain a team and its willingness to help issue bonds--unbacked by city funds, of course--for the Coliseum effort.

Surprisingly, Holden voted with the majority, but only after Councilman Hal Bernson withdrew an amendment to exclude Raiders owner Al Davis from any potential partnerships with the city.

“This is meaningless,” Holden said. “It’s just not saying that much. . . . And I’m in favor of a new Coliseum . . . for the Raiders.”

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, said he is unsure what his colleague is up to.

“Nothing that he has done in this regard has been helpful, and I think that view is widely held,” Ridley-Thomas said. “The only thing he might do [in Kansas City] is create confusion and/or a distraction which he seems to have a penchant for--only to serve his insatiable appetite for attention.”

The NFL owners will hear three appeals for franchises: from the Coliseum Partners, led by Roski; the city of Carson with Ovitz and his high-powered partners, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Costner and Magic Johnson; and from the city of Houston. The owners are expected to award a franchise next year for play to begin in 2001 or 2002.

Carson’s bid comes with a $180-million subsidy promised by its City Council. That proposal drew criticism in Los Angeles’ City Hall, where large public subsidies come under scrutiny--and attack--then are awarded, nonetheless.

Council members said Friday that they were “appalled.” by Carson’s proposed subsidy. Los Angeles’ $70-million subsidy for Roski’s downtown Staples Center came under sharp criticism by some council members--Holden among them.

The New Coliseum project likely will require Roski and his partners to come up with $200 million in a deal similar to the Staples Center, relying on $40 million in public funds.

Holden says he supports a new Coliseum, but that he doesn’t believe it will be home to any new teams. He hopes to meet individually with NFL owners and with Raiders officials in Kansas City.

And, Holden adds, you can tell Mike and Ed this: “I hope to bring back a football team.”