City Council Votes Not to Seek Raiders’ Return

Echoing the sentiment of the vast majority of whatever percentage of Los Angeles residents really care, the Los Angeles City Council took an unusually unequivocal stand on a pretty simple issue Friday: The city will not seek the return of the Raiders--or of their owner, Al Davis--to the Coliseum.

“I don’t think the welcome mat should ever be out,” said Councilman Hal Bernson, who wrote the motion. “We have to be cognizant of what transpired when Mr. Davis was here before.”

As expected, Councilman Nate Holden, the lone crusader for the Raiders’ return to the Coliseum, voted against the motion and warned his colleagues: “When the facts are known, I think you’ll reconsider.”

City Council members said, however, that they still are dealing with the dismal legacy left by the Raiders, who backed out of a $10-million commitment to move to Irwindale--after leaving L.A. for Oakland.

“The image that the Raiders’ organization has left us with is one that has been very, very difficult for the New Coliseum” project, said Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, the council leader in the effort to revitalize the Coliseum for another football franchise.

Ridley-Thomas returned this week from a trip to Kansas City to lobby National Football League owners to award a team to Los Angeles.

“I am very, very conscious of the downsides of any discussions that talks about the return of that [Raiders] organization,” Ridley-Thomas said.

Holden, who traveled separately to Kansas City, remained mostly quiet throughout the short council debate, sometimes shaking his head at his colleagues. “You just don’t know,” he said.

What they do know, however, is that the Raiders’ local fiasco left a lasting impression both in the city and within the NFL.

At a time when the city is strenuously attempting to win a football franchise, what lawmakers say they don’t need is to be tainted by constant reminders of the Raiders.

“We are on a high note now and we should stay there,” Ridley-Thomas said. “I would not like to see anything done by anyone that would topple that.”

The city’s effort is led by Ed Roski, an owner of the Los Angeles Kings hockey team and the Staples Arena. It is competing with Carson, which has former super agent Mike Ovitz leading its cause, and Houston.

But Ridley-Thomas noted that the Los Angeles proposal seemed to come out on top with the NFL owners--at least when compared to that of Carson. (For what it’s worth, he also noted that at dinners hosted by each city in Kansas City, Los Angeles served ribs and Carson served sushi. Sushi in Kansas City?)

But perhaps Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg summed up the council action best: “I share your sentiments entirely, but I don’t think it will have any effect.”