Chargers’ Stadium Is Target of Suit
An attorney who has been involved in other controversies over public funding for professional sports teams sued Friday to block city officials from holding what he claims are secret meetings with the Chargers over the professional football team’s desire for a new stadium.
Lawyer Michael Aguirre also accused Mayor Dick Murphy of not standing up to the National Football League.
The former federal prosecutor turned civil litigator said the league is attempting to “extort” San Diego taxpayers into paying for a stadium by threatening to encourage the Chargers to move to Los Angeles.
Aguirre said that Murphy, a former Superior Court judge, should “act more like Rudy Giuliani and less like Mr. Rogers.”
At Murphy’s request, a committee of city staffers and private citizens talked to the Chargers about the stadium issue and what the team needed to do to remain financially competitive with teams in larger media markets.
Aguirre demanded that information exchanged at those meetings be made public. He also argued that any discussion by the City Council of the Chargers issue should be in open session, not behind closed doors, as suggested by one council member this week.
“Putting the San Diego Chargers on the same economic footing as other teams in the NFL is not a legitimate function of government,” Aguirre said. “It’s a waste of taxpayer funds.”
Murphy declined to comment on Aguirre’s assertions, but City Atty. Casey Gwinn said the lawsuit is frivolous.
“We believe that the citizens of San Diego are tired of government by litigation,” Gwinn said.
A dozen lawsuits were filed to block construction of a downtown ballpark for the Padres baseball team. The suits put the project two years behind schedule.
Also, litigation by Aguirre and others sought, but failed, to block expansion of Qualcomm Stadium, where both teams now play, in 1997.
In exchange for the publicly funded expansion--which made the stadium eligible to host a lucrative Super Bowl--the Chargers agreed to remain in San Diego until 2020.
But a clause in the contract allows the team to shop for a new city after 2003 if it faces financial problems.
San Diego, in turn, retains the right to match any offer made by another city.
As part of his litigation, Aguirre said he will seek financial documents from the Chargers to see if the team is close to exceeding the NFL salary cap.
The team’s contract with the city says the Chargers are not eligible to look for a new city until they break the professional football limit on player pay.
Mark Fabiani, a lawyer hired by the Chargers to seek a new stadium either in San Diego or Los Angeles, dismissed Aguirre’s allegations that the city was violating the state’s open government laws.
“The Chargers are committed to keeping the public as informed as we possibly can,” he said. “That’s why we announced these discussions.”
Fabiani repeated the Chargers’ position that they would prefer to remain in San Diego but might pursue other options if the team’s financial performance does not improve.
One possibility would be a move to a stadium that billionaire Philip Anschutz wants to build near Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.