Oceanside sets aside $100,000 for stadium consultants

The City Council voted Wednesday to allocate $100,000 for consultants to assess the possibility of the San Diego Chargers building a football stadium in Oceanside.

"We must have enough professional expertise to make an intelligent decision," Councilman Jack Feller said. "This community deserves to have the best it can as we move forward."

Oceanside and Chargers officials have spent the last three months discussing the possibility of a stadium on a 70-plus-acre, city-owned golf course near Oceanside Boulevard and Interstate 5.

The NFL team wants to leave aging Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley within the next decade for a stadium that could generate more money.

The Chargers have identified Chula Vista, National City and Oceanside as possible new homes.

On Wednesday, the Oceanside council voted 4-1, with Councilwoman Esther Sanchez opposed, to authorize staffers to spend up to $100,000 on consultants to provide legal and economic assistance.

The potential of a Chargers stadium has been a hot topic in Oceanside for the last three months.

Some residents say it would bring prestige and millions of dollars to Oceanside. Others say it would destroy the character of the coastal community and ruin surrounding neighborhoods.

But the hearing Wednesday attracted as many TV cameras as Oceanside residents. All five people who spoke said they opposed the team coming to town and didn't want the city to spend any money on consultants.

"If the money is approved, it will lead to more money and studies," said resident Mark Deakins, who added the city should spend the money on reducing traffic.

Council members and staffers stressed that the city wouldn't spend the money until the discussions with the Chargers became more serious.

Team and city officials haven't discussed any details of a proposed stadium in Oceanside and have only had preliminary discussions about parking and transportation for 62,000 fans on game days.

The Chargers want a city to provide land for a stadium and a development, saying revenues from a housing, office, or entertainment complex could help pay for a stadium.

Oceanside officials said consultants will provide professional analysis on any proposal made by the team.

"We are setting aside the money for consultants who can give us unbiased information to determine if the project is feasible or not in Oceanside," City Attorney John Mullen said.

City officials said earlier this week they plan to hire Barrett Sports Group LLC, based in Manhattan Beach, and Paul Jacobs, an attorney from Denver, to help them negotiate with the team.

Jacobs said he and Dan Barrett have agreed to help Oceanside and they have worked together on past stadium deals, including two in San Diego.

Jacobs said the two have worked on more than a dozen stadium deals for cities throughout the country, including San Diego's negotiations with the Chargers to end an unpopular ticket guarantee and the development of Petco Park for the San Diego Padres.

Interim City Manager Peter Weiss said the consultants will allow Oceanside "stay ahead and not behind what the Chargers bring us."

Mark Fabiani, the Chargers lead negotiator on the stadium issue, didn't attend Wednesday's meeting.

But he said Tuesday that the Chargers were pleased that the city was planning to hire consultants because "any arrangement has to be credible, ironclad and bulletproof, and the only way that happens is if there are good people on both sides."

Oceanside Councilmen Rocky Chavez and Jerry Kern stressed that the Chargers would have to fit in with residents and elected officials' vision of Oceanside.

To evaluate such a major project, Chavez said the city needs to hire professionals. He said the city didn't use experts during negotiations in the late 1990s with developer Doug Manchester for a proposed downtown beach resort.

The Manchester project, which was never built, divided the community and the city had to pay $2.2 million to settle a lawsuit with the developer.

"We learn from Manchester to do things right," said Chavez, who added that the city needed to rely on experts.

But the council needs to do a better job of listening to the community, said Councilwoman Sanchez.

She said earlier this month she doesn't support the Chargers coming to town because residents can't trust the council to protect their interests.

"I don't see the need at this time (to allocate money), and it's premature," said Sanchez, who added she was concerned about spending taxpayer money on the project.

Several residents said the Chargers should pay for consultants and noted that the team had agreed to pay $200,000 for consultants to study possible sites in Chula Vista.

But city officials said that the consultants Oceanside is hiring serve a different purpose than the ones working in Chula Vista.

Oceanside and team officials have said the Chargers will help pay for any engineers or consultants needed to study traffic or environmental issues with a proposed project.

City officials said the consultants Oceanside plans to hire with the $100,000 will negotiate for the city. Oceanside official said they wouldn't want the team to pay for the people who will bargain against the Chargers.

Mayor Jim Wood said the consultants will help "protect the citizens of Oceanside." He also noted that any stadium issue would be on the Nov. 2008 ballot.

"Ladies and gentleman, it's going to be up to you the citizens to make the final decision if the Chargers come to Oceanside," Wood said.