San Diego Stadium Controversy Heats Up

SAN DIEGO —  Controversy over the $78-million expansion plan for San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium ratcheted up a notch this week when city officials moved closer to scheduling a public vote on a referendum aimed at halting the expansion.

But whether that referendum will involve the full plan for the publicly owned stadium or just $18 million of the project will be determined by the courts.

Mayor Susan Golding said she will ask the City Council on Tuesday to set a special vote on the issue, probably for early May. Her announcement came after City Clerk Charles Abdelnour, rejecting advice from the city attorney, ruled that the referendum petitions contained sufficient signatures and had accomplished “substantial compliance” with election laws.

The stadium debate has engaged the most powerful forces in San Diego politics. The expansion deal is backed by Golding, the council, the Chamber of Commerce and the editorial page of the San Diego Union-Tribune. It is opposed by mayor-turned-talk-show host Roger Hedgecock, former mayor Maureen O’Connor and a citizens group headed by a former councilman.

Expansion opponents want the referendum to deal with the full $78-million project and the underlying 23-year agreement between the city and the Chargers. But Golding and other city officials insist the vote should only deal with an $18-million addendum, passed in December, to the $60-million project approved by the City Council in early 1995.

A Superior Court judge will hear arguments Wednesday from attorneys for the City Council and expansion opponents. The expansion would add 10,000 seats, a new video scoreboard, more skyboxes and a new practice field.

The bonds to fund the project are to be repaid by higher rent for the Chargers and other stadium users. But opponents complain that the contract does nothing to keep the Chargers from raising ticket and parking prices.

Making the controversy even more complex is the fact that the eastern end of the stadium is already being demolished to make way for the expansion. Officials have vowed that the referendum will not halt the work. Stadium seats are now for sale at City Hall and the city manager has estimated it would cost upward of $30 million to reassemble the stadium if voters scuttled the $78-million expansion.

Expansion opponents are preparing an analysis of contracts between NFL teams and their host cities that they say will show that San Diego officials did a poor job of negotiating with Chargers’ owner Alex Spanos.

Golding has accused opponents of spreading misinformation and expressed confidence that the expansion plan will be supported by voters as a good financial deal for the city.