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City responds to Chargers' lawsuit
By: BERNIE WILSON - AP
SAN DIEGO ---- City Attorney Casey Gwinn filed a response to the Chargers' lawsuit on Monday, contending the team hasn't met the complicated financial formula that could allow it to either seek a new stadium or leave town.
Gwinn also revealed that San Diego officials recently warned five West Coast cities and a development group not to negotiate with the Chargers while the team remains under contract to play in San Diego.
The city sent "stay-away" letters on Jan. 9 to Carson, Anaheim, Long Beach and Pasadena, all in the Los Angeles area, and to Portland, Ore. It also sent one to the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which at one time proposed building a stadium in downtown Los Angeles to attract an NFL team. AEG later dropped those plans.
AEG built the Home Depot Center in Carson, which also had been considered as a potential stadium site. The Chargers moved their training camp there last summer.
"We sent them those letters because we wanted to put them on notice that we're in a binding contract with the San Diego Chargers and we don't want anyone interfering with those contractual rights," Gwinn said.
"Every one of them responded by saying either they hadn't been talking to the Chargers or that they had no interest in talking to the Chargers."
The Chargers filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Nov. 25, asking a judge to validate the "trigger" clause in its stadium lease that would allow them to renegotiate the deal. The Chargers, which said it needs a new stadium to remain financially competitive with other teams, agreed on Dec. 30 to move the suit to San Diego.
The trigger clause can only be activated if the team's salaries and benefits exceed its salary cap, which team officials said happened in 2002.
In its cross-complaint filed on Monday, the city says it doesn't believe the Chargers have met the trigger requirements.
"Fortunately for taxpayers, these issues will be decided by a judge in a court of law," Chargers spokesman Mark Fabiani said in a statement. "The Chargers are extremely confident in our case, and nothing we have seen in the city's response has changed our view. The Chargers remain determined to give the public the answer it deserves on the trigger."
In a second part of its cross-complaint, the city asked a judge to rule on the impact of a trigger, if the Chargers have indeed met the requirements.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/01/27/sports/professional/1_26_0421_25_47.txt
By: BERNIE WILSON - AP
SAN DIEGO ---- City Attorney Casey Gwinn filed a response to the Chargers' lawsuit on Monday, contending the team hasn't met the complicated financial formula that could allow it to either seek a new stadium or leave town.
Gwinn also revealed that San Diego officials recently warned five West Coast cities and a development group not to negotiate with the Chargers while the team remains under contract to play in San Diego.
The city sent "stay-away" letters on Jan. 9 to Carson, Anaheim, Long Beach and Pasadena, all in the Los Angeles area, and to Portland, Ore. It also sent one to the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which at one time proposed building a stadium in downtown Los Angeles to attract an NFL team. AEG later dropped those plans.
AEG built the Home Depot Center in Carson, which also had been considered as a potential stadium site. The Chargers moved their training camp there last summer.
"We sent them those letters because we wanted to put them on notice that we're in a binding contract with the San Diego Chargers and we don't want anyone interfering with those contractual rights," Gwinn said.
"Every one of them responded by saying either they hadn't been talking to the Chargers or that they had no interest in talking to the Chargers."
The Chargers filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Nov. 25, asking a judge to validate the "trigger" clause in its stadium lease that would allow them to renegotiate the deal. The Chargers, which said it needs a new stadium to remain financially competitive with other teams, agreed on Dec. 30 to move the suit to San Diego.
The trigger clause can only be activated if the team's salaries and benefits exceed its salary cap, which team officials said happened in 2002.
In its cross-complaint filed on Monday, the city says it doesn't believe the Chargers have met the trigger requirements.
"Fortunately for taxpayers, these issues will be decided by a judge in a court of law," Chargers spokesman Mark Fabiani said in a statement. "The Chargers are extremely confident in our case, and nothing we have seen in the city's response has changed our view. The Chargers remain determined to give the public the answer it deserves on the trigger."
In a second part of its cross-complaint, the city asked a judge to rule on the impact of a trigger, if the Chargers have indeed met the requirements.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/01/27/sports/professional/1_26_0421_25_47.txt
