San Jose Earthquakes Academy is on its way!

You need to stop with that, it's foolish. I can get the gist of what happened. The outcome is the outcome.

So, 5 months from now they put it back on the agenda at which point they either agree to move forward or the Quakes just wasted another 3 years and they're right back to square 1...brilliant.

You, me and all the taxpayers, as per usual, of course.

I hope Fisher can come up with a proposal the County can agree with. As you know, I've been skeptical about this site since it was first announced, well over 2.5 years ago.

At this point I'd rather see them use their own land by PPP. Sounds like they could've had it built already if they weren't wasting all their time trying to get a deal done with the County.

 

My point is that if the Quakes develop the land and generate revenue for the country and eliminate the need for $2M a year to upkeep blighted land, there's no cost to taxpayers for those other services we discussed. Instead there's now new money available for those things at no cost to taxpayers.

 

Fisher isn't going to develop the land unless its a big win for himself, personally. That's the problem we're having. The county would still have to pay for upkeep on the acreage he's not developing, and my guess, they have to look at the property in its entirety...a grand master plan if you will, rather putting some cricket fields here, soccer fields there, housing for the homeless in the middle...etc., I would imagine there has to be a big, bold vison for the whole property that maximizes public benefit.

I'd say there's probably an outside chance we get a yes vote when this next comes up in March (or whenever), but I doubt if our friend @don gagliardi wants to bet $100 on that.

 

The county shouldn't be worrying about whether the project is a "big win" for the developer. They should only be thinking about how much it benefits them. If they can't come to a point where they feel it's sufficiently beneficial to them, then they should move on. But they shouldn't worry about the balance sheet of the other party. We did not elect them to worry about the balance sheet of private enterprises. We elected them to provide services to the community.

This is a specific project, not one that is attempting to create a grand master plan for the area. There is no grand master plan, and there hasn't even been a small scale plan for many, many years that's made it through in order to do something with the blighted land.

 

There are three separate projects in process, the Quakes facility, the cricket stadium, and the SJSU track & field facility. They each take a different section of the land, so don't conflict with each other.

 

Who's paying for the development of the cricket stadium? Just curious. Also, seems like the county is already heading down the road of using this land for sports fields. So the Quakes projects certainly fits into the long-term / overall vision.

 

You really can't see where providing a well-known sports grifter with a personal enrichment opportunity right smack dab in the last remaining plot of available county land could be considered bad politics for the people? You might see this as a tremendous service to the community, but the truth is, the community has far more pressing needs.

And this doesn't even do much to address the need for more public access to soccer fields...not as it's been presented.

It's a snow job.

 

The cricket stadium would be paid for by Major League Cricket and the San Francisco Unicorns.

 

I would have to think there's some bigger picture plan for the whole property. If one area has already been approved for sporting development and recreation...that would help our chances. I wonder if the cricket stadium and SJSU facility are further along in the approval process than Fish & co?

 

Again, they don't need to worry about the other party's balance sheet. They are elected to provide service to the community. The proposal helps alleviate the desperate need for playing fields and generates revenue for the community. If they can't agree on the terms and they don't feel like it provides enough benefit to the community, and they prefer to pay $2M a year to upkeep blighted land, then they'll go separate ways. This is not hard.

 

I don't think you understand how politics work.

Sounds like the Quakes are about to "walk"...apparently, they have a better plan anyway, right at PPP...which everyone would be admiring and enjoying today if it wasn't for the County dragging their feet and wasting Fisher's time.

 

The number of people in the community who know about or care about John Fisher's balance sheet is vanishingly small. What they care about is that the county finds a use for the land and that it has additional revenue for additional services. And if they did know about Fisher, they should know that he is one of the two owners in the history of SJ to bring a pro sports team to the city and build a stadium for it.

No, they are not "about to walk". You don't know anything about negotiations if you think that telling the other party that you are willing to walk is a bad thing for negotiations.

 

The number of people who are familiar with how he's looked after his Bay Area sports teams is probably quite high. Joe Simitian certainly knew, and he wouldn't recognize the guy if he walked up to the podium. What the people care about is using this property to serve our neediest residents. You may think soccer fields are what we most need for the least fortunate among us, they're not. Neither is a cricket stadium. I understand what you're saying, I just think you're wrong on what the people care about when it comes to how this land should be used.

I'm just going by what Cindy Chavez is reported to have said.

 

You don't understand how politics works, do you? Only the neediest residents care about the neediest residents, sadly. The county should regardless be looking out of them, and this project generates revenue that could be used to service the neediest residents and it also provides some playing fields for them.

She is trying to light a fire under the supes and encourage them not to let another potential + for the county go to waste. That's why the Quakes told them they have a Plan B. If the county thinks the Quakes don't have a Plan B, they'll just keep stringing them along ad infinitum.

 

The County cares for the neediest residents but resources are always scarce, limited and in danger of being cut. This proposal could generate some money for the County that could then be used to fund services for the poor and ill, but we can't know all the cost/benefit analysis details on this or any other plans that may or may not be under consideration. But soccer fields and a cricket stadium are going to be a tough sell as revenue generators for plugging holes in our social safety net, believe me.

Ahh yes, the big bluff. The county will scoff and find that amusing. They're not stupid. And, if they don't like Fishers (dramatically improved) counter proposal, they will invite him to proceed with his other plan at PPP. It was a stupid tactic and the board knows that.

 

Once again, this land has been sitting there blighted for many many years. The county now has some proposals (cricket, track, soccer fields) to use that space to generate some revenue and provide some service to the public as playing spaces. Arguably the soccer fields are most relevant to the needy in the area because it's the game of choice for that local demographic. Cricket, not so much. But if they're not going to use these revenue generators, then what are the alternatives. Remember, these fields have been unused for many many years and are costing the counting $2M a year just to be blighted property.

Wait, you're been saying that the Quakes could have / should have already build the fields by the stadium and now you're saying that it's just a bluff?

 

now you sound like a broken record.

If the Quakes were serious about this plan B, then yes, they should've just done that years ago, it would be up and running today!

Had you heard about it before last week? I hadn't. Seems like it was a ploy to light a fire under the board (as you say) but not a serious option (again, if it was, it was always a better option imo), so yes, sounds like a bluff, or else why would they still be at this with the county, over two and a half years later!? Because they're super committed to making sure the kids get 250 hours/year of free soccer time?

 

If I "sound like a broken record" it's because you keep saying the same thing over and I'm refuting it.

I don't know the whole history of it, but I think the Quakes being involved in operating public fields has something that's been discussed for some time. The city of SJ has bond money for building fields from years ago, and still unused. At one point there was a bid out for someone to manage the fields and the Quakes were the only one to take up the bid. This might have been for the property on the other side of Colemen - an idea that was eventually abandoned for whatever reason (flight path?) but I'm fuzzy on the details.

The Quakes actually do more for the community than you're giving them credit for. Here are a few recent examples.

https://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/...l-court-hold-free-soccer-clinic-in-greenfield

https://www.plei.app/faciltiies/la-bombonera-indoor-soccer-san-leandro

 

so this was news to you too, basically.

Well, it's good to know they have a legitimate plan B right there at PPP, all ready to go, just in case this falls through.

 

As I said, I don't remember all the details, but here's a reference to a previous proposal. The city has been sitting on bond money for soccer fields for many many years. If you think the Quakes have been sitting on proposals forever, check out the city of SJ and the county. According to the article, the Quakes at one point offered to manage the fields - the only entity that offered a bid for the proposal.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/06...il-to-consider-plan-for-youth-soccer-complex/

You didn't comment on my references to Quakes community efforts.

 

thats a paywall for me. I can’t really comment on their community outreach but I remember Dom taking some time to talk to my AYSO little guys back when he was our coach, they appreciated that.

but we’re talking about this plan to build an academy facility and a bunch of fields next to PPP…if that’s a real option, let’s do that!

 

I gave you a few links to 2 different playing fields in the community that the Quakes contributed to since just in the last year but you don't think Fish would ever do anything for the community ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. This isn't about AYSO visits.

Or you can build the fields and training facility in an under-served blighted part of the community where it generates revenue for the county and provides much needed playing space. Win-win! If that doesn't work out to both party's needs, then you do something else. There's nothing hard about this. There's no point in going thru this endless circle of argument.

 

True. We'll see what Fisher comes in with and what the board decides to do, in March or whenever this is next on the agenda.

I'm not sure they're bluffing on this Plan B revelation, I hope not. As with most everything Quakes, I'll believe it when I see it.

 

Quakes v Villarreal Soccer Academy this morning with Leland High and Quakes favorite Steven Beitashour.

 

Is that Alex Covelo in the foreground there, back turned in the top photo?