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An artist’s rendering of a proposed ballpark
near Oakland’s Jack London Square.
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PORT OF OAKLAND | HOWARD TERMINAL | The Port of Oakland staff will recommend at its next meeting Mar. 27 to approve an exclusive negotiating agreement with a group of Oakland business interests hoping to build a waterfront ballpark at the port-owned Howard Terminal north of Jack London Square.
The move was expected after port commissioners voted to reject three proposed maritime uses for Berths 67-68 last month, including one bid to ship coal at the site. Without any maritime uses available for the site, the port can now discuss a plan brought forth Jan. 15 by a group calling itself the Oakland Waterfront Ballpark, LLC. Initiation of the exclusive negotiation agreement is the beginning of a process that one day may lead to a 38,000-seat ballpark for the Oakland Athletics. The group is led by Clorox CEO Don Knauss, former Dreyer’s Ice Cream CEO T. Gary Rogers, Signature Development Group founder Michael Ghielmetti and Doug Boxer. The co-owner of Golden State Warriors, Joe Lacob, has also been tied to the group hoping to bring the A’s to downtown Oakland.
Under terms of the proposal, the port will receive a $100,000 deposit upon signing the ENA and allow the port to lease the property to another entity on a short-term basis, if it desires. Port staff has continually urged for some sort of revenue streams at the property while a permanent tenant or use is determined. Furthermore, staff believes the proposed site is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), however, once the proposal is further developed, the exemption could be challenged.
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and other city leaders have endorsed the Howard Terminal, in addition, to support for another proposal to build a ballpark at the existing Oakland Coliseum along with a football stadium for the Oakland Raiders. However, it is the waterfront site that has become a fan favorite and potential gamechanger for bringing life to the underutilized Jack London Square area and downtown. In addition, legislation is expected soon from Sacramento to help create economic incentives for investment in the ballpark plan and surrounding areas.
ebcitizen.com 
By MW:
Since the situation in regard to Leland Yee will continue to open a lot of people's eyes a lot more in regard to how extremely sleazy San Francisco politics and government are, and in fact SF politics and government are even much sleazier than Chicago's, will Doug Boxer, and who for awhile now has been extremely determined to get the Warriors out of Oakland and into a yet to be built stadium for them in SF (in fact even if SF should eventually follow through and build a stadium for the Warriors, STILL IT HAS NOT EVEN BEEN DEFINITELY DECIDED YET WHERE IN SAN FRANCISCO THAT STADIUM WOULD BE), insist that any stadium that might be built in San Francisco for the Warriors would be built without under the table bribes being paid all over the place and illegal backroom fixes galore!!!
Let's be realistic, if you want building permits for a major project or anything else in San Francisco under the table bribes have to be paid, and anyone who says differently is a pathological liar and/or extremely naive.
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By MW:
Yes, but what if this also turns into a major effort, and which is very likely, to keep the Warriors in Oakland – and rather than having them following through with the present plans, and which are strongly backed by Doug Boxer, to have the Warriors move to San Francisco.
Oakland lawyer Doug Boxer, and who is the son of US Senator Barbara Boxer, is also the main guy in the organization Let's Go Oakland, an organization that pretends to be dedicated to improving Oakland and preserving and retaining Oakland's present assets.
However Doug Boxer, and in a display of the type of “logic,” “integrity,” and “consistency” that is standard procedure for lawyers, has in exchange for huge fees done everything in his power to try to arrange for the Warriors to leave Oakland and move to San Francisco.
Depending on how events related to the Howard Terminal proposal play out, Oakland might eventually have no choice but to declare Doug Boxer the FIFTH COLUMNIST, PHONY, AND BIG WINDBAG OF THE DECADE as he tries to tapdance and doubletalk his way through this.
And if Doug Boxer eventually runs for mayor of Oakland, and which is very likely, and after having previously taken a huge bribe, er, excuse me, I mean a large “consultation fee,” to help arrange for the Warriors to leave Oakland, then he should be awarded an Olympic gold medal as Hypocrite, Phony, Fifth Columnist, and Big Windbag of the Century.
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