Sonics-My solution

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Wednesday, July 2, 2008 - Page updated at 10:52 AM
Special to the Seattle Times

Sonics—lets try public investment for the public’s benefit
By Bob Hasegawa, State Representative-11th Legislative District

As a longtime Sonics fan and community activist I am well aware of what our community will lose if the Sonics leave: an economic engine supporting local businesses and providing union jobs, an entertainment alternative adding to our quality of life, and most importantly, a source of community pride and engagement.  But, I cringe at the thought of using public money for private profit, so I was not in favor of using limited public resources by sinking millions of dollars into renovating Key Arena again.  We just finished remodeling it for the Sonics ten years ago (about $30 million is still left to pay off after refinancing the original debt), and let’s not forget all the other stadium debt, including the nonexistent Kingdome’s roughly $100 million remaining debt that we’re still trying to pay off.

So are we in a catch 22; damned if we do and damned if we don’t?  What if we thought about this a little differently?

When this all started, Mr. Schultz said the Sonics were losing money because his contract with the City of Seattle didn’t bring in enough money from the gate and concessions; therefore a stadium remodel was needed to compensate. Does this mean that a better contract with the city would have made the team profitable, even without capital investment?

Well, who can carry the best contract with the city?  The city itself!  Maybe we should consider public ownership of the team.  If the team could generate positive revenue for the public without major capital investment to remodel Key Arena, then why not?

Up till now, we’ve only talked about the very unpopular option of using public money to support profit for private owners.  It’s time we had an entirely different conversation about using public money for public benefit instead.  We could look at different financing models of public ownership such as city or county ownership, state ownership, a public facilities district, or a combination of these.  Or, how about a fan-based ownership model?

The Green Bay Packers are owned by their fans, where the number of shares any individual can own is limited.  The point is we can figure out the financing piece if we first make a commitment to keeping the Sonics here through public ownership for the public benefit (a scenario which would not necessarily need Mr. Bennett’s agreement to sell).  Numerous financing options for the public to consider should present themselves because the organization could be made to operate in the black.

At a recent 11th District Town Hall meeting, citizens unanimously welcomed the idea of public ownership of the Sonics.  Their only concern was that model doesn’t currently exist in the NBA.  

An unconventional, yet simple solution

Under public ownership, it really would be we the people in charge of deciding how the team is managed, including the level of player and management salaries we’d be willing to pay. Under public ownership, we would all have a stake in our team, so we could control the Sonics as a community resource and decide how our team can best contribute to our standard of living.

Imagine the Cleveland High School cheer squad standing off against the Ingraham squad at any game, and rotating different high school squads through different games--or local college squads for that matter.  Or imagine using the Key Arena hallways before the game to exhibit presentations on sustainable living practices. Or imagine having dances after the game to give kids a safe place to hang out, or using a suite as a reward for volunteer public service.  The possibilities of building/educating our community using Key Arena, and the Sonics as the draw, are only limited by our imagination.

Public investment for public benefit—sounds like a good deal to me. We should consider it to keep the Sonics as a community resource for the community.