A's ownership needs to commit to Oakland after ‘yes' vote

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Bay Area A’s fans, holding breath for weeks, can exhale. Those green and gold moving vans will have to keep idling.

Maybe forever.

For even as A’s owner John Fisher continues to issue departure threats through team president Dave Kaval, the Oakland City Council keeps scrambling for ways to make it harder for them to justify abandoning an area that, all things considered, they’d rather not.

In its latest attempt to mollify the A’s in their pursuit of a $12 billion project that includes a waterfront ballpark at Howard Terminal, the council on Tuesday voted 6-1-1 to approve a non-binding agreement on its own proposal that seems fair to all involved parties.

If the A’s prefer to remain in the No. 6 national market, rather than the No. 40 market in Las Vegas, they will keep talking. And moreover, they will keep listening. And they will consider accepting.

If they wish to someday regain the trust of a fan base that has spent nearly two decades enduring the dilemma of loving the team but despising its owners’ decisions, then this proposal is an opportunity to prove that somewhere beneath Fisher’s billions lies a heart that warms to sentimental value.

Except Kaval — at least for public consumption — seemed less than impressed with the city’s amended term sheet, because it still doesn’t provide all that was contained in the take-it-or-leave-it deal presented by the A’s in April.

“The current term sheet as it’s constructed and its current language is not a business partnership that works for us,” he said. “To vote on something we have not been privy to and not had time to digest is a difficult thing for us. It’s hard to understand how that is a path forward.”

Though Kaval’s pessimistic response was expected, it also indicates the so-called agreement “deadline” of July 20 is not a deadline but simply another date on the calendar that determines the future fate of the 55-acre location that is Howard Terminal.

Once the Raiders and the Warriors left Oakland, Fisher and Kaval had the city to themselves. They leaned on slogans and ad campaigns – “Rooted in Oakland” – to express their commitment. They were staying for the long haul.

It didn’t take long, though, for them to enter the hardball phase. Being the only team in town means, perhaps, that town would be beyond desperate to maintain the A’s presence. So why not think big, bigger, biggest? Why not make demands that show no commitment to anything other than their desires?

That’s a no-go in Oakland, as it should be in any city. The Port of Oakland is one of the 10 busiest in the country, a key portal to the West Coast. Though Howard Terminal sits on the edge of the port, the necessary infrastructure upgrades will be massive and, whoa, who knows what the environmental impact report will contain.

The latest term sheet absolves the A’s of responsibility regarding off-site transportation infrastructure costs that are projected to be about $350 million.

“If the A’s are not happy with what was produced today and are still talking about leaving after the city has bent over backwards … and come up with all of these concessions … I don’t know where we go from here,” said District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife, who abstained from Tuesday’s vote. “After doing somersaults. After receiving insults. After being disrespected. After all the other things Oakland A’s fans and Oakland residents have gone through.”

And still, Fisher and Kaval keep dangling Las Vegas as a viable, even desirable, alternative.

“This is not a term sheet that works for A’s; it is not the basis for our proposal that we agree with,” Kaval said. “It is not beneficial to vote for something we don’t agree with.”

RELATED: What Oakland's 'yes' vote means for A's ballpark, future

Though none of the council members was overtly pleased with their proposal – Dan Kalb voted yes while “holding my nose” – it was obvious they really want to keep the team in Oakland. It’s less obvious, by design, that Fisher and Kaval want to stay in Oakland.

It’s abundantly clear that negotiations are at yet another impasse but certain to be continued.

“Based on our extensive negotiations, shared values and shared vision, we believe the A’s can and should agree to the terms approved by the City Council today,” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement. “This is the path to keeping the A’s Rooted in Oakland in a way that protects our Port and tax payers and will produce the benefits our community demands and deserves.

“We look forward to continue working with the A’s to address their remaining concerns and to focus now on developing a final Environmental Report and binding Development Agreement that address the complex details of this visionary project.”

Oakland’s baseball team isn’t leaving town this week or this month or any time in the next few years. There are games to play and dialogue to come.

The moving vans will have to wait.

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