From http://www.kcra.com,

Craig Powell, Ken Payne and Susan Patterson are members of Voters for a Fair Arena Deal.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —A new group has formed over the issue of whether and how to build an arena in Sacramento.

The group, Voters for a Fair Arena Deal, said it plans a formal announcement at 3 p.m. at Sacramento City Hall.

The group said it is not opposed to a new arena and not necessarily opposed to a public subsidy.

The group, however, said it will help STOP, Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork, gather petition signatures to force a vote on the issue.

STOP has until mid-December to gather 22,000 signatures from city residents to trigger a public vote.

"We're obviously always concerned about whether something like this is going to qualify or not. So we wouldn't be doing this if we didn't think the effort needed some help. But we feel that with us coming on board and behind the arena initiative, with some new energy and resources, we think it'll put it over the top," said Craig Powell, a member of the group.

Powell is also president of the group Eye on Sacramento and has been a frequent critic of the current arena funding deal, which requires the city of Sacramento to pay about 58 percent of the arena's estimated $448 million cost.

Powell said Voters for a Fair Arena Deal has collected about $10,000 in campaign contributions but declined immediately to identify the sources of those donations.

Other members of the group include Ken Payne, president of the Sacramento Taxpayers Association; Susan Patterson, a former SMUD board member; and Isaac Gonzalez, a community activist and blogger.

Powell said the new group would be "functionally and legally" separate from STOP, which arena supporters have criticized for using signatures gathered by Chris Hansen, the hedge fund manager who tried earlier this year to move the Kings to Seattle.

"We want to put aside and behind all that negative baggage," said Powell.

By David Bienick