Sonics Rising: All Posts by Brian Robinson

The Essential Question

2017-06-06T13:27:02-07:00

Who can bring back the Sonics?

Don't get me wrong, I care about the NHL. I want our city to have more winter sports, know that I'll grow to love the games and most importantly want to see success for all the great fans and supporters who are passionate about hockey in ways that I am not (yet!).

The individual success and personal well-being of my friends in Sodo is important to me as well. They are nice people and fellow sports fans who have worked hard enough to deserve a part in any win, no matter where that win occurs or who finally gets it done.

I also place great value on sound civic planning and would like to see a thoughtful decision. Do we partner with a local hero to site all of our stadiums together at an established transit hub or team up with an established game changer to shift some of the city's development northward, invest in an existing public asset and revitalize the Seattle Center?

All of that matters, but none of it is as important to me as bringing the Sonics back.

Seattle has been without an NBA team for nearly a decade. Now that we have 2 clearly established bidders, each hoping to have their vision approved within the next few months, we need to ask the essential question:

Who is most capable of bringing the Sonics back?

To bring the Sonics back we need at minimum an arena “plan”. In 2012 we thought a plan had been approved and only "procedural" hurdles remained. Later, we found out the hard way that street vacations and construction permits presented a far greater obstacle than had been anticipated.

Now, after 4 years of aspiring to be “shovel ready in Sodo” the fans are being asked to evaluate two very different methodologies for team acquisition.

Hansen's Sodo vision, just a street vacation away from permit submittal represents the fastest path forward towards a fully permitted facility. At that point, however he would hold off on construction, restarting the process at a later date when a team became available. His team argues that they are years ahead in achieving a fully entitled, "shovel ready" building plan. In this scenario they envision a finalized plan will allow more definitive negotiation of revenue splits and financial partnerships with potential team owners, allowing their group to lie in wait for opportunity with an interim facility (KeyArena), "ready to go" building site and firmly committed NBA and NHL ownership groups to both leagues.

The Oak View Group has substantial doubts about whether "shovel Ready" will satisfy league commissioners. They argue that, after a decade of futility and broken promises, league commissioners need to see more than the the promise of an arena and can only be expected to engage regarding expansion or relocation if and when an arena is actually being built.

A similar argument was made by their recently vanquished competitor AEG, who offered up their recent success in Las Vegas as the only modern example of NBA or NHL expansion. The expansion Vegas Golden Knights, they claimed with certainty would never have been awarded to a "shovel ready" situation and instead required "shovels in the ground" building an actual arena to demonstrate certainty and win league support.

Whether the city choose the immediate path to a firm commitment with Hansen or allows Tim Leiweke additional time to entitle his project before building on spec will be irrelevant if the resulting financial model fails to attract high net worth ownership groups capable of acquiring NBA and NHL franchises.

Hansen earned substantial credibility by adding Steve Ballmer to his proposed NBA ownership group in 2012. Supporters were also encouraged by the potential for an NHL partnership with developer Victor Coleman in 2014. Since that time, however Ballmer has departed to Los Angeles to take over the LA Clippers and Coleman chose instead to partner with AEG at KeyArena. As a result the Sodo group (as currently disclosed) seemingly lacks the financial capacity to complete this transaction and has not been able to lure NHL or NBA partners under a substantially revised financial model.

The Oak View Group, an industry powerhouse with substantial venue and organizational building experience, seems more capable of attracting NBA and NHL investors but have faced questions regarding their business model and revenue splits. Fans of both hockey and basketball have expressed concerns that the lack of committed sports owners may indicate OVG’s intentions to develop KeyArena into a music only facility, similar to their recent (and very successful) renovation of the LA Forum.

Both groups could answer these questions by bringing forward ownership groups capable of acquiring NBA and NHL franchises. Until one or more credible ownership groups comes forward with a commitment to own and operate an NBA or NHL franchise each will face skepticism over whether their financial model is capable of attracting the deep pockets necessary to make franchise acquisition a reality.

There does seem to be a consensus among all interested parties that an "NHL first" strategy represents the fastest path to bringing the NBA to town.

Hockey, unlike basketball, is in the midst of an ongoing expansion process and has made no secret of their desire to capture this lucrative market. The resulting sense of urgency is creating deadlines and driving progress at a rate the NBA would be unlikely to match on their own.

If and when the NHL does arrive speculation is rampant that this would increase pressure on the NBA to return more quickly so as not to allow a winter sports competitor time to establish dominance in the region.

So lets challenge these ownership groups:

Show us your plan to win the leagues support.

Prove that plan is attractive to potential ownership groups by finding and naming your investors.

Take action on the NHL before this window closes.

Bring back the Sonics.

City Bonds Were a Non Starter

2017-06-04T19:18:43-07:00

Was AEG Plan Dead on Arrival?

The soap opera continues.

Earlier today AEG, one of two bidders to renovate the KeyArena, notified the mayors office of their withdrawal from the RFP process.

This shocking Sunday afternoon development occurred amid persistent rumors that the city was poised to announce the selection of their competitor, the Oak View Group as early as Monday. While there was some debate regarding the timing, it was clear that an answer was expected next week, and AEG appeared to be scrambling to make up ground in response to a leaked story indicating the cities preference for the Oak View proposal.

If the decision to formally withdraw from the process came as something of a surprise, then the accompanying letter, written by AEG President bob Newman, was absolutely stunning. The letter, which could only be described as "scathing," included allegations that the city had failed to conduct a collaborative and iterative process, blaming city misconduct for the withdrawal, and directly challenging the credibility of the Oak View proposal.

This stands in stark contrast to an e-mail written by Newman to city consultant Carl Hirsh just a few weeks ago. In this letter, Dated May 18th and obtained by SonicsRising, Newman praises the city process, stating:

"We applaud the City for executing a thoughtful public process. Engaging with teams from the City and the public has strengthened our proposal and crystalized our approach....Our passion for this project has only grown through this process….Thank you for your commitment to bring this vision to reality."

The e-mail also seemed to address what many considered the Achilles heel of the AEG proposal, a surprising request to utilize public bonding capacity to facilitate construction of the arena. In defense of their bonding request, which is something of a standard practice for AEG facilities, the mail prefaces a defense of their financing mechanism by stating:

"It is also important to share a few thoughts about our financing model. We did not take our request to leverage City bonding lightly."

AEG's decision to rely on public bonding capacity came as a surprise to city officials and was viewed by many within city hall as a deal breaker which would surely be rejected by council. AEG's perceived refusal to move away from that model has largely driven the perception that OVG would be awarded the bid.

As the process entered June and expectations for an early decision began to mount, many people close to the process felt that AEG would revise their bid, perhaps removing the request for public bonding and potentially striking a clause that would have prevented competing arenas, such as Hansen's Sodo facility, from being built. Sources close to the situation indicate that the city had hoped that AEG would respond to commentary about the public bonding in similar fashion to OVG's parking lot change last week. As news of a press release today began to spread, the hope and expectation was that it could potentially be a change of terms that would get them back in the game.

No such luck. Rather than modifying their terms AEG, left and burnt bridges behind them, creating a potentially awkward situation as they remain under contract to manage the existing facility for the foreseeable future.

This scorched earth approach is the latest salvo in an escalating, and seemingly quite personal feud between the two companies and their principal owners. In a recent article Billboard Magazine attempted to describe the roots of the conflict:

"Industry insiders note that the seeds of the feud may have been sewn around 2008 when (Oak View Group co-founder Irvine) Azoff was the CEO of Ticketmaster. He and (James) Dolan approached Anschutz about merging the ticketing company with MSG and AEG to take on Live Nation. The negotiations collapsed resulting in bad blood among the parties (and in 2009 Azoff emerged as the CEO of a merged Live Nation and Ticketmaster). Leiweke’s relationship with Anschutz also deteriorated in the wake of his abrupt departure from AEG in 2013."

More information about Leiweke's relationship with AEG is available in this fascinating article which, while several years old, casts some light on the relationships and personalities involved in this high stakes battle of industry superpowers.

In recent months this conflict has only escalated. Azoff, responding to accusations that he had initiated a "booking war" with AEG chose not to deny the allegations. Instead, he defended the process, in which entertainers are blocked from performing coveted shows in OVG's flagship Madison Square Garden if they chose to perform in AEG operated venues by issuing a fascinatingly candid statement which concluded:

While I realize Phil [Anschutz, owner of AEG] may not be happy with Los Angeles being a competitive market, that's the American way.

-- Irving Azoff

P.S. We are extremely flattered by Staples' feeble attempt to replicate The Forum’s game room at AEG's Microsoft Theater... Thanks for loving what we do.

Make no mistake. The city of Seattle has been aware of this competition and has done everything in its power to leverage the feud into better terms than either company would have been likely to offer on their own. It is perhaps for this reason that they were so startled by AEG’s tone deaf decision to include public bonding in the first place, as well as their refusal to craft a solution more palatable to city government. Perhaps nobody expected them to simply “bow out” in this fashion without putting forward a proposal to amend those terms.

As a fan it is most important to me that SOMEONE win this fight. AEG, by choosing to depart the process in this seemingly spiteful manner has cast a blow to the process, and now fans must turn their attention to the two remaining contestants and hope that the city did not overplay its hand by asking for too much, offering too little, and leaving us yet again without a viable opportunity to bring the NBA and NHL to town.

It is time for Chris Hansen and the Oak View Group to show us what they’ve got. I’m ready for the showdown.

AEG withdraws from KeyArena RFP process

2017-06-04T14:58:56-07:00

Renovation bidder steps away ahead of expected decision, criticizes proposal process

Seattle Partners, the joint venture between arena developer and operator AEG and real estate investment company Hudson Pacific Properties, announced they are officially withdrawing their proposal for renovation of KeyArena from consideration on Sunday.

In a letter to Seattle mayor Ed Murray and the city council, SP expressed what they felt was a flawed proposal process that ultimately led to their decision.

The text of the letter is as follows:

June 4, 2017

The Honorable Edward B. Murray
Mayor of Seattle
600 4th Avenue, 7th Floor
PO Box 94749
Seattle, WA 98104

Seattle City Council
600 4th Avenue, 2nd Floor
PO Box 34025
Seattle, WA 98104

Dear Mayor Murray and Seattle City Council:

We are writing to inform you that Seattle Partners must regretfully withdraw our bid to redesign and renovate KeyArena.

We remain firm in the belief that our proposal best serves the people of Seattle, but, unfortunately, significant factors through the bidding process have eroded our confidence in the ultimate execution of this project, no matter which group is selected. We fear the City is driving toward an unrealistic financing structure, and we believe the City has failed to conduct a sufficiently thorough, objective and transparent process to properly evaluate the respective strengths and weaknesses of the two proposals and, most significantly, to identify the proposal best positioned to deliver a project consistent with the community’s interests.

The people of Seattle deserve a world-class sports and entertainment venue capable of bringing back NBA and NHL teams. We have engaged earnestly in a process that we had hoped would be relentless in its pursuit of that objective, and we put forward a proposal we believed most certain to deliver a successful completed project that would attract professional basketball and hockey teams.

Notwithstanding our confidence in the merits of our proposal, over the past two months, Seattle Partners has actively sought feedback from community leaders, City staff and members of the City’s Community Advisory Council, and, in response, we have explored improvements to our proposal. However, consistent with a general lack of active engagement through this evaluation process, the City declined to seek improved terms, refusing requests from us and others to call for a “best and final” offer from both bidders. We have seen little indication of the collaborative and iterative process we were told to expect and is typical of such requests for proposals.

In addition, the City’s decision to withhold critical financial portions of Oak View Group’s proposal from the public, while releasing the financial details of our proposal with our full support, raises serious questions about the integrity of the decision-making process and the ability of the public to make a fair and equitable comparison.

Despite the lack of transparency, we are generally familiar with Oak View Group’s proposal, including changes to it that have been conveyed via media accounts and otherwise. Based on our experience, we have strong reservations about whether that proposal can be successfully achieved consistent with the City’s best interests. If the City elects to proceed with that remaining proposal, to protect the public interests of Seattle, it is imperative that you closely and diligently monitor the process to ensure that Oak View Group is held accountable for all elements of what it has very publicly promised to the citizens of Seattle.

Seattle Partners remains deeply committed to this great city, and we thank the countless civic leaders who offered helpful input and partnership on our proposal. We wish the City the best of luck in its pursuit of an arena project that can provide what the region’s passionate sports fans deserve – to see the Sonics and professional hockey return to the Emerald City.

Sincerely,

Bob Newman
President, AEG Facilities

Alex Vouvalides
Chief Investment Officer, Hudson Pacific Properties

Last Call?

2017-06-01T13:14:05-07:00

As the RFP process nears its conclusion, integrity of process should be a top priority

As the city of Seattle's Office of Economic Development (OED) enters the final month of its KeyArena Request for Proposal (RFP), the infamous Seattle process seems to be working in reverse. Rather than grinding to a halt, the bid process - which was expected to return a decision no later than June 30th - has been widely reported to be ahead of schedule, with a decision reportedly to come as early as June 5th and probably not later than mid-month.

It seems like just yesterday (but actually was April 12) that the Oak View Group (OVG) and AEG-backed Seattle Partners (SP) submitted bids for arena renovations that the city hopes will re-invent and revitalize the Seattle Center, improving a valuable city amenity within walking distance of Amazon's South Lake Union Campus, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Belltown, and the "about to boom" section of Interbay that surrounds a planned Expedia Campus.

On initial review, these plans appeared quite similar, as would be expected when 2 groups are spending roughly the same amount of money to repurpose the same building for the same intended purpose. However, after having taken some time to review them, the plans prove to actually be quite different, featuring unique physical characteristics, financing, and transit planning.

Neither plan features a single silver bullet to address the area's well documented transportation issues. Instead, both rely on a patchwork approach featuring an improved monorail, utilization of ride share, emerging technologies, and existing local parking to diffuse drive-around traffic in the area. A key difference within these plans has been the inclusion of an 800-stall parking garage by OVG, a feature called out by some as an unnecessary public subsidy and choke point for traffic locally.

That changed early this week when OVG, citing community feedback, removed the planned parking garage from their proposal.

“In our proposal we provided the garage as an option to the City of Seattle. In our dialogue with the City and the surrounding neighbors - we have listened and learned – it is crucial that we make the NASC part of an open environment for all visitors to the Seattle Center campus,” said Lance Lopes, Oak View Group’s Seattle-based Director of Special Projects. “With great partnership and participation from local voices, OVG has decided to remove the above-grade parking structure located to the south of the NASC.

The city has made clear that they considered the April 12th bids to be "opening offers" and that OED specifically intended to continue its negotiation with the two bidders, using the starting point of their RFP proposals and potentially taking some of the best attributes of each proposal to craft the best possible deal for the city.

Now that these "re-negotations" are beginning to materialize, they have the potential to trigger questions from the public regarding fairness and transparency of the process, a critical issue given public distrust in a process that many (in particular Chris Hansen and his Sodo team) have questioned. The public should question whether modifications like this one are best negotiated behind closed doors or if perhaps Brian Surratt and his team should consider a "last call," offering both bidders the opportunity to make their best and final offer after receiving feedback from city staffers and the general public.

In my conversation with city staff and others, I have heavily emphasized that the city can restore the confidence of distrustful fans who feel slighted by previous city efforts if they prioritize a fair and transparent process. Essentially, each of these offers can and should be boiled down to a clear bundle of public benefits and (of course) obligations, which can be weighed against each other to select the plan that most clearly meets the public interest. At the conclusion of the RFP process, this may open the door for the a subsequent comparison of public benefits between the recommended KeyArena renovation and those of Chris Hansen's Sodo arena project. Having this type of fact-based and measurable process will go a long way towards removing the extraneous drama and historical baggage associated with Seattle's decade-long arena process.

Ending the RFP process in a way that is above critique and earns the confidence of the public will substantially increase either plan's ability to survive what is expected to be a more intensive council review. In addition to reviewing final offers, OED should review, and place great weight on, both bidders' plans for post-RFP community engagement and coalition building strategy as council members have demonstrated time and again that they are more heavily influenced by this type of grassroots advocacy than either OED or the Mayor's office. It is important to remember that any plan that graduates from the RFP process but lacks appeal in council chambers may prove worthless in the end.

Even greater weight should be placed on the ability of each proposal and potential investment group's ability to attract both NBA and NHL franchises. This process means nothing to me if, at the end of the day, it does not result in the return of the Sonics and the first puck drop of the modern NHL in our city. I look forward to hearing more from both Seattle Partners and the Oak View Group about their ability to do so.

Proposals Unleashed

2017-05-01T09:01:22-07:00

Today renovation proposals for the renovation of KeyArena into an NBA/NHL ready facility were released by the Seattle Office of Economic Development.

These proposals are available for review HERE:

Friend of the blog and reporter for King 5 news Chris Daniels provides an excellent summary of the proposals HERE:

There will be a lot of time spent analyzing the details of these proposals and our writers are working on a series of articles to compare them against each other and the Sodo proposal. One thing that certainly stands out immediately is the relative formality and structure of these proposals when compared with earlier arena proposals in Sodo. Letters from proponents such as Jerry Buss and the Ackerly family are meaningful and should add some legitimacy to AEG and OVG claims that they intend to pursue NBA and NHL franchises. It will be interesting to see if the Sodo group can deliver comparable endorsements from similarly qualified individuals.

Sports fans should give Brian Surratt a chance

2017-04-10T12:03:33-07:00

"Bringing the Sonics back is personally important to me," - Brian Surratt

Sports fans in Seattle are preparing to board the emotional rollercoaster one more time this week as the city of Seattle embarks on a new process to finalize an arena plans necessary to bring the NBA back to Seattle. At the conclusion of this process we should know whether one of two Seattle Center renovation plans or perhaps Chris Hansen's Sodo proposal will finally lead to the creation a state-of-the-art arena capable of housing new professional sports teams, as well as premium concerts and shows. Looming over it all is a fear that the dreaded “Seattle process” will prevail, stifling momentum in a crowded field and leaving us let down yet again.

The next phase in this process will begin on April 12th, at which time two of the world's most established and successful arena developers, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and Oak View Group (OVG), are expected to respond to the city's Request for Proposal (RFP) for KeyArena renovations.

These proposals will be reviewed Brian Surratt, the director of the city's Office of Economic Development (OED) who will then make a recommendation of further action to city leadership. While Surratt may be relatively unknown to most Sonics fans, he has emerged as a key figure in the team's potential return. Not only tasked with oversight of the KeyArena RFP, he seems willing to assume a leadership role in the city's broader efforts to attract both NBA and NHL franchises.

"Bringing the Sonics back is personally important to me," says Surratt. "Seattle is sitting in great position with multiple interested development options. The city understands that we cannot walk away from this with nothing. While we cannot control whether a franchise becomes available, the mayor and his staff know that in order to be successful we have to finish this process in a timely manner with a deal that opens the door for those leagues to return."

Like other new participants in this process, Surratt has encountered intense skepticism by the fan community. He understands the need to overcome distrust created by more than a decade of letdown, and recognizes the importance of establishing a process that can withstand public scrutiny.

Fans have demonstrated fierce loyalty to Chris Hansen's Sodo project and at times have responded to what they perceive as an "attack" against his efforts with anger and aggression. Many allege that this process is focused on justifying a pre-determined location at KeyArena rather than conducting an impartial evaluation of 3 offers on 2 separate sites. I would remind everyone that Hansen has been unwaveringly consistent, both in public commentary and private discussion, that his ultimate commitment is to bringing the Sonics back. He has stated clearly and definitively that, if another location or ownership group is able to achieve that goal, he will cheer for the return of the team like any other long-suffering fan. His bottom line, like mine, is to restore our beloved NBA franchise and finally close the door on this long and painful saga.

The city of Seattle should be held accountable to that same standard and demand that the city commit to achieving that shared end goal by evaluating the offers fairly and choosing the best option, regardless of location. Everybody involved should understand that, regardless of location, if the Sonics return, regardless of location, it is a victory for the city and it’s residents.

Given the complexity of this situation, Sonics fans are very lucky that Surratt was placed in charge of the whole operation.

While we are not close, I have known Brian for several years. He comes well referred by many mutual friends, and as a former Seahawks employee is a known sports fan. He has demonstrated in both action and words that he understands the value of professional sports in our community and is no stranger to complex and contentious negotiations. After assuming a similar leadership role on the issue of minimum wage increases, Surratt was highly praised for assembling and overseeing a diverse group which ultimately cut a deal that received the begrudging support of stakeholders ranging from socialist councilmember Kshama Sawant to local business leaders both big and small. It can only be viewed as a sign of great success that the final legislation forced significant compromise from all parties but resulted in timely and decisive agreement on a thoughtful plan that everybody could live with.

A similar approach is being taken to resolve the region's arena issue. On February 23rd, the city announced the formation of an Arena Advisory Panel comprised of a 3-person executive review team and a 10-member community advisory panel.

Joining Surratt on the executive review team are Seattle Center Director Robert Nellams and City of Seattle Budget Director Ben Noble. Nellams, also a sports fan, took over management of KeyArena just a few months before the sale of the Sonics in 2006. He has been a longtime participant in regional arena talks, consistently demonstrating integrity and a willingness to engage with me and other sports fans. I especially appreciate that over the course of this debate Robert has been supportive of efforts in Renton, Sodo and other locations without ever putting the interests of Seattle Center above those of the city or region as a whole. I have not worked with Ben Noble directly, but he has been a key city staffer for the Sodo project and has a strong relationship with Hansen's team.

The 10-person advisory panel is made up of industry experts, each of whom is expected to contribute specific areas of expertise to the process. For example, restaurateur Ethan Stowell will provide input regarding food service, kitchen and other related facilities. He has served as the consulting chef for the Mariners at Safeco Field since 2010. Like Surratt and Nellams, Stowell is a known sports fan who has previously supported the Sodo project and often posts to Facebook in support of the Sonics' return.

Facebook

Advisory panel member Ethan Stowell has been a strong proponent of the Sodo Arena

Stowell's inclusion, along with other long-term supporters such as legendary Sonics player/coach Lenny Wilkens and Tabor 100's Ollie Garrett, indicates to me that this panel is serious about bringing the NBA and NHL to town and that they are unlikely to accept an arena renovation that does not meet that goal. Panel members Deborah Fausto of the Seattle Uptown Alliance and Jill Nischi from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation should ensure that neighborhood and traffic issues are considered as part of any potential plan. In short, I do not believe that this panel is comprised of people who will sacrifice their integrity by approving a lesser deal for KeyArena or ignoring obvious limitations that hurt our chances to acquire a team.

Wilkens agrees. When asked about fan concerns that his panel could be asked to rubber stamp a KeyArena proposal that is less attractive to the NBA than Hansen's Sodo effort, the Hall-of-Famer told SonicsRising, "My priority is bringing the Sonics back. I would not participate in a process that reduced the chances of that happening."

After an honest review of the options with this panel, it will be up to Surratt to provide a recommendation to city leadership. By driving the process forward and holding firm to an established schedule, he has the ability to demonstrate clear and measurable progress to league commissioners which could set the table for discussions about the team's return either at Seattle Center or Sodo, whichever is the best and most viable option.

I feel much more confident in this process because I know Brian Surratt understands that he cannot be successful without putting the city in position to attract both the NBA and NHL. By choosing to open early lines of communication with SonicsRising, Sonicsgate, Bring Back Our Sonics and other fan communities, he has taken the initiative to repeatedly affirm his commitment to the team's return.

Surratt is not the only one to engage in fan outreach during this process. AEG has spent the past several months reaching out to community groups and Seattle leaders. They have connected with fan communities like SonicsRising and Sonicsgate to explain their interest in this opportunity, as well as listen to people’s ideas as they prepare their proposal. Both AEG and OVG have indicated that their public presence is likely to increase substantially after their bids are submitted with each attempting to explain their proposal to build support for their vision. Given this environment I would also expect that the Sodo group will emerge from their relative silence to make a similar arena sales pitch.

With final bids due on Wednesday, I want to urge everybody to give Brian Surratt the benefit of the doubt and support this process, even though previous processes have let us down in the past. Surratt cannot undo prior mistakes but, like the rest of us, he wants the Sonics to come back. We should not undermine those efforts but instead give him the support he needs to make that happen.

10 YEARS AGO: Sonics Sold to OK City Investor Group

2016-07-18T05:00:07-07:00

To acknowledge the tenth anniversary, a story that first appeared on Sonics Central.

July 18, 2006 - 11:32am

According to the Seattle Times...

This either guarantees a move or it completely forces the city's hand to resolve the issues. The league would have to approve any move.

The team has not announced the new ownership group but we have reason to believe it could be.

Change that, the report is now that Clayton Bennett out of OK City. Here's a disturbing quote.

"We are absolutely committed to the Hornets this year and next," Bennett said. "But we also are 100% committed to finding a team for this city in the long term."

Again you heard it here first...

Sonics fans are not defined by abhorrent Twitter comments

2016-05-04T10:54:23-07:00

Sonics Rising stands against discrimination of all kinds. We are a movement seeking to unify people from all walks of life behind the common cause of the return of the NBA and NHL to Seattle.

Friends,

It's been a difficult 48 hours or so.

As was reported by King5 News Council member Lorena Gonzalez advised people near her she would be voting yes on the street vacation as little as 20 minutes before ultimately changing her mind and casting a decisive fifth vote against. I, like many others, had anticipated a yes vote and was shocked by her decision.

While struggling with the pain, anger and disappointment of this decision a very small percentage of fans made horrendous and inappropriate comments, earning a rebuke from Council member Rob Johnson who deserves better as a strong ally of our cause. As someone who is considered a leader of this movement I take that rebuke seriously and am doing what I can to review areas where I could have been a better influence on the conversation. There have been some tones and conversations in our forums which I did not approve of, but for the most part these have been no worse than conversations which occur in other forums about similarly contentious issues.

The management of this site continues to have extensive debate around where the line should be drawn between the need to restrain inappropriate commentary and intrusive moderation that would discourage participation in a public forum. To the extent that this moderation can influence individual comments on twitter I accept responsibility and apologize sincerely. If, in some instances, we failed to find that balance and provided a forum which empowered negative comments we regret doing so and hope that people can appreciate our mostly successful efforts to moderate a very emotional public.

This visceral reaction by a few people was a terrible thing and I am not defending it. Unfortunately this kind of online participation is increasingly common in this age of social media where any individual can make any comment they want in online forums largely free from repercussion. As a property owner I recall reading similarly horrendous comments (since deleted by management) from a Seattle Weekly article "Dear Landlord" which prompted some people sympathetic to those in need of housing to call for violence and death to property owners like myself. That response prompted me to write the response "Dear Tenant." which I hope contributed positively to the discussion.

In fact, every day I read terrible comments like this in the Strangers SLOG, the Huffington Post and other mainstream news locations. I don't say that to justify the comments, simply to point out that we live in a really strange time when conversations are evolving into new mediums with more diverse participants. It is striking that as a society we are simultaneously becoming less tolerant of hostile and inappropriate conversation and becoming acclimated to ever more egregious and offensive conversations coming from a few people on the web.

This complex combination of political correctness set side by side with gross impropriety is on display everywhere from sports blogs to presidential campaigns. The responses of a few out of line sports fans is no more reflective of Sonics supporters than offensive Facebook posts of "Bernie Bros" is reflective of the intention of the progressive movement.

I believe that the majority, if not all of our our Council members understand that it is not possible to have a publicly inclusive process without inviting comment from members of the public who are not well spoken or restrained. I know they are willing to forgive those comments because anyone who is concerned about gentrification or social justice understands that you cannot support disadvantaged communities if you tune out anybody who does not talk like a lobbyist. All too often good people who are angry lack the words to express themselves and lash out using verbiage that is reflective that anger and their environment, not their quality of being.

I am struck by this lyric put forward by my friend and good Sonics supporter Prometheus Brown and the Blue Scholars

I am really proud of the consistently positive and pragmatic messaging that has been put forward by our fan base for a decade. I refuse to allow that reputation to be tarnished by a few bad comments highlighted by a biased paper. I urge fans to stay classy, consider your messaging and continue guiding the conversation in positive directions.

Our movement is stronger when we rely on facts for our argument.

We are more effective if we disagree with elected officials without accusing them of wrongdoing, illegality or ethical lapses.

We can be appalled by the vast over-reach and massive, publicly funded opposition campaign put forward by the Port of Seattle without resorting to name-calling or allegations of criminal activity. We were out-lobbied by a team with a virtually unlimited budget, but big lobbying is the name of the game and they played within the system as it exists.

The simple truth is that we need a majority. When Chris Hansen announces a path forward it will in all likelihood involve winning the support of one or more Council members who currently oppose the deal. We know that several were very conflicted in their decisions and our goal now should be to educate them, address their concerns and win them over. Escalating this into a personal conflict makes his effort significantly harder.

I don't know where this project is going next, but I do know that we do ourselves a disservice if we take the bait and fall into the trap of lashing out. It would sadden me immensely if this group of friends who have worked so positively together somehow let an allegation like this stick and linger.

I expect that there will be some period of relative silence while the Hansen team evaluates their options and establishes a path forward to gain that one critical vote. The best option is to fill that void with courteous invitations to Council members to consider new facts and re-visit their decision. We can also be firm in disavowing negative comments and helping to educate our fellow fans about how to communicate more effectively.

I am proud to be a part of this family of Sonics fans. Geoff Baker cannot tarnish that pride with baseless report that negative comments influenced Council members (which has since been contested by both CM Gonzales & CM Juarez). A few knuckleheads choosing poor words in a moment of great emotion cannot take away all the class that this community has shown through adversity.

Keep your chin up Sonics fans. We can't control all the outcomes here but NOBODY should be ashamed to be associated with this movement.