Gregoire: Warming to Sonics, warning for NASCAR, rodeo centers

OLYMPIA — Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire on Monday warmed to the idea of a $500 million plan for a new Seattle Supersonics arena in Renton, but said NASCAR's proposal for a racetrack in Kitsap County appears dead.

Gregoire suggested moving the NASCAR project to Lewis County near Interstate 5, about 90 minutes south of Seattle. Organizers rejected her comments about Kitsap County being a dead option, but didn't dismiss the idea of shifting to donated land in Lewis County.

The governor also warned sponsors of three rival proposals for an equestrian competition and rodeo center to settle on just one project or face losing all three.

Gregoire has worked for more than a year to save the NBA team, which plans to leave the small, no-frills KeyArena in Seattle. She stopped just short of endorsing the Sonics' new proposal to move to the Seattle suburb of Renton on land owned by Boeing Co. The team wants at least $300 million in public financing.

The governor's comments at a news conference were her most supportive to date for a proposal that faces a rocky road in the Legislature.

The Senate budget chairwoman, Democrat Margarita Prentice, who represents Renton, is championing the plan. But a new statewide poll shows little support for public financing of sports revenues, and state House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, may block the plan in the lower chamber. He said last week that lawmakers have much more important priorities than a sports arena.

Gregoire called herself a huge women's basketball fan and said she doesn't want to lose the WBA Storm, the Sonics or any other pro sports franchises on her watch. The new multipurpose design is "a whole lot more" than just a sports arena, she said.

She said the proposal is getting a friendly reception in Renton and that King County is now discussing the revenue package, which involves extending the taxes currently earmarked for sports venues for the Seattle Mariners and Seattle Seahawks after those facilities are paid off.

Seeming to presume passage in Olympia, she said, "So it's up to the locals in King County — do they want to support the tax package?"

King County elected officials, and not lawmakers, should decide whether the tax package should require a countywide public vote, she said. Democratic members of the County Council want a vote, and Gregoire said she could support that.

Gregoire said repeatedly, and incorrectly, that the package affects only area citizens. "No state dollars are going to be used," she said. "State taxpayers are not interested in paying for a sports stadium."

Actually, the package would continue the county's withhold of a 0.17 percent sales tax that ordinarily would flow to Olympia for schools and other general government purposes. Over the time the Sonics' arena bonds were paid off, from 2014 to 2026, the tax would total $119 million, meaning taxpayers statewide would be financing a big part of the arena.

The governor's staff said later that she misspoke herself.

Jim Kneeland, spokesman for Sonics' owner Clay Bennett, said the organization has worked hard to satisfy the governor's views. He said support will grow "if we can get people to look beyond the quick shot about millionaire athletes at look at the multipurpose nature of this thing."

"The Sonics would account for only about 25 percent of the usage of this facility. We are looking at 210 other event days each year."

Citizens for More Important Things, an activist group, is pushing for a public vote either in King County or across Washington. State subsidy is needed only "because billionaires need welfare," said organizer Chris Van Dyk.

On the NASCAR question, Gregoire said the plan for a racetrack in Kitsap County, near Bremerton and across Puget Sound from Seattle, is going nowhere and that the Florida-based International Speedway Corp. should consider moving the whole proposal to Lewis County.

Gregoire said she met with key leaders from the Kitsap Peninsula on Friday and concluded, "They don't object to NASCAR, they don't want it in its location in Kitsap County."

She said she personally pitched Lewis County to ISC, but was told it doesn't meet their criteria. Operators of a just-closed coal mine have offered to donate land, and the county would welcome the project with open arms, the governor said.

"So at this point in time, I don't see the political support to make NASCAR happen at the location that is currently proposed in Kitsap County," she said.

Grant Lynch, ISC vice president, said his company will continue pursuing legislation, which does not specify Kitsap County. The only site under consideration is Kitsap, he said. Asked about free land in Lewis, he said "That would be very advantageous," and noted that the legislation would allow that site if Kitsap eventually falls through.

Gregoire also commented on a third sports topic: international equestrian centers that are proposed for Lewis, Kittitas and King counties. The $80 million project in Lewis County involves creation of a public facilities district and a revenue package that includes a sales tax credit. The Cle Elum venue, using donated land, seeks $3 million in public financing. The Enumclaw proposal, at the King County Fairgrounds, doesn't need state money.

"I don't think we can afford three rodeos, but maybe if we come together and decide where we want a rodeo, I think there is capacity in this state to really enjoy that. I really would. ... If we keep the conflict going between the three, chances are we end up with nothing."