Wednesday, August 22, 2007 - Page updated at 09:12 AM
E-mail article
Print view Share:
Digg
Newsvine
City Council may pass law to force Sonics to stay
Seattle Times staff reporter

Mayor Greg Nickels has said that he will hold the Sonics to their lease.
The Seattle City Council is considering passing a law to hold the Seattle Sonics owners to their lease at KeyArena and barring them from buying their way out of the contract.
Council members Richard McIver and Nick Licata are asking the city's lawyers to review the ordinance, modeled after Initiative 93, which a fan group hopes to place on the February ballot.
"We need to make it clear we don't want the owners to buy out of their contract," McIver said. "Maybe it will get the league to look at the market in Oklahoma and whether it can support a team." He plans to introduce the ordinance when the council meets next on Sept. 4.
Mayor Greg Nickels has said several times that he will hold the Sonics to their lease through September 2010.
Brian Robinson, co-founder of the fan group Save Our Sonics & Storm, which filed the initiative, said he's happy the council might adopt the measure without waiting for a public vote.
"There is universal support for this," he said. He said Sonics co-owner Aubrey McClendon's recent statement that the owners always intended to move the team to Oklahoma has galvanized public sentiment against allowing the teams to leave town easily.
The proposed law says the city cannot take any action that "would allow vacation of the leased premises before the end of the term of such lease."
Any Seattle citizen, the proposed language says, would have the right to challenge any action violating the ordinance.
Councilmember Sally Clark says she supports it. "I like the idea of saying, 'You signed a lease, and we expect you to be here until then.' "
Staff reporter Jim Brunner contributed to this report. Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

Vote now for your favorite Seattle-area places
Elect your favorite places to eat, shop and play in the 2008 NWsource People's Picks contest.
Food & drink
Entertainment
Shopping
Travel & recreation
- Car found in Lake Washington
- Mugging of cyclist in tunnel spurs warning
- PSE errors may mean surprise bill for you
- Bubba boosts Obama | Syndicated columnist
- Ken Griffey Jr. pays off debt to Reds teammate in pennies
- Road trip! 10 close-to-home summer vacations in Washington
- Seattle University professor charged in sex sting ran for office in '06
- Recruiting | Franklin's Siva commits to Louisville
- Woman who attacked Horizon flight attendant gets probation, no additional jail time
- 4 Ore. men cited for not having personal flotation devices
- Bubba boosts Obama | Syndicated columnist
- Region's jazz legacy in spotlight again at Essentially Ellington
- Mugging of cyclist in tunnel spurs warning
- Logging town welcomes transgender group
- Road trip! 10 close-to-home summer vacations in Washington
- Mount Rainier's Paradise Inn rejuvenated, ready for guests
- A personality test for your cat
- Chickens in the city: a tightknit brood
- PSE errors may mean surprise bill for you
- Kress-IGA Supermarket to stock local favorites | Retail Report

