Gregoire warms to Sonics arena proposal

OLYMPIA — Gov. Christine Gregoire on Monday warmed to a $500 million plan for a new Sonics 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 no-frills KeyArena in Seattle. She stopped just short of endorsing the Sonics' new proposal to move to Renton on land owned by Boeing. 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 franchises, and state House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, may block the plan in the House. 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 professional sports franchises. The new multipurpose design for a Renton facility 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 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 Metropolitan King County Council want a vote, and Gregoire said she could support that.

Gregoire said repeatedly, and incorrectly, that the package affects only area residents. "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 withholding 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 would be paid off, from — to ..., 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 had misspoken.

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

"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."