Bennett wants arbitrator to review KeyArena lease

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels today said he was "outraged" by Sonics' owner Clay Bennett's demand for arbitration to get out of the last two years of the team's KeyArena lease.

"There have always been sensible options available to Mr. Bennett if he wanted to keep the Sonics and Storm at KeyArena. Today's actions make it clear that has never been his intention," Nickels said in a prepared statement.

"My door has been open, is open and remains open to Mr. Bennett but he has refused to meet. Typically, people acting in good faith engage in a conversation before seeking arbitration."

Bennett said he was making his arbitration request in response to recent statements by Nickels and other Seattle officials, who have refused to discuss an early lease buyout. He specifically cited Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis' recent comment that the city was "lawyering up" to enforce the KeyArena lease by enlisting the aid of former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton.

Bennett has set an Oct. 31 deadline for getting a new arena deal. If no deal emerges, Bennett plans to petition the NBA for permission to relocate.

"We believe it does not make sense to stand and wait and watch the clock strike 12 on Oct 31," Bennett said at a morning news conference. "It is clear that we need to induce some movement and make things happen and get more engaged in advance of that deadline. KeyArena is not a viable NBA arena. A renovated KeyArena is not a viable NBA arena."

Bennett's arbitration demand said the Sonics should be allowed to pay a monetary settlement to Seattle instead of playing out the remainder of its KeyArena lease.

The demand for arbitration was made to the American Arbitration Association, which will be asked to create a three-person panel to decide the dispute.

The Sonics' lease requires most disputes between the city and team to be resolved through arbitration, but it says disputes about the length of the lease and termination of the lease are not subject to arbitration.

An aide to City Attorney Tom Carr said he will not comment on the city's legal position on the lease until next week.

Nickels vowed to "do everything in my power to enforce the contract keeping the Sonics and Storm where they belong — in Seattle and in KeyArena."

Despite the arbitration move, Bennett also announced that the Storm will play its 2008 season at KeyArena.

The Sonics' lease with the city is for the team to play at KeyArena through the 2009-10 season. Bennett said he was appreciative of a recent offer by the Muckleshoot Tribe to provide land for a new arena and said he will continue to talk with the Tribe and any others with possible arena plans.

He also said he had received other proposals for new arenas but described those proposals as not "tangible."

"We've seen nothing that is coming together in a formal legal binding way that would signal the development of an arena will take place in the next few weeks," Bennett said.