The Oakland A’s and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority have settled their rent dispute — the team sent in what may be its final rent check — but not necessarily the tug-of-war.
“They sent in the $1.25 million yesterday, and we deposited it,” said interim Coliseum Authority Executive Director Henry Gardner.
The A’s and the authority had been at odds over the team’s attempt to defer part the $1.25 million rent payment for 2020 that was due April 1. The A’s were seeking to postpone the rent payment, saying the stadium could not be used because of the coronavirus shelter-in-place orders and restrictions by Alameda County and the state on large gatherings.
The authority disagreed.
“A deal is a deal, and the deal was for them to pay,” said authority member Ignacio De La Fuente.
The A’s paid, but with a warning that they may come back for a refund.
“While we have had very productive conversations with the Alameda County Health Department and are optimistic about our ability to develop a protocol for return to play without fans, we have not yet received written confirmation that we can return to play at the Coliseum,” A’s President Dave Kaval said in a June 22 letter to the authority.
“That said, rather than continuing with these protracted negotiations, we will pay the full stadium license fee for 2020 ... and pursue a refund for all games not played as provided by our agreement,” Kaval said.
Gardner said the team could raise the possibility for a refund, “but we haven’t agreed to that.”
Whatever the case, the deal is likely to be the last time the rent issue comes up, because the team could soon be the Coliseum’s landlord in addition to being the site’s only tenant.
After months of debate, the Oakland City Council recently voted to enter into negotiations to sell its half of the 155-acre complex to the A’s for $85 million. Alameda County has already agreed to sell its share to the team for the same price.
Both deals require the A’s to build a new ballpark in Oakland.
Authority Vice Chairman Nate Miley said the rent agreement and the potential A’s purchase of the entire site “bodes well for everybody.”
“The A’s have rooted in Oakland, now they will also have ownership in Oakland,” Miley, also a county supervisor, said. “They will have an economic interest in staying here.”
Having full control of the Coliseum property will also give the A’s a built-in Plan B if their waterfront ballpark project at the Port of Oakland’s Howard Terminal stalls.
“The A’s are still hopeful about Howard Terminal, but Howard Terminal still has many challenges,” Miley said. “This gives them a backup, and I think they should have a backup.
“Things are happening,” he said.
Rewrite: One of the key pieces of BART’s recently announced plan to win back public confidence — and riders — is the requirement that people riding the trains and using the stations wear masks, even after individual county mask mandates end.
BART board President Lateefah Simon called it “our No. 1 priority, the most important thing we must do.”
But no sooner was the mask policy unveiled May 27 than it was quietly pulled back and rewritten to tone down the language about the role BART police would play in enforcing the rule.
Here’s the story:
With the Bay Area starting to reopen, BART wanted to assure people the system would be clean, safe and not a health risk. That’s crucial if the system is ever going to rebuild ridership, which has dropped to next to nothing during the coronavirus pandemic.
The plan includes cleaning trains and stations with hospital-grade disinfectants and installing hand sanitizer dispensers. Riders would even be allowed to bring their own hand straps to steady themselves when standing on crowded trains.
One of the most important parts of the plan — both in terms of health and public relations — is Section 6, which calls for all riders over the age of 13 to wear some type of face covering.
“BART police will enforce the face covering requirement and be positioned at fixed posts near the fare gates at many of our stations,” the plan said.
It also said “police personnel will conduct more frequent fare checks” and increase their presence on trains and in stations. To illustrate the point, the plan included a photo of two masked BART police officers on a station platform.
To BART Director Rebecca Saltzman, however, it sounded like mask enforcement would be a top priority for police. She’s among the directors who have been troubled by instances of officers enforcing rules, such as the one against eating on trains, believing police might disproportionately target poorer riders or people of color.
Saltzman asked BART Police Chief Ed Alvarez for an edit of the mask enforcement plan.
“The important thing is to keep people healthy and safe, and having as few conflicts between police and the public as possible,” Saltzman said in an interview.
So now, the section on masks reads: “BART police will center their efforts on education and providing masks for those who need one.”
Saltzman said the new language better describes what police will actually do and “be more welcoming to riders.”
The photo of the two masked cops on the platform is gone as well, having been deemed too aggressive.
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Phil Matier appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KGO-TV morning and evening news and can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call 415-777-8815, or email pmatier@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @philmatier
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Oakland A’s pay up on their Coliseum rent, but may come back for a refund if season shortened - San Francisco Chronicle
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