FIELD OF DREAMS or FIELD OF SCHEMES What does the Oakland A’s Ballpark really mean for the citizens of Fremont?

1. FIELD OF DREAMS
or
FIELD OF SCHEMES
What does the A’s Ballpark
really mean for the citizens
of Fremont?
Email comments:fcn2009@yahoo.com
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2. ORIGINAL Ballpark Village Project
at Pacific Commons
• ORIGINAL plan included:
– 32,000 Seat Stadium; 517,000 SF of Retail / Mixed‐Use ;
– 110 Key Boutique Hotel; 3,150 Residential Units ;
– Parks and Open Space; Office; Parking
• Pacific Commons Retailers and Land‐owner opposed
the project due to concerns re: traffic congestion,
vehicular delays and inadequate parking
• The A’s have been UNABLE to MITIGATE these
concerns1
1. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11475378?IADID
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3. NEW PREFERRED SITE:
Warm Springs
• NEW LOCATION AT S. GRIMMER AND WARM
SPRINGS
• Across future Warm Springs BART Station
• ONLY 32,000 capacity Stadium to be built
• Housing/Retail/Hotel at Pacific Commons ‐
PUT ON HOLD due to current economic
environment
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4. Aerial view of both sites (Blue=Pacific Commons,
Red=Warm Springs)
Hirsch Elem.
Horner Middle Grimmer Elem. Weibel Elem.
Irvington High 2.0 mi* 0.6 mi*
2.2 mi*
James Leitch Elem.
1.5 mi*
Warm Springs Elem.
2.0 mi*
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5. What happens in Pacific Commons
now?
• Future build‐out of Ballpark Village at Pacific
Commons by A’s – for now, unknown and uncertain
• And even when Pacific commons is built out, it will
NOT be a high‐end Santana Row, just more big‐box
retailers and theaters (per Keith Wolff, at 2/2/09
Community Meeting). We don’t need the A’s to get
this!
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6. What does Warm springs site have to
offer?
• NO SPACE for retail and other commercial
establishments at Warm Springs site
• Defeats the objective of bringing retail, restaurant
and other commercial development that Fremont
wants to attract
• Only advantage is proximity to BART – still, Bart
ridership to games is ONLY expected to be 10%1
1. See Independent Traffic report analysis prepared by Wilbur Smith. Also, see ‘Managing for Special
events’,
Also see, Federal Highway Administration http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/program_areas/sp‐evnts‐mgmt.htm
Handbook‐Chapter‐03 6

7. What does Fremont do for the A’s?
• A’s DO NOT infringe SF Giants territorial rights as they
remain in Alameda county
• A‘s will attract Silicon Valley game‐goers & corporate
sponsorships due to Fremont’s proximity to South Bay
• New stadium increases game attendance by 25%‐35%,
resulting in increased revenues to the A’s owners1
• New stadium increases team’s franchise value, thus the
Wolff’s can get substantial profit on their investment in
the team2
1. A’s Economic Report to the City prepared May 2007 Pages III‐3 to II‐5
2. Private Financing and Sports Franchise Values: The Case of
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Major League Baseball Phillip Miller, Department of Economics, Minnesota State University

8. What do A’s do for Fremont?
• NO SANTANA ROW TYPE DEVELOPMENT FOR
FREMONT: With this new proposal at Warm
Springs Fremont will NOT get the high‐end
retail and restaurants or the downtown 1
• Significantly higher
– traffic congestion
– crime and vandalism
– Taxes and
– Much greater risk to citizens in case of
emergencies like earthquakes
1. Per Keith Wolff, at 2/2/09 Community Meeting, proposed development at Pacific Commons
will include Century theatres and more big‐box retailers. 8

9. THE REAL IMPACTS OF A’s STADIUM IN FREMONT:
1. Significant increase in traffic congestion along I‐880
and I‐680 and City Roads
2. Drain on City’s Police Department
3. Inadequate Emergency Response plans
4. Increase in Crime/Vandalism
5. No Meaningful Job Creation
6. What is the ‘real’ public money usage
7. Drain on City’s General Fund, real cost to citizens
8. No Comparison shopping for ‘better deals’
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10. STADIUM USE
1. 81 regular season home‐games from April‐
September scheduled as follows1:
Weekday evening 7:05 ‐ 9:45 pm (51 games)
–
Weekday mid‐day 12:15 – 3:45 pm (4 games)
–
Saturday evening 7:15‐9:45 pm (13 games)
–
Sunday mid‐day 12:15–2:45 pm (13 games)
–
2. ADD additional stadium rental for concerts,
other public events
Source: Page 25 of Traffic study prepared on behalf of Oakland A’s ; as amended by A’s
community presentation on 2/2/09 10

11. ADVERSE TRAFFIC IMPACT
1. A’s own traffic study shows significant increase in traffic
congestion on I‐880
• LONG WEEKDAY EVENING PRE‐GAME VEHICLE
DELAYS ON I‐880
• Current Level of Service (LOS) used to measure traffic
congestion will deteriorate from existing levels (B,C,
D) to Levels E and F, the worst possible levels1
2. No traffic study performed for already congested city in‐
roads and I‐680 as yet
3. Imagine an additional 10,500 cars on street during peak
commute time
Expect your commute time to increase significantly
Source: Table 8 of Traffic study prepared by Fehr and Peer on behalf of Oakland A’s
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12. ADVERSE TRAFFIC IMPACT
An independent peer traffic review performed by Pacific Commons
shows baseline assumptions in A’s traffic report are ‘problematic’
and ‘deficient’1 – Some examples include :
1. The A’s report does not anticipate a ‘traffic surge ‘during the hour
before first pitch – 72% cars arrive during 1 hour before game
CAUSES FREEWAYS & EXITS CLOGGED FOR 1 HOUR BEFORE GAME
2. NO MITIGATION measures are suggested by A’s report for the
vehicular delays on I‐880
3. The low‐density, dispersed suburban land use patterns in Fremont
and neighboring cities make it UNLIKELY BART RIDERSHIP WILL
EXCEED 10% even with improvements in place
4. Post‐season games and special events and their attendance UNDER‐
ESTIMATED
5. Pedestrian traffic concerns
1. Independent peer traffic report prepared by Wilbur Smith in April 2008, copy can be obtained from
City Planning Division –Kelly Diekmann 12

13. DRAIN ON ALREADY STRAPPED CITY
RESOURCES ‐ POLICE
In Dec 2008, Fremont Police Chief Craig Steckler mentioned “he
•
has 162 patrol officers, 34 short of normal levels’ (Fremont Bulletin
Newspaper, Dec 20, 2008, Page 9)
Mayor Wasserman said Fremont has the one of the lowest ratio of city
•
employees including police officers to residents in the state (Mayor
Wasserman comment at Fremont City Council Meeting on 2/2/09)
How will they deal with the nature and frequency of response required
•
for a 32,000 capacity stadium?
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14. What happens we have an Earthquake?
Warm Springs site is less than 1 mile from Hayward
Fault
32% chance of Magnitude 6.7 or higher within the next 30
years1
You are stranded on clogged freeways and roads
leading to Fremont ‐ What happens to your family
and kids?
1. According to Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF) performed by USGS.
See link at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080414203459.htm
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15. Inadequate Emergency Response Teams
The Warm Springs location is within 1 mile of the
•
Hayward Fault
How adequate are the City’s Emergency Response
•
Plans?
According to local daycare owners, the City told them
•
to ‘they are responsible for their own disaster plans’;
(ask your daycare/school)
In case of a major earthquake or emergency, will the
•
Emergency response teams respond to the Fremont
residents and schools or to the 32,000 game‐goers?
Hint: remember the Santana Row fire when neighboring homes burned
•
down and firefighters did not show up for 40 minutes!1
Source:
http://media.www.thespartandaily.com/media/storage/paper852/news/2003/01/30/CampusNews/Community.Addresses.Im
pact.Of.Santana.Row.Fire‐1495938.shtml 15

16. Increase in Crime
1 mile radius of Warm Springs site
8 MONTHS (Jan-AUG 2008)
Crime Count
Robbery 7
Aggravated Assault 1
Simple Assault 5
Burglary 23
Theft 31
Auto Burglary * 72
Auto Theft 21
Sex Offenses 5
Narcotics Violation 9
Child Abuse 1
Drunk/Narcotic Driving 2
TOTAL FOR 8 MONTHS 187
FOR 90 days 70
COMPARE crimes in past 90 days within 1 mile of Oakland Coliseum compared to crimes
within 1 mile of Warm Springs site 16
Map it yourself at Oakland Police website: http://gismaps.oaklandnet.com/crimewatch/

17. NO REAL JOB CREATION
1. Ballpark jobs are mostly day‐of‐game jobs ‐ part‐time, low‐
wage, low benefits; NOT the type of jobs Fremont needs
2. “A’s have a union‐contract in place”1 – this translates to ‐
very few of these jobs will go to Fremont residents
3. The A's have stated that their project will create full‐time
equivalent jobs ONLY for the construction period. Their
economic analysis report does not provide the number of
jobs that will be permanently created
4. There will be higher permanent jobs getting green‐tech
companies to Fremont!
1. Based on A’s owner Keith Wolff at a 2/2/09 Community
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meeting

18. NO COMPARISON SHOPPING
The City Council has still NOT done an independent analysis
•
of the conclusions presented in the Ballpark Economic
Analysis report prepared by A’s
The City of Santa Clara did an independent analysis of the
•
proposal submitted by the 49ers for their City and found
that the direct benefits of having an office building would be
far greater than the direct plus indirect benefits of a
stadium. 1 Imagine that!
A’s economic report is rosy based on May 2007
•
PRE‐RECESSION ESTIMATES!
1. http://santaclaraca.gov/pdf/collateral/49ers‐20070605‐Agenda‐Report‐Eval‐49ers‐Economic‐and‐Fiscal‐Benefits‐
Study.pdf 18

19. WHAT IS THE “REAL PUBLIC MONEY GOING
INTO THIS”?
A’s are publically saying that want NO assistance from
•
the City
The Ballpark Economic Analysis report prepared by A’s
•
says something else ‐
Under the terms of this arrangement, the Athletics will be
.
•
responsible for the cost and development of the new
ballpark subject to limited negotiated assistance from
the City and County.
What is the extent of this negotiated assistance?
•
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Source: Page II‐7 of BallPark Village Economic Analysis Report prepared by the A's

20. Drain on City’s General Fund
• The A’s pay $1M into General Fund annually for 10 years
‐ However, the cost of providing infrastructure services
for the stadium seems much greater than $1M annually
(that’s why the A’s say that they cannot estimate the
cost of providing general fund municipal services yet 1 )
• Fire/Police/Roads/Water/Sewer/Electric
substation/Maintenance etc….. COST FREMONT
TAXPAYERS REAL $$
Page ES‐3 of Economic Report prepared by
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the A's

21. What is the ‘real cost’ to Fremont
tax‐payers?
Example 1:
• SF Giants built AT&T Park using private funding ‐ BUT, they
received:
– $10M in tax abatement from City of SF
– $80M in infrastructure upgrades (including MUNI Metro
connect)
– $1.5M for solar panels installed inside the park in 2007
– ALL with TAXPAYER MONEY!
If Fremont incurred the same debt,
Cost per Fremont family = $1,600
AT&T Park” – en.wikipedia.org
Giants to put solar panels on AT&T Park” – sanfranciscogiants.mlb.com
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22. What is the ‘real cost’ to Fremont
tax‐payers?
Example 2:
In full‐page newspaper ads in 1990, Cleveland's
Central Market Gateway Project promised that a
new sports complex would generate quot;$15 million a
year for schools for our children.quot;
Instead, the Cleveland Teachers Union has
calculated, tax breaks given to the project have
drained $3.5 million a year from the Cleveland
school system, which is now in receivership.
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23. Misplaced Priorities
1. Fremont schools are in desperate need of
funding
2. Our roads and pavements are in a state of
disrepair
3. Our police department is under‐staffed
4. We need a better equipped library
5. We need more parks for our children to play
So, why is the City Council focused on getting
a money‐draining stadium, when our other
needs are a priority?
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24. CONCLUSION
Seems like a great deal for the A’s
and the Wolff’s but NOT for the
citizens and tax‐payers of
FREMONT
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25. As University of Chicago economist Allen Sanderson
summed up the situation: “If you want to inject
money into the local economy, it would be better to
drop it from a helicopter than [to] invest in a new
ballpark.”
Michael O’Keeff e and T.J. Quinn, “The house that you built: Owners, pols play games with billions of taxpayer
dollars,” New York Daily News, October 12, 2002.
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26. WHAT YOU CAN DO
• Write a letter to the City Council: 3300 Capitol Avenue,
Building A, Fremont, CA 94538
• Call the City Council: (510) 284‐4000
• Send an email to Mayor Bob Wasserman:
bwasserman@ci.fremont.ca.us
• Send an email to A’s owner Keith Wolff:
keith.wolff@wolffurban.com
• Look up: Fremont Citizens Network
• Attend a City Council meeting and speak out. Meetings are
generally held at least two times per month on Tuesdays at
City Hall in the Council Chambers 3300, Capitol Avenue
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