Nov 15, 2006 10:25 pm US/Pacific
49ers Owner Meets With SF Mayor Over Team's Future
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS) ―
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San Francisco 49ers current home: Monster Park at Candlestick Point.
AP
The meeting between San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom and 49ers owner John York ended Wednesday with a ray of hope that the city will keep the team, but no guarantees or agreements.
York indicated San Francisco still has a chance to save the team, but also said he will continue negotiations with Santa Clara.
"If (the city has) a proposal that will work, we'll be happy to listen," he said.
York announced last week that he planned to move his team to Santa Clara, citing frustrations over developing a thin stretch of land in Bayview-Hunter's Point. Building parking structures and other roadways into the proposed new facility were burdens York said the team could not afford to bear in constructing a new stadium.
The move led U.S. Olympic Committee executive Peter Ueberroth to end San Francisco's 2016 Olympic bid, which was tied to a 49ers stadium deal.
Shortly before the day's negotiations between Newsom and York got underway, the mayor said if the 49ers headed to Santa Clara, they would break an economic commitment to the Bayview-Hunter's Point neighborhood.
"The team made a lot of commitments to the Bayview-Hunter's Point community in 1997 when they passed that bond," Mayor Gavin Newsom said during an interview on KCBS radio. "I think they have an obligation to fulfill that, even if the ownership has changed."
The mayor promised both before and after Wednesday's talks to be aggressive about keeping the team in San Francisco.
"We're going to be open and honest with (York). We have been, about our leverage in this discussion as well," Newsom said. "I know he doesn't like that, but that's not our responsibility is to make him happy, per se, but to pursue our interests, as he is pursuing his interests."
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and state Assemblyman Mark Leno are each considering drafting legislation that would make it costly and difficult for the team to leave San Francisco.
York has suggested he would retain the name "San Francisco 49ers," a move Newsom has tried to turn to advantage, citing the relationship of the city's Gold Rush history to the team name.
Newsom insists that if the team leaves the city, it will have to adopt a new name. Said York, "We are the San Francisco 49ers and expect to remain so."
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