State Must Refuse To Lose Mariners
This is the best of times and the worst of times to consider public financing for a new stadium for the amazing Seattle Mariners.
It is the best of times: Lou Piniella’s Boys of October captivated the Pacific Northwest with their “refuse-to-lose” miracle drive to the American League Championship Series. And the state has $700 million in surplus to help build a new stadium with a retractable roof as demanded by the ballclub’s intractable owners.
It is the worst of times: Boeing Co. workers are on strike. The anti-tax rebellion continues unabated. And Washingtonians are reluctant to help a foreign millionaire build a $300 million ballpark.
Still, the Seattle Mariners are a regional treasure that should be saved - even if that means tapping into the state surplus. Fortunately, that may not be necessary, thanks to hard work by Gov. Mike Lowry and legislative leaders.
A financing package on the table now calls for the state and King County to use a sales-tax credit, a sports lottery, an admissions tax for sporting events and the sale of a special Mariners license plate to fund $255 million in construction costs. The ballclub would ante up another $45 million and promise to stay in Seattle for 20 more years.
Basically, sports enthusiasts would pay for the stadium. The average Eastern Washington taxpayer wouldn’t pay anything. This plan is as hard to beat as the Mariners have been lately.
The M’s benefit to Seattle and the Northwest, however, goes beyond wins and losses. In its 19 years of existence, the ballclub has fostered economic development, tourism, entertainment diversity, pride, status and improved quality of life. In the last month alone, the M’s have attracted boundless good publicity to a region reeling from a reputation as a haven for racists.
As domestic terrorism, racial unrest and negativity abound, Seattle’s stretch drive has created unbridled joy and unity among us Northwesterners. When Edgar Martinez doubled in the 11th inning against the Yankees on Sunday, long-suffering and fair-weather fans alike were screaming at their television sets and baserunner Ken Griffey Jr.: “Fly, Junior, fly!”
Junior, Buhner, The Big Unit, Edgar, Tino and the heralded American League teams that visit Seattle have thrilled us for two decades. Now, as Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus says after each Mariner homer, we don’t want them to “fly away.”
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria/For the editorial board