Bitter Battle Brews Over Seahawk Stadium Plan Lawmaker Says State Shouldn’t ‘Cook A Deal’ With Billionaire

As lawmakers searched Friday for a way to keep the Seattle Seahawks from flying the coop, one critic called a stadium financing plan “clearly unconstitutional” and another suggested giving voters several options.

In a second straight day of brainstorming over brown-bag lunches, tempers flared and decisions seemed remote. The main House negotiator boycotted the gathering altogether, saying the meeting should be junked in favor of a more formal negotiating panel.

Rep. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, who opposes a plan by Gov. Gary Locke to finance a $402 million stadium for the Seahawks on the land now occupied by the debt-ridden Kingdome, raised the specter of court challenges.

Sheldon said the plan clearly violates the state constitution, in having the state spend public money for the benefit of a private citizen like Paul Allen, the billionaire Microsoft co-founder who has agreed to buy the pro football franchise if a new stadium is built.

Allen would kick in $100 million toward the building costs and purchase the team for an estimated $200 million.

“It’s unconstitutional to cook a deal for one person,” Sheldon told a group of legislators from both houses and both parties. “You have to treat him as a businessman, not as a house guest.”

Sheldon added: “Everybody really loved Ivar Haglund (the late Seattle restaurateur), but we didn’t build him a restaurant.”

He also said he thinks it’s illegal for Allen to pay for the special election for a stadium funding plan. It sets a bad precedent, he said.

“You have a single person here who is going to finance a referendum,” Sheldon said. “What if the marijuana advocates want to finance a referendum? Do we let them?”

Allen has an option to buy the team from Ken Behring, who tried unsuccessfully to move the team to Southern California last year. Allen, however, insists on a public-private partnership to build a new stadium, with the public share capped at $325 million.

Allen, whose option expires July 1, earlier this week told lawmakers that if they don’t approve a funding plan by April 3, he won’t buy the team. Allen said he set the deadline to give the state the necessary 60 days to set up the election.

Backers of refurbishing Husky Stadium continued to push their plan Friday. Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, suggested it was the only concept that could clear the badly divided Legislature and win voter support.

“The cart is before the horse” if Seahawk boosters try to win approval of money for a new stadium before the Husky Stadium plan is given a fair hearing, she said.

Sen. Mike Heavey, D-Seattle, suggested placing both the Husky Stadium plan and the Allen-backed proposal on the ballot and let voters decide which, if either, they want.

But spokesmen for Allen’s Football Northwest said using Husky Stadium was rejected last year, due to heavy opposition from the University of Washington and surrounding neighborhoods and because economists projected the venue would be less profitable than a downtown Seattle site.