SACRAMENTO – Even Republicans admit the state GOP is something of a rudderless ship these days. The party doesn’t control any constitutional offices. Democrats have supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature. Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley, is the target of a grassroots effort to force him from his leadership post after he backed a Democratic bill to expand the cap-and-trade system for 10 years.

Meanwhile, the national Republican Party has become anathema to ethnically diverse California, especially after President Donald Trump doubled down on his initial comments about Saturday’s white-supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia. On Tuesday, the president assured the media that there were some “very fine people on both sides” at the protests. Yes, the California party’s predicament is dismal, especially from a recruitment standpoint.

Yet Tuesday night, one prominent GOP official detailed a positive direction for the party. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer says he isn’t running for governor, but gave a major speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco regarding the future of the California Republican Party. He wasn’t there “to offer suggestions about what we ought to do,” he said. “I’m here to tell Republicans what we’ve already done in San Diego.”

He described it as a call to action – an opportunity to rebuild the party centered on the theme of “fixing California.” Faulconer detailed five themes on which the party should unite as a way to win over new generations of voters. The first of them involves freedom. “Not only is individual liberty part of California’s heritage, it’s a classic conservative principle – one that Republicans have watered down to our own detriment,” he said. “People have stopped seeing the GOP as the party of freedom. They see it as the party of ‘no.’”

He even singled out a freedom theme that could be controversial in a socially conservative party: freedom of sexual orientation. But he contrasted his vision with that of the Democratic Party, “which has organized itself around the proposition that an individual’s most defining qualities are gender, sexuality and race.” He calls that a party based on differences, whereas he envisions a “New Republican Party” built around a set of common ideas.

“One of our biggest failures is that Republicans do not communicate our shared values to underrepresented communities,” Faulconer said. He pointed to his successful San Diego mayoral race: “Facing a Hispanic candidate in a city where just 25 percent of voters are registered Republican, I won more than 57 percent of the total vote – and close to 40 percent of the Latino vote. … Why? Because I campaigned in communities Republicans wrote off as lost – and Democrats took for granted.”

His second theme involved immigration. Faulconer said that Republicans are doing a poor job inviting new Americans to join the party of freedom and limited government. In fact, he said he wouldn’t even need to give such a speech if the GOP weren’t failing at that message. He called for welcoming immigrants, while acknowledging that the party can’t ignore the issue of illegal immigration. “We must push for efficient ports of entry and get smarter about border security,” the mayor said, while emphasizing the importance of treating nearby Mexico as “neighbors and economic partners.”

Faulconer’s third theme involved the environment, about engaging responsibly on conservation and climate-change issues with “plans that don’t plunder the middle class.” He again used his city as an example. “San Diego is now on a path to slash greenhouse gases in half and shift to 100 percent renewable energy – without a tax increase,” he said.

His fourth theme is for California leaders to focus on California issues, rather than “chasing the latest soundbite out of Washington, D.C.” He chided Sacramento Democrats, who he says “are suffering from what I like to call ‘outrage FOMO’ – a Fear Of Missing Out on the latest controversy that will allow them to score political points on social media and TV.” By contrast, Faulconer said the “New Republicans” need to focus on “the fundamentals of government service.”

That includes infrastructure. “The fact that 50 percent of California’s roadways are in poor condition is an absolute failure,” he said. “We have the nation’s second highest gas tax but some of the worst roads, with no guarantees that the taxes we pay at the pump will actually go toward fixing the problem.” But, for his fifth and final point, he focused on the overall need for “reform.” This theme involved the role of the state’s powerful unions in resisting reform.

“Too often Sacramento politicians are unwilling to say ‘no’ to entrenched special interests – at our expense,” he said. “California ranks in the bottom 20 percent of K-12 schools nationwide. Yet Democrats continue to side with unions against meaningful changes to improve student achievement.” He noted that “California falls dead-last in housing affordability in the continental United States” but “Democrats are blocking revisions to housing rules that were designed to protect the environment but that labor has hijacked for its own gain.”

He noted that California was “rated the worst state for business” because “lawmakers keep layering regulation on top of regulation until budding entrepreneurs are crushed, and only the biggest businesses survive.” He also pointed to the state’s massive pension debt and, again, used San Diego as an example, given that city’s successful voter-approved pension reform.

These reform themes echo talking points Republican leaders have traditionally made. And he was predictably pointed in his critique of Democrats, noting that their policies have resulted in “economic inequality; troubled schools; sky-high housing costs; failing infrastructure; and crippling pension debt.” Those problems have festered, he added, while Sacramento “pursues the kind of political fantasies that grip a party when it gains complete and total control.” But his approach signified a break from typical Republican efforts.

To break that one-party control, Mayor Faulconer’s blueprint focuses heavily on repackaging the party’s long-held ideas and reaching out to communities that the party hasn’t successfully appealed to in the past. He envisions a day “when San Francisco’s Republican mayor is standing before you, she isn’t talking about how California Republicans are endangered, but rather how we are ushering in a government that is uniting our people and looking out for the middle class.” It’s a bold challenge for a party that seems to be collapsing, but his ideas received a warm reception.

Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org.

Brown defiant and conciliatory in State of the State

Good morning! Happy Hump Day. In case you missed it, Jerry Brown teetered between conciliatory and defiant in his annual State of the State address on Tuesday.  

The popular Democratic governor echoed other Democratic leaders in the state by taking shots at Republican President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans and their proposed, yet sometimes vague, agenda.

On the day Trump pushed through two controversial oil projects opposed by environmentalists, with a repeal of the Affordable Care Act slowly working through Congress and with federal action on immigration looming on the horizon, Brown pointed to the battle lines drawn between the state and the federal government.

“While no one knows what the new leaders will actually do, there are signs that are disturbing,” Brown said. “We have seen the bald assertion of ‘alternative facts.’ We have heard the blatant attacks on science. Familiar signposts of our democracy – truth, civility, working together – have been obscured or swept aside.”

CalWatchdog has more.

In other news:

• Cap and trade: “California’s marquee climate-change program faced tough scrutiny on Tuesday from a state appeals court judge who seemed skeptical that the $4.4 billion raised from the state’s cap-and-trade program complied with laws regulating taxes and fees,” reports The Sacramento Bee. 

• 2018: “Mayor Kevin Faulconer says he has ‘unwavering support’ for San Diego’s close binational ties with Mexico in the face of a pending border crackdown by President Donald Trump,” writes The San Diego Union-Tribune.

• Family law: “California lawmakers will weigh whether family courts should allow children as young as 10 to testify before judges regarding parent custody or visitation rights.” The Los Angeles Times has more. 

• Musical chairs: “Xavier Becerra, a longtime U.S. congressman, was confirmed Monday as California attorney general as the state braces for conflict with the Trump administration on policies ranging from health care to immigration and the environment.” Politico has more. 

Legislature:

• Gone till Thursday. 

Gov. Brown:

• No public events announced. 

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New follower: @ACCOC

CA cities’ pension costs rise to meet CalPERS expectations

Good morning! TGIT. We begin this morning with pensions.

After two years of minuscule investment returns, the nation’s largest state pension fund – the California Public Employees’ Retirement System – has once again lowered its expected rates of return.

Even some CalPERS officials and consultants argue the lowered financial expectations don’t go far enough to shore up the fund’s financial position, as it now only has 68 percent of the assets needed to pay all its future retirement promises.

This end-of-year board vote to reduce expected investment returns from 7.5 percent to 7 percent portends difficulties for local agencies that provide pensions to their public employees through the CalPERS system.

Lowered earnings estimates mean these agencies will have to contribute significantly higher payments to the pension fund to defray the costs of these benefit packages. 

California local governments already have faced 50-percent hikes in their CalPERS payments over the past several years, which has led local officials and pension reformers to increasingly fear a continuing cycle of service cut-backs and tax increases.

Indeed, there was some pressure at CalPERS to push the expected return rates down to the 6 percent range, but some officials expressed concern about what this would mean, cost wise, for member agencies.

CalWatchdog has more. 

In other news: 

• “San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer has quietly started discussing a potential run for governor with advisers and prospective donors, according to a former Los Angeles mayor and sources familiar with Faulconer’s deliberations.” Politico has the story. 

• “California’s presidential primary could find itself squarely in the middle of the Super Tuesday political sweepstakes in 2020 under a proposal being introduced this week at the state Capitol.” The Los Angeles Times has more. 

• “The University of California will seek to raise undergraduate tuition and fees next year by nearly 3 percent, ending a six-year tuition freeze that followed steep rate hikes during the economic recession,” reports The Sacramento Bee. 

• “U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, wants companies that recruit highly skilled foreign workers to follow new standards aimed at making it more difficult to exploit the visa program that allows them to work in the U.S. Issa on Wednesday introduced legislation backed by multiple Democrats and Republicans that changes the requirements for the visa program known as H-1B, which was designed so foreign workers with specialty skills can fill jobs in the U.S. when qualified Americans aren’t available.” The Los Angeles Times has more. 

Legislature:

• In at 9 a.m.

Gov. Brown:

• On vacation in Hawaii until Sunday, according to The Sacramento Bee. 

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New follower: @DaytonPubPolicy

Poll: Republican gubernatorial candidates would perform well behind Democrat Newsom

Good morning. Happy Hump Day. Good news for California Republicans: In a field of nine candidates for the 2018 gubernatorial race, they have two of the top three names, according to a poll released Tuesday.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Ashley Swearengin, the termed-out mayor of Fresno, placed just behind Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in a poll of registered voters taken prior to last week’s presidential election, conducted by The Field Poll and the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. 

Newsom drew 23 percent to Faulconer’s 16 percent and Swearengin’s 11 percent, with six prominent Democrats trailing in the single digits. Although anything can change in politics, Faulconer said early this year that he won’t run for governor, and Tim Clark, a political consultant to Swearengin, told CalWatchdog on Tuesday he didn’t “expect her to run.”

CalWatchdog has more. 

In other news:

• “After weeks of fearing the worst, relief washed over vulnerable Republicans hoping to remain part of California’s congressional delegation. Despite a dogged effort by Democrats hoping to capitalize on Donald Trump’s unpopularity in the Golden State, their challengers fell short, leaving most — if not all — of the GOP’s few seats in incumbent hands.” CalWatchdog has more. 

• “Members of California’s largest public employee union have voted 92 percent in favor of a strike vote as its members seek new labor contracts with the state, the union announced Tuesday,” reports The San Jose Mercury News/AP. 

• “Four members of the Erotic Service Providers Union are asking to meet with Gov. Jerry Brown to deliver a petition with 24,000 signatures in support of decriminalizing sex work,” reports the Los Angeles Times. 

• Republican Assemblyman Eric Linder has been defeated by Democratic challenger Sabrina Cervantes, giving Democrats an expected supermajority in the California Assembly. Linder was one of at least two GOP incumbents who lost after last week’s election. Assemblyman David Hadley of Torrance also was defeated,” reports The San Jose Mercury News/AP. 

Legislature:

• Gone till December. 

Gov. Brown:

• No public events announced. 

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New follower: @MaraMara002

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Ashley Swearengin, the termed-out mayor of Fresno, placed just behind Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in a poll of registered voters taken prior to last week’s presidential election, conducted by The Field Poll and the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. 

Newsom drew 23 percent to Faulconer’s 16 percent and Swearengin’s 11 percent, with six prominent Democrats trailing in the single digits. Although anything can change in politics, Faulconer said early this year that he won’t run for governor, and Tim Clark, a political consultant to Swearengin, told CalWatchdog on Tuesday he didn’t “expect her to run.”

Why it matters

Having been shut out of the U.S. Senate race after the June primary, thanks in part to the state’s relatively new system where the top two candidates advance regardless of party, Republicans will need to field a strong candidate at the top of the ticket in 2018 to help with fundraising and turnout for down ballot races and to show they can still compete in statewide elections. 

In addition to legislative races, where Republicans will either be fighting off a Democratic supermajority by the narrowest of margins or trying to add a little bit of a buffer — the few races from last week that the Democratic supermajority hinges on have not yet been decided as the votes are still being counted — the 2018 gubernatorial election will elect statewide officers.

CA GOP Chairman Jim Brulte told CalWatchdog on Tuesday that the party was still focused on the outcome of last week’s election, but added the party was beginning to turn to 2018. 

“I believe we will have strong candidates for a number of statewide offices,” Brulte said. 

Challenges for Republicans

Both parties have struggled with a decline in voter registration for years, although the trend has been much more severe for Republicans, dropping from 36.4 percent of the electorate in 1996 to 26 percent late last month. Democrats in that time declined from 47.9 percent to 44.9 percent, but enjoyed a surge in registration over this campaign cycle that led to a slight uptick.

Whichever Republican candidates decide to jump into the race, they will be starting way behind Newsom and state Treasurer John Chiang, who have both been running and fundraising for awhile. As of September, Newsom had $6.3 million in his campaign account, while Chiang had $2.2 million as of August.

Both Faulconer and Swearengin benefited heavily in the poll from party identification — both dropped to single digits when polled on just name ID alone. But it’s still very early in the race, said John J. Pitney, Jr., a Roy P. Crocker professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College. 

“These results reflect name recognition and partisan identification more than serious evaluation of the candidates,” Pitney said. “The good news for Republicans is that, although Faulconer and Swearengin are not running ahead, they have a chance of making the top two. The bad news is that the Democrats will be able to run well-funded campaigns.”

Money plays the odds 

Pitney pointed to the 2014 Republican gubernatorial candidate, Neel Kashkari, who struggled with fundraising despite having contacts throughout the business and financial community from his time as an investment banker and top Treasury Department official.

In 2014, Kashkari raised only slightly more than Newsom has now two years out, largely due to being seen as not having a strong shot of winning (although he was running against a popular incumbent, Gov. Jerry Brown).

“Look at Kashkari,” Pitney said. “He had extensive contacts in the business/financial community, but could not fill his warchest because nobody thought he could win.”

Other candidates

Antonio Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles, and Delaine Eastin, the former state superintendent of public instruction, have both announced their intentions to run. Eastin was not included in Tuesday’s poll, while Villaraigosa drew 6 percent. Chiang was near the bottom at 2 percent.  

Law enforcement accountability measures stalling in Sacramento

Good morning! Happy Hump Day. 

“Against a national backdrop of discord over police killings of black men and deadly anti-police violence, state lawmakers who back law enforcement conduct and transparency reforms are making little progress in Sacramento.”

One bill that would have increased public access to documents regarding police conduct died in committee without a vote. Another, which would require a conviction before law enforcement could seize private property, is near the finish line but has struggled to find enough support. 

CalWatchdog has more. 

In other news:

• Californians continue to approve of the job Gov. Jerry Brown is doing, with 56 percent in support, according to a new poll. The Sacramento Bee has more.
• Today’s palace intrigue comes from the Los Angeles Times: “In a surprising move, the leader of the state Senate endorsed a Democratic assemblywoman Tuesday whose re-election is opposed by some of California’s leading environmental groups. But the announcement also revealed fractures within the top echelons of Senate leadership.” 
• UC Berkeley’s chancellor is under an internal investigation for the “alleged misuse of public funds for travel and the personal use of a campus athletic trainer without payment,” writes the Los Angeles Times.
• San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer plans to lead the opposition to Gov. Jerry Brown’s early-release ballot measure, giving him — one of the most prominent Republicans in the state — the chance to raise his profile throughout the state. The Sacramento Bee has more.  
• “In advance of a political showdown in the state Legislature, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration made its first formal effort Tuesday to extend the life of the program central to California’s bid to combat climate change. The California Air Resources Board, which is controlled by the governor, released a plan that would continue the state’s cap-and-trade program to cut carbon emissions beyond 2020, the date when the program currently expires,” writes the Los Angeles Times.

Legislature:

• Gone ’til August.

Gov. Brown:

• On vacation.

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New followers: @soledadobrien @DP_Shea

Bipartisan coalition urging vote on civil asset forfeiture bill

Good morning! Happy hump day.

Proponents of a measure to close a loophole that allows local law enforcement agencies to seize citizens’ property without a criminal conviction or even an arrest — a practice dubbed “policing for profit” — are moving behind the scenes to shore up support for the bill that died last September after a last-minute flurry of opposition from law enforcement.

The high-profile coalition of supporters — which spans the partisan divide with powerful advocacy groups and influential members of both parties — is aiming for a vote in the Assembly next week to block law enforcement from circumventing strict state law by partnering with the federal government in a program called “equitable sharing.”

On the right, Republican consultant Mike Madrid and Shawn Steel, a former chairman of the California Republican Party, are urging Republican support while California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton is working with Democrats. 

CalWatchdog has more.

In other news:

• Kevin Faulconer, the Republican mayor of San Diego, says he will not run for governor in 2018 if re-elected in November as mayor, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune. Faulconer was widely seen as Republicans’ best potential candidate for governor.
• The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a measure on Tuesday that amends its sanctuary city policy, giving local law enforcement greater discretion to notify immigration officials of an undocumented felon’s release from custody, according to SF Gate.
• “The Cal State Board of Trustees approved a plan Tuesday to raise faculty salaries by 10.5% over three years, capping a long-running dispute over pay that threatened to wreak havoc on the nation’s largest public university system,” writes the Los Angeles Times.
• “Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, has spent $41,500 in political funds to support Proposition 50, an anti-corruption measure put on the ballot in response to issues raised when his uncle, former Sen. Ronald Calderon, was indicted in a bribery case,” writes the Los Angeles Times.

Assembly:

• Full slate of hearings, including packed appropriations meeting.

Senate:

• Several joint hearings, including one on a ballot initiative to redirect bag fees away from grocers.

Gov. Brown:

• No public events scheduled.

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New followers: @kelseybrugger @mattmahon

Soda Tax just more revenue?

Good morning! Happy Monday.

What is being billed as a “common sense” ballot initiative to tax sodas one cent per ounce in Oakland has no hard requirement for how the money should be used. 

While advocates say it’ll fund programs fighting obesity-related public health problems, the lack of specificity in how the money will be spent raises questions about the city’s decades-long financial troubles. 

CalWatchdog has more. 

In other news: 

• The choice of Madeleine Albright — who served as the first female U.S. secretary of state — as a commencement speaker has caused a backlash at the all-woman Scripps College in Claremont, reports the Los Angeles Times. Some students have denounced her as a “war criminal,” while others oppose her position that “there’s a special place in hell” for women who don’t support Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.  
• While Republican legislative leaders have yet to endorse presumptive GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer is holding out as well. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Faulconer doesn’t support the business tycoon’s “divisive rhetoric.”
• With CA Attorney General Kamala Harris looking increasingly likely to be the top vote getter in the primary for U.S. Senate, the real battle is for second place, reports Capitol Weekly. 
• More digging from The San Diego Union-Tribune into Rep. Duncan Hunter’s campaign finance disclosures show purchases of groceries and gas. While these are not entirely uncommon in campaign finance disclosures, they do raise red flags after the Alpine Republican purchased “video games, oral surgery, private school tuition, a garage door and unspecified items at a Coronado surf shop” with campaign funds. 

Assembly:

– In at 1 p.m. Packed Revenue and Taxation Committee hearing at 2:30 p.m. 

Senate:

– In at 2 p.m. Packed Appropriations Committee hearing at 10 a.m. 

Gov. Brown: 

– No public events scheduled. 

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New followers: @FreeVoterBlog @MattShupePR

The bonds use money paid to lease the facilities they build to pay off construction and financing costs. The Chargers would presumably be expected to be the main payer of lease fees to the city-county consortium that Mayor Kevin Faulconer and county Supervisor Ron Roberts hope will build the new stadium and keep the team from heading to a stadium proposed for Carson in southwest Los Angeles County.

But the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled that using such bonds for a stadium is legal under state law — a ruling the city quickly relayed to the NFL and to other team owners who have been skeptical San Diego has the wherewithal to build a modern football stadium. The ruling upheld the state trial-court’s decision from a year ago.

The Union-Tribune noted that the ruling …

… may alleviate one of several concerns league officials raised in a Nov. 10 letter to the city’s lead stadium negotiator.

 

City negotiators have been working directly with the NFL since June, when the Chargers terminated stadium talks as the NFL considers whether the Chargers, St. Louis Rams or Oakland Raiders can move to Los Angeles next year. ….

 

City officials say they are drafting a response letter to the NFL that will include an explanation of last week’s appellate ruling, which City Attorney Jan Goldsmith called a significant victory.

 

“Whether you like them or not, lease-revenue bonds are a legal way to pay for public infrastructure projects,” Goldsmith said.

 

Critics say lease-revenue bonds, where city buildings and other assets are used as collateral to borrow money, violate the spirit of state law by skirting the two-thirds voter approval that would typically be required to raise such money.

Mayor has repeatedly promised stadium vote

But just because San Diego can issue the bonds with a public vote doesn’t mean city officials are likely to do so.

The Chargers’ popularity in San Diego is at low ebb as another disappointing season plays out. It has become common for fans of visiting teams from across the nation to out-cheer Charger loyalists at Qualcomm Stadium. Meanwhile, Fabiani, a former Clinton White House aide, has emerged as a lightning rod for fan anger over his repeated caustic attacks on Faulconer and other officials who have lobbied the NFL against allowing a money-making team with a loyal fan base to leave for more riches elsewhere.

When Faulconer seeks re-election next year, his handling of stadium negotiations — and his support for using public funds — will be a big issue. The Republican is likely to face a Democrat who is strongly opposed to public funding. He’s also repeatedly said San Diegans “deserve a vote” on a new stadium.

A possible scenario being discussed on sports talk radio was for Faulconer to seek voter blessing of the lease-revenue bonds in a special election with lower turnout. The theory is that using lease-revenue bonds to fund the city’s share of a $1 billion-plus stadium project would be much easier to sell to voters than raising sales taxes, rental-car taxes or hotel taxes, such as other communities have done to help pay for new arenas and stadiums.

In San Diego, Mayor Kevin Faulconer has declared his strong support for keeping the Chargers in place and urged the NFL to not let the team leave for a proposed stadium in Carson that owner Dean Spanos hopes to jointly build and operate with Raiders owner Mark Davis. Even as Faulconer faces withering criticism from team stadium point man Mark Fabiani, the first-term Republican says he’s ready to ask voters if they support contributing hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds toward a billion-dollar-plus stadium.

In St. Louis, both Mayor Francis Slay and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon have offered strong support for a new stadium, mostly paid for with taxpayer dollars, to either keep the Rams or to attract a new NFL team in case team owner Stan Kroenke succeeds with his bid to relocate the Rams to Inglewood.

But in Oakland, Mayor Libby Schaaf has not only strongly opposed the use of public funds for a stadium, she’s called the team stadium saga a “distraction.” Schaaf also hasn’t borrowed from the playbook of previous mayors who tried to keep their pro sports teams by using what might be called the guilt-trip approach — telling NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and other team owners of what an assault on decency it would be to allow the Raiders to leave, given their ardent and devoted fan base. Unlike Missouri and San Diego officials, who have met repeatedly with Goodell and a handful of influential team owners, Oakland’s elected leaders have done almost no direct lobbying of key NFL players.

Touting team’s ‘die-hard regional fan base’

Next week, however, that’s going to change. This is from the Bay Area News Group’s report in the Contra-Costa Times:

OAKLAND — City officials working to keep the Raiders in Oakland will travel to New York next week to give a presentation to the NFL about their funding plan for a new stadium.

 

Officials from cities in St. Louis and San Diego, the other two cities with professional football franchises threatening to leave for Southern California, will also be making their pitch to the NFL.

 

Mayor Libby Schaaf confirmed she will attend Wednesday’s meeting with the NFL’s Los Angeles stadium and finance committee. …

 

“We’ll show how everything from Oakland’s growing economic momentum and urban vitality to the team’s die-hard regional fan base make it clear that there is no better time for a major league team to be located in, or associated with Oakland,” Schaaf said in a statement.

A serious effort or a PR ploy?

But given that Schaaf hasn’t budged on her stand against public financing and continues to call Oakland’s crime rate and weak economy far bigger issues, her trip to New York is seen by many Raiders fans as a public-relations gambit, not a serious bid to urge the NFL to remain a presence in Oakland.

This view was underscored by ESPN’s John Clayton, one of the best-connected NFL reporters, who wrote Tuesday that the league didn’t take Oakland seriously:

As for Oakland, there is no there, there. The area doesn’t have a stadium offer on the table, and time is running out.

 

“We’ve said one thing consistently to any of the markets that have been engaged in trying to put forth a proposal, and it really rests on a couple of pillars,” said Eric Grubman, who is coordinating the league’s Los Angeles project. “One of them is that a proposal has to be specific. The second is that it has to be attractive to a team. The third is it has to be actionable. And so what actionable means is it can’t just be an idea to the extent that there is enabling legislation or enabling financing activities or there are litigation threats or anything of that nature — anything that needs to be assembled in a time frame where a club can act on it.

 

“Thus far, those sorts of tests have not been made in Oakland, so as of yet, there is no proposal for the Raiders to consider.”