Fremont Residents oppose to A’s Ballpark (Chinese)

運動家建球場 佛利蒙人抗議

記者周吉吉

佛利蒙3日報導

隨著屋崙運動家棒球隊（Oakland A's）在佛利蒙Warm Springs地區建造球場的計畫逐漸浮上檯面，當地居民的反彈聲浪也日益突出。運動家隊訂於5日在當地Weibel小學舉行街坊會，但是只有25人可以進入會場。當地各族裔民眾計畫在會場外舉行抗議集會，宣示反對運動家隊建球場。

「佛利蒙公民網路」（Fremont Citizens Network）發起人之一華裔白女士表示，佛利蒙市府和運動家隊從來不正面回應居民的要求，也不願召開公開會議與民眾對話；這次舉行的會議又只邀請很少人參加。

她指出，當地各族裔民眾對此已群情激憤；如果市府不給民眾渠道發表意見，民眾只有走上街頭。她預期5日晚會有許多居民出席集會，抗議佛利蒙市府和運動家隊只顧關起門商議而不顧民眾意見。

「佛利蒙公民網路」指出，已有1300多位民眾在網路上簽名，反對運動家隊在Warm Springs建造球場。

佛利蒙聯合學區（FUSD）對運動家隊建球場造成的影響也極為關注。在2日舉行的佛利蒙市議會與學區聯席會議上，學區委員吳葦（Ivy Wu）向市府職員提出兩個問題：市府有沒有做過任何調查，以確定了解佛利蒙居民的真實想法？到2008年12月18日截止日期，佛利蒙民眾向市府送交的所有意見書下文如何？

對於第一個問題，佛利蒙市府職員回應表示，他們的主要職責是進行研究和分析，並向市議會提交報告，以供後者在對公眾意見有所任知的情形下作出決策。對於第2個問題，市府職員表示，他們總共收到2000多份居民意見書，在整個球場項目繼續推進之前，對這些意見書暫時沒有動作。

吳葦擔心市府在此議題上已有決定，不願再聽取民眾的聲音。她提醒市議會應尊重居民的意見，在作出決定時能考慮到讓學生有安全和健康的受教育環境。

Lots of potential problems if A's move to Fremont

My Word: Lots of potential problems if A's move ballpark to Fremont

[origonal link from Argus]

By Vinnie Bacon

My Word

Posted: 02/03/2009 12:01:00 AM PST

IN HIS Jan. 29 My Word, Dominic Dutra wrote that the Oakland Athletics coming to Fremont could "lead to significant economic growth for years to come," and that the impacts could be addressed to "an extent acceptable to most reasonable people." 

There are many who disagree with this optimistic assessment. 

A number of these concerned residents have joined together to form the Fremont Citizens Network, a group that feels that the negative impacts of a ballpark would far outweigh the benefits to the city. 

Fremont Citizens Network is educating people about the reality of building a ballpark in Fremont.

Dutra doesn't mention that the ballpark is conditional on the city changing the general plan to allow for 3,200 homes to be constructed west of Interstate 880, an area that is zoned for industrial uses that could bring high-paying jobs to Fremont. 

The homes would add children to our already overcrowded school system and require city services in a time when we're already having trouble paying for the existing services.

These homes would be in a redevelopment area. Unlike most other homes in Fremont, their property taxes would go to the Redevelopment Agency where they could not be used for police and fire services.

We would agree that an independent economic study needs to be done. No one has presented a concrete explanation of how a ballpark generates economic growth. We're just supposed to trust that it will happen.

The economic analysis done by the A's shows that the project would cost the general fund (which pays for police and fire services) more than $1 million a year in the long run. This analysis was done before the current downturn in the economy. 

Clearly, retail estimates should now be revised downward and sales tax revenue is the key component of the project providing revenue to Fremont.

The project proponents brag about the stadium creating jobs for Fremont. But their own analysis shows that these employees would only earn an average of $26,000 per year.

The traffic problems the stadium would bring are presented as a minor problem that can be easily mitigated. The A's have estimated that a game would generate an average of 11,000 car trips, the equivalent of five lanes of freeway traffic running at capacity for a full hour.

We simply don't have the roads to handle this level of traffic. According to the A's schedule, a game would coincide with the evening rush hour on one in six week nights (about 42 times a year).

Attendees trying to avoid the parking fee (currently $25) undoubtedly would drive around looking for free spaces in nearby neighborhoods.

The comparison to San Jose is not appropriate. 

San Jose already had a downtown with many high-paying jobs before the HP Pavilion was built. The proposed site in Fremont is between an auto plant and a residential community. What would support businesses in this area when the ballpark is empty? 

And if ballparks generate significant economic growth, why hasn't Oakland seen this growth in the 40 years that the Coliseum and Oracle Arena have been there?

Economic analyses are always estimates. Anyone would have to agree that this project brings significant risks to our city's economy.

We believe that the mistake here would be taking on such a risky endeavor, especially during our current economic situation.

No A's In Fremont (slide presentation)

Field of Schemes - A's in Fremont

Please send your comment to: fcn2009@yahoo.com

Map Overlay of all MLB Stadiums

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why don't the Oakland A's stay in Oakland?

A: The A's want to build a new stadium, but cannot reach a deal with the city of Oakland.

Q: Why do the Oakland A's consider Warm Springs site now? I though they plan to have the stadium in Pacific Commons.

A: The A's cannot reach a deal with the retailers and landlord in Pacific Commons. So they now turn thier focus to the Warm Springs BART site, close to residential areas.

Q: Why do the Oakland A's want to move to Fremont?

A: Back in 2006, the A's want to move to San Jose for the south bay fan base. But Santa Clara county is Giants territory. So they chose Fremont. [Now MLB will allow the A's talk to San Jose because the territory right will be decided by 30 MLB team owners, not the Giants.]

Q: What will happen to the traffic on 880/680, Auto Mall, Osgood, Fremont, Grimmer, Warm Springs and Mission Blvd?

A: The traffic in the area is already very congested and over-capacity during weekday late afternoon commute hours. With 32000+ fans and 10,000+ cars, there will be gridlocks everywhere during game days (50% of days from April to Septembet/October). It will also affect the traffic on 237/880 and Dumbarton/84/880. Your commute time will easily be extended substantially. The A's just said they will mitigate them, but still have no detail plan. Traffic and parking are the main concerns from the Pacific Commons retailers.

Q: Will the new BART station in Warm Springs alleviate the traffic?

A: The A's are expecting 10% more BART ridership than Pacific Commons site. But the majority of fans will still drive to the stadium. Now the A's delay the new ball park opening to 2014 (in Wamr Springs NOP). But the ealiest possible time for extenstion to San Jose is 2018-20. Please keep in mind both the Warm Springs BART and San Jose extension could also be delayed because of current economic downturn and state budget cut.

Q: Is a stadium the best use of land around the planned Warm Springs BART station?

A: No. It will be very similar to the current Oakand Colesium with lots of parking lots. The traffic will be jammed during game days, and the land will be deserted during non-game days. This is certainly not the best transient-oridented development. 

Q: Wouldn't a baseball stadium in Fremont be great?

A: Only if it's properly planned. The A's mention several times about their "downtown ballpark plan" and "one stadium does not make it downtwon". Baseball stadiums do best in an active, urban setting, surrounded by supporting/complementing businesses. They work best with exisitng downtown infrastructure. You don't build a stadium and suddenly become a "downtown". Neither location in Fremont is a good fit for a stadium.

Q: Will the stadium bring extra job and tax revnue to Fremont?

A: Most of the jobs will be temporary and seasonal. Some people think a stadium will bring more business, but a stadium and bad traffic will also scare away many potential good business and high-tech companies.

Q: Didn't the A's say there is "no cost" to the city?

A: The A's need to claim this on paper to avoid a city-wide referendum and they just need to "convince" the five-member city council. The A's will get many tax-breaks and kick-back revenues. Besides, who will pay for the large bill on the infrastructure, road upgrade, maintenance, extra police, etc? Actually a stadium is a money pit. Many cities are already burdened by the cost to build/maintain a stadium, let alone Fremont doesn't even have the infrastructue of a large city.

Q: Can Fremont police handle the extra crime it will bring in?

A: Oakland's population is about twice as Fremont's, but it has 10 times more violent crimes. Does the city of Fremont have enough resource and expertise to handle the extra traffic and activities around the stadium? Do you want Fremont to be the next Oakland? Your house value will go down, while your home/car insurance will cretainly go up. 

Q: Why will the mayor and city council still support the stadium even with strong opposition?

A: Some business groups and city officlials support the stadium, even the A's proposal is flawed in may aspects. There are many behind-the-door meetings in the past two years and they believe the A's one-side story and rosy revenue numbers.

Q: Didn't the mayor just win the election?

A: The A's strategically kept the stadium issue quiet during the election. Wasserman's statement only say he will support the plan "only if it's good to Fremont". Out of the 97,523 registered voters, 67,735 cast in the mayor's race. Wasserman only get 28,461 votes (42% of votes, and 29% of registered voters).

Q: Shouldn't the mayor and city council put the residents' best interest first?

A: We hope so. Please let them know your concern. Then the public will see whether they can speak out for the residents or just being the A's rubber stamp. 

Q: Are the A's and city following the proper process?

A: Many residents and business raise the issues. The whole process is not transparent, insufficient notice to the affected businees and residetents, insufficient scope session, etc. Have you seen any public townhall meeting in tha past two years?

What we can do now?

(please joun FCN and add comment if you have more to add)

Opposition to Industry NFL stadium plan grows

Please see http://www.nonflstadium.com/ for more information. Related news: Opposition to Industry NFL stadium plan grows 

and Industry approves NFL stadium plan over neighbors' objections. Althought there are some differences between this case and A's moving to Fremont, we can learn a few things from them:

CAN WE DEFEAT THE STADIUM? YES WE CAN!

Citizens' groups have defeated many bad projects that would have ruined our quality of life. It takes work, dedication, time, (some money), and YOU ! GET INVOLVED!  It is political pressure that defeats projects like this.  

Our Goal:  a "NO STADIUM" sign in every front yard.

Buy a "No Stadium" sign for your front yard:  only <$5?

SUPPORT politicians who oppose the stadium

DO NOT support any politician who supports the stadium 

Latest Update

[February 2009] Fremont residents have two strong protests on 2/5 and 2/10. The A's submit new NOP for Warm Springs on 2/10. While the residents planning for a protest on 2/24 council meeting, the A's cancel their presentation to Chamber of Commerce and public hearing. Then the A's go on to cancel the Warm Springs NOP and "stop" the Pacific Commons EIR. The stadium proponents are mobilizing their supporters to save the project. On 2/24, the A's officially withdraw their plan for Fremont.

[January 2009] Residents shows up in the city council meetings and raise concerns about the Oakland A's stadium proposal. The Mayor keep saying it's premature and they cannot make a decision now, while mayor and council memebrs publicly saying to the press it's a done deal. The A's are lobbying with local Chamber of Commerce through their "A's to Fremont" organization. They actively hold invitation-only meetings in small groups right now and purposely delay any public meetings.

[December 2008] The Oakland A's announced they were seriously considering changing the location of their proposed stadium from the west side of Interstate 880 to within walking distance of a planned BART station in Warm Springs, and next to the residential area. The change of heart came after the team couldn't reach a deal with Pacific Commons Shopping Center owners over plans to handle game-day parking and traffic issues. The new stadium proposal was met with heavy resistance from residents of the Warm Springs neighborhood immediately. Meanwhile, a letter from Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig giving the team permission to consider "other communities" if the a stadium deal in Fremont didn't materialize rekindled speculation that the A's could end up in San Jose.

What we can do now

• Join http://www.FremontCitizensNetwork.org/ (FCN) to make our voice stronger and involve more activities.
  
• Distribute this one page flyer and join the protests.
  
• Many people still don't know about the news. Spread the news. Ask more friends and neighbors to join FCN.
• Write to local media, approach community leaders and let them know your concerns.
  

CAN WE DEFEAT THE STADIUM? YES WE CAN!

Citizens' groups have defeated many bad projects that would have ruined our quality of life. It takes work, dedication, time, (some money), and YOU ! GET INVOLVED!  It is political pressure that defeats projects like this.

Put a "NO STADIUM" sign in every front yard.

SUPPORT politicians who oppose the stadium

DO NOT support any politician who supports the stadium 

San Jose ready if A's plans change

San Jose ready if A's plans change from San Jose Business Journals.

Yet another good anaylsis from Marine Layer.

Tri-City Beat is following up too.

Someone comments: "Is there a better location in the Bay Area? State of the Art transportation, high income fan base, downtown ballpark with built-in infrastructure ..."

Residents strongly oppose A's stadium in Fremont

[translated and edited from Chinese Word Journal]

Since the end of last year, Oakland Athletics announced Warm Springs would be an alternative site for the new baseball stadium. Many local residents have expressed strong opposition to this proposal. They recently set up an organization called "Fremont Citizens Network" (FCN) (http://www.FremontCitizensNetwork.org/) to formally oppose the stadium proposal in the Warm Springs areas.

One of the initiators of the organization, Mr. Xie, expressed on January 16th, "Because the City of Oakland has no further intention to retain the A’s, A’s move to Fremont is no longer just an idea, but is a reality about to happen." Based on his understanding, Warm Springs site was the A's initial preference. However, the team later reached an agreement with Cisco with plan to build the stadium at the Pacific Commons site, because Cisco would like to sell the use of the land near Pacific Commons. However, due to the opposition of several large businesses in Pacific Commons, the A’s are now reconsidering Warm Springs as their location of the stadium again.

Mr. Xie said that the Warm Springs site was designated as the alternative site in the A’s Notice of Preparation report to the Fremont City Council last December. Their intent was to take a short-cut as they would not need to start over again with a comprehensive Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for their alternative site.  

He pointed out that, there are many of the Fremont's best residential neighborhoods near the proposed Warm Springs site.  No other cities would have built a new stadium at such location. Mr. Xie said, "The business owners at Pacific Commons have strong financial and legal resources which have made it difficult for the A’s to reach any kind of agreement with the business owners.  As a result of it, the A’s started turnging their target to the Warm Springs residential area. This is actually a form of discrimination to the local residents." 

Mr. Xie said if the stadium is to be built at the Warm Springs site, it would result in traffic, parking, crime, safety and many other problems. He pointed out that BART extension to the South Bay is still nowhere in sight. South Bay fans will continue to drive to the games for many years to come. It will definitely lead to gridlocks on 880, 680 and local roads, which are already extremely congested during late afternoon commute hours. Due to the high cost of parking at the stadium, many people would preferentially park in the residential areas. This will result in severe disruption to the local esidents and their daily life. 

He pointed out there are misperceptions that traffic will increase revenue for local business. In fact, the vast majority of the ballpark attendees would only dine and shop within the confine of the stadium, for which would all be retained by the A’s and no benefits to the local businesses. Additional cars during the traffic hours would only result in gridlocks on freeways and surface roads. Gridlocks would result in a reduction of shopping time and a decrease of visits by the loyal customers, thus a decrease of business revenue. Mr. Xie also said that currently Fremont City Council members are inclined to support the A’s stadium proposal in Fremont, a proposal that will have great impact to all the residents in Fremont. Under the current situation, Fremont residents should speak out as one strong voice in opposition to the stadium project.  

Miss Bai, another initiator, expressed that Chinese are typically less vocal. But this project will have vital impact to our communities, personal being and welfare. “If we don't speak out, others will make decisions for us." She also pointed out that people from other ethnic communities all have similar concerns. We hope Fremont Citizens Network (FCN) would become a platform for all Fremont residents to get the honest and truthful information, share ideas and make Fremont a better place. 

Fremont Citizens Network web site: http://www.FremontCitizensNetwork.org/.

Residents strongly oppose A's stadium (Chinese)

佛利蒙華裔 反對運動家建球場
成立「公民網路」 發起人謝先生：球場若建在Warm Springs 會造成交通、停車及治安等問題

記者周吉吉

佛利蒙16日報導

自從去年年底屋崙運動家隊（Oakland A's）公布將Warm Springs作為在佛利蒙建造球場的替代選址方案以來，已遭到許多當地居民的反對聲浪。包括華裔在內的當地各族裔人士日前自發成立「佛利蒙公民網路」（Fremont Citizens Network）組織，宣示反對運動家隊在Warm Springs建造球場。

佛利蒙公民網路組織發起人之一謝先生16日表示，由於屋崙市已無意挽留運動家隊，運動家隊遷往佛利蒙已不再只是設想，而是即將發生的事。據他了解，當初運動家隊的首選場地就是Warm Springs；後來由於思科公司希望將Pacific Commons附近土地出售，球隊與思科公司達成協議，計畫在Pacific Commons建造球場。但是由於當地幾個大型商家反對，運動家隊重新將Warm Springs作為球場的地點。

謝先生說，去年12月運動家隊向佛利蒙市議會提交報告時，將Warm Springs列為替代方案，是意圖走捷徑，因為替代方案不需要重新作全面的環境影響評估報告。

他指出，Warm Springs被選中建造球場的地方都是居民區；鄰近佛利蒙房市最好的地區；沒有一個其他城市會把球場建造在那樣的地方。謝先生說，Pacific Commons商家企業有強大的財力和法律資源，運動家隊難以克服阻礙；就把目標轉向Warm Springs的普通居民區，實際上是一種歧視。

謝先生表示，如果球場建造在Warm Springs，會造成交通、停車以及治安等許多問題。他指出，捷運延伸至南灣仍遙遙無期；未來數年南灣球迷仍將駕車前來看比賽；每逢比賽日，必將造成當地880和680公路嚴重堵塞。由於球場停車場收費昂貴，許多人都會將車停在鄰近居民區，給當地居民的生活帶來許多困擾。

他指出，有些人認為車流量會增加商機，其實是誤解；絕大部分觀眾都只在球場內消費，而這些消費收入都歸運動家隊所有；本地商家得不到收益。謝先生說，目前佛利蒙市議會成員基本都傾向支持運動家隊建球場；建球場案將使所有佛利蒙居民都受影響；在此情況下民眾更應團結一致，表達反對的訴求。

另一位發起人白女士表示，華人往往對周邊事情不太關心；但是此一問題關係到華人切身利益；「如果華人再不發聲，別人就會代替我們作出決定。」她指出，除了華人外，其他族裔也有同樣訴求，希望佛利蒙公民網路成為大家交流聯絡的平台。

佛利蒙公民網路網址：http://www.fremontcitizensnetwork.org。