The Grant Napear Show - March 25, 2013
Sacramento city officials and equity investors hoping to purchase the Sacramento Kings came to an agreement on Saturday on how they would finance a downtown arena. The agreement was documented in a non-binding term sheet. This was very important news in regards to the future of Sacramento so Grant dedicated most of his show to sharing his take on the term sheet and the impact a brand new downtown arena would have on the city. Grant also cut to the Kevin Johnson press conference during the show so Johnson's comments about the term sheet could be broadcast to all of his listeners.
Jeff Dorso of Think Big Sacramento came on the show with Grant to talk about the term sheet from the perspective of the Mayor's camp. Dorso said this project would be the biggest redevelopment project in Sacramento history and discussed its economic impact, its thorough vetting, the addition of Vivek Ranadivé to the potential ownership group, the upcoming City Council vote on the term sheet and the importance of a public-private partnership to the NBA.
Sacramento city manager John Shirey represented the city in negotiations with the investors who are hoping to keep the Kings in Sacramento, so he joined Grant to give some in-depth analysis on the term sheet from the city's perspective. Shirey talked about the hard work that went into putting this term sheet together, this year's term sheet versus last year's, the city's contribution to the deal, the non-binding nature of the deal thus far, the proposed parking contributions and the City Council's vote on Tuesday.
Roger Niello, president of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, also called in to talk with Grant about the Chamber's endorsement of the arena deal and the positive impact it would have on the city's economy.
