Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

A Static Charge

Chula Vista Deputy Mayor John McCann wants the San Diego Chargers to build a new stadium in Chula Vista. During the past few years, the councilmember has gone on the offensive to get the team to commit to Chula Vista; he heads a Chargers stadium subcommittee, speaks to Chargers representatives, and has gone on record trying to convince his fellow councilmembers to huddle up and work as a team to help draw the Chargers to Chula Vista. McCann estimates the revenues created by having a professional football team in the city would be in the tens of millions.

But now that McCann, a reserve officer in the Navy, is getting deployed to Iraq for a year, his fellow city councilmembers are scaling back their efforts.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I think that over-politicizing this issue doesn’t do a lot of good for the community,” said McCann during Tuesday’s council meeting. “I’ll respect the decision if the council doesn’t want to do it, but we need to be very careful of not allowing a good business deal to be treated in a shabby fashion. Let’s not make it a political issue; let’s look at it as a business issue.”

In recent years, representatives from the Chargers have expressed interest in building a new stadium on San Diego Bay at the site of the South Bay Power Plant, but that plant is still in use and it could be some time before the aging plant is decommissioned and before plans for a new stadium move forward.

“If that’s the proposal, it’s not in the City of Chula Vista, it’s in the Port of San Diego,” said Chargers subcommittee member and councilmember Steve Castaneda during Tuesday’s meeting. “Mr. McCann will be gone for an extended period of time...and even if the council wants to keep the lights on with this subcommittee, I’m not sure where we would go. Clearly, the ball is in the court of the San Diego Chargers. If they believe that they have a future in Chula Vista, they need to come before this body and the people of Chula Vista.

“Mr. McCann has been very enthusiastic about the possibility,” added Castaneda. “I frankly believe they should stay at Qualcomm, but that’s a business decision for them.”

After comments from the other councilmembers, it was obvious that after McCann leaves for Iraq, the sitting councilmembers will likely disband the subcommittee and wait for the Chargers to approach the City with a detailed plan.

“I think it would be a good idea to suspend the committee,” said councilmember Pamela Bensoussan. “It’s been over two years and nothing has happened. [Councilmember McCann] refers to this as a good business deal, but this good business deal has not been vetted, it has not been proposed, and it has not been defined. Let’s be realistic. We’re not going to suddenly have a project and the power plant is suddenly going to go away.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Birding & Brews: Breakfast Edition, ZZ Ward, Doggie Street Festival & Pet Adopt-A-Thon

Events November 21-November 23, 2024

Chula Vista Deputy Mayor John McCann wants the San Diego Chargers to build a new stadium in Chula Vista. During the past few years, the councilmember has gone on the offensive to get the team to commit to Chula Vista; he heads a Chargers stadium subcommittee, speaks to Chargers representatives, and has gone on record trying to convince his fellow councilmembers to huddle up and work as a team to help draw the Chargers to Chula Vista. McCann estimates the revenues created by having a professional football team in the city would be in the tens of millions.

But now that McCann, a reserve officer in the Navy, is getting deployed to Iraq for a year, his fellow city councilmembers are scaling back their efforts.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I think that over-politicizing this issue doesn’t do a lot of good for the community,” said McCann during Tuesday’s council meeting. “I’ll respect the decision if the council doesn’t want to do it, but we need to be very careful of not allowing a good business deal to be treated in a shabby fashion. Let’s not make it a political issue; let’s look at it as a business issue.”

In recent years, representatives from the Chargers have expressed interest in building a new stadium on San Diego Bay at the site of the South Bay Power Plant, but that plant is still in use and it could be some time before the aging plant is decommissioned and before plans for a new stadium move forward.

“If that’s the proposal, it’s not in the City of Chula Vista, it’s in the Port of San Diego,” said Chargers subcommittee member and councilmember Steve Castaneda during Tuesday’s meeting. “Mr. McCann will be gone for an extended period of time...and even if the council wants to keep the lights on with this subcommittee, I’m not sure where we would go. Clearly, the ball is in the court of the San Diego Chargers. If they believe that they have a future in Chula Vista, they need to come before this body and the people of Chula Vista.

“Mr. McCann has been very enthusiastic about the possibility,” added Castaneda. “I frankly believe they should stay at Qualcomm, but that’s a business decision for them.”

After comments from the other councilmembers, it was obvious that after McCann leaves for Iraq, the sitting councilmembers will likely disband the subcommittee and wait for the Chargers to approach the City with a detailed plan.

“I think it would be a good idea to suspend the committee,” said councilmember Pamela Bensoussan. “It’s been over two years and nothing has happened. [Councilmember McCann] refers to this as a good business deal, but this good business deal has not been vetted, it has not been proposed, and it has not been defined. Let’s be realistic. We’re not going to suddenly have a project and the power plant is suddenly going to go away.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
Next Article

Five new golden locals

San Diego rocks the rockies
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader