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Forgive my relative giddiness, but this is almost too good to be true for folks like me: Sacramento has struggled for years to get cooperation at the local level for help with a new arena for the Kings. Deals have come and been crushed time after time; Mayor Heather Fargo has taken many (rightful) lumps for her inability to bring all sides to the table. (We should note she's done some good things for the city; this is a single-issue analysis.) She expected to walk through this June's election without a challenge.It is of great interest, then, that retired basketball star Kevin Johnson looks like he'll join the race. KJ, a longtime Sun who was born and raised in Sactown, has been a very popular figure in the city (despite some recent disputes over blighted land his foundation owns). The Sacramento News & Review, which broke this story, quotes an adviser who says recent phone polls have been very favorable for KJ.
I've talked to a half-dozen folks who'd know in the last few hours, and all agree KJ would be a formidable opponent for any incumbent mayor, let alone one such as Fargo who has made some voters angry over the years. But you don't care about local politics; what's this mean for the Kings' local arena hopes?
Little, maybe; a lot, possibly. Fargo was never a Kings foe, but her hands have been so tied by past failures on this front that the local government efforts have been incredibly weak. The Maloofs (and their surrogates) had to deal with a random city councilman and a county supervisor on a (disastrous) 2006 ballot measure; Fargo'd become too poisoned to help.
KJ would change that.
And while the current deal in the works doesn't rely on taxpayer funds, it will most certainly require tuned cooperation from the city. There are land use issues with the current version of ARCO Arena, and myriad transportation-related hurdles to overcome in the next two or three years. KJ hasn't made a single statement on what he'd do on this front... but the visage of Mayor Kevin Johnson relieves some fears.
KJ'd gone off to Cal by the time the Kings made their mark on Sacramento, but he surely knows the value the NBA brings to locales. And if my gut is correct, he'll be a huge ally for the Maloofs, the NBA, and the fans in keeping the Kings in Sacramento. So again, forgive my relative giddiness. (Also, elect Shawn Kemp for mayor of Seattle!)
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