[Quick] Portland says the Trail Blazers rejected an invitation to discuss the Moda Center lease fearing Tom Dundon is stalling to justify relocating the franchise. Dundon is seeking nearly \(575M in public funding (\)375M already approved by state) for arena renovations ahead of the Aug. 12 vote.
An olive branch offered by the City of Portland to the Trail Blazers has been rejected by the team as the two sides remain far apart in arena lease negotiations.
On Friday, Portland City Council president Jamie Dunphy sent a letter to Blazers president Dewayne Hankins, inviting him to attend a work session Thursday with the 12-member council to address the team’s concerns about the term sheet delivered by the city.
“I’m reading in the media that the Blazers would like to see some changes made to the draft term sheet that the City Council provided you last week,’’ Dunphy wrote to Hankins. “It would be extremely helpful if you and your team joined our work session to help me and my colleagues understand your needs.’’
Dunphy said the Blazers have informed the council they would not be represented at the work session scheduled for 2-5 p.m. PT.
“We have been told verbally by the Blazers leadership that they will not be attending and that they will not be responding to my invitation in writing,’’ Dunphy told The Athletic. “Additionally, we still have not received any requested documentation ahead of our work session. Without that information, or the participation of the Blazers, I’m not sure what purpose the work session can even serve. Very disappointing.’’
The city council is scheduled to vote Aug. 12 on the term sheet for a 20-year lease of the Moda Center. New owner Tom Dundon said he would sign a 20-year lease with the city if the team was given nearly \(575 million in public funding. The state legislature in March passed a bill that would award \)365 million, contingent upon the city and county providing $208 million in additional funding to upgrade the 31-year-old Moda Center.
The city council holds the keys to \(120 million of that \)208 million, but said it needs to hear how the Blazers intended to use the funds. The Blazers have balked at releasing details, saying they feel they were promised a deal in March, and that they want the city to help pay for an architect to devise specific plans.
The city had been negotiating with the team since March and initially wanted to include terms such as beverage tax, street pricing and rent in the term sheet. None of those three items were in the term sheet. However, the city included a $3 million annual payment and a labor-harmony agreement that would stress the importance of hiring union labor for everything from construction work to concessions.
A Blazers source, speaking on condition of anonymity to freely discuss negotiations, said the term sheet was “a non-starter,” but Dunphy said he and the council have no idea what the team’s issues are with the term sheet because the team won’t communicate, let alone show up at meetings.
“We have no substantive information about what they want, what they don’t want or what a successful partnership with the city, county and state would look like,’’ Dunphy said. “We heard through the press that they were dissatisfied with the term sheet, but got no feedback.
“It feels like they are either disinterested in transparency and accountability with public dollars, which is a non-starter, or they are simply going through the motions to run out the clock and burn any remaining goodwill in the city and wait for the government to give them an excuse and move the team,’’ Dunphy said. “I can make a guess which it is, but have no concrete details to tell me this. In life, I always try to assume the best and not assume malicious intent, but this doesn’t seem like incompetence. It seems intentional.’’
Hankins did not respond immediately to a phone message.