Aw, C’mon: He Was There!

So, I’m reading about the latest stuff on the Charger stadium saga.

The Saturday U-T item shows some of our city leadership working with the County leadership to at least create a platform to move the ball. That, in itself, is a pretty good thing. We don’t see enough of that coordinated dialogue on important stuff that affects us all.

But, according to the U-T item, the Chargers weren’t wowed because Chula Vista and National City weren’t there; and, because Mike Aguirre was still alive somewhere and no doubt plotting some violence to the football club. No responsive comment from Aguirre, or anyone else for that matter. The impression – if this fails – it’s Aguirre’s fault.

That surprised me because I thought he was OK with working on this joint powers thing with the mayor and the supes. So I called him to find out why he changed his mind. (He does that sometimes.)

Mike tells he hasn’t changed his mind. In fact, he says he was there. At the press conference. Part of the crew in support.

I tell him he wasn’t, according to the U-T. And, it sounded like the Chargers took his absence as evidence of his opposition because they blasted him as the heart of darkness and he didn’t even respond. (Later in the article is an opaque reference to an Aguirre position that any financing plan for a stadium would require a vote of the people.)

I go back and re-read the U-T article. Reads the same. So, I go to the Friday Voice coverage starting with Andrew Donohue‘s item at 12:52 p.m.

Ahhhh.

Just compare the “who was there” sections of the two items:

U-T version:

Mayor Jerry Sanders, City Council President Scott Peters and county Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Ron Roberts stood in front of the County Administration Center yesterday and said they want the city and county to form a joint-powers authority, which would be able to acquire land or help finance a stadium.

voiceofsandiego.org version:

Present at the announcement were Mayor Jerry Sanders, City Attorney Mike Aguirre, Council President Scott Peters, and Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Ron Roberts. They billed the proposal as a historic sign of unity between the two governments, although it is simply a preliminary step.

Notice any difference? Anybody missing? This is a hard one, but I think you can get it.

And, in the Voice items on the subject, Mike talks about the project and how the joint powers authority can work. The mayor’s press guy, Fred Sainz, says the Chargers have to stop blaming Mike for all their problems and move on with the City’s efforts, etc., etc.

None of this made the U-T article.

It’s a totally different news story.

– PAT SHEA