Calling All Players

National City Mayor Ron Morrison has sent letters to city of San Diego, county and San Diego State University officials seeking meetings to discuss how the organizations can contribute to the possible construction of a stadium in the South Bay city.

The letters, dated Thursday, represent National City’s first attempts to drum up the regional financial and political support that will likely be needed to put together a stadium deal there. And the letters give an outline of what National City will be asking for: money and land.

In the letters, Morrison asks for meetings to begin discussing a wide variety of issues with the local leaders.

Here’s what he had to say in separate letters to San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and Council President Scott Peters:

In our view, San Diego is a critical partner in this venture. San Diego has a significant portfolio of properties and other assets that would prove invaluable to the success of the project. In return, San Diego could unlock the revenue potential in a variety of assets long before it might otherwise occur, resulting in a direct benefit to San Diego’s treasury. … In return for these benefits, we hope San Diego would commit some of its properties and assets to the stadium development.

San Diego has largely ducked out of the Chargers discussion in the last year, as Mayor Jerry Sanders said he must focus on the city’s financial crisis instead.

Morrison threw in this variation in a similar letter to county Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Ron Roberts:

The County may well have properties or other assets it is willing to dedicate to the project, in return for quantifiable benefits. In addition, because of the County’s stable fiscal condition, it may be in a position to provide conduit or mezzanine financing, solely as a pass-through, to facilitate construction of the stadium. Finally, because the development of a new stadium presents county-wide benefits, both tangible and intangible, the participation of the County would be seen as brining the broader community together in pursuit of this worthwhile goal.

And this is from another version that went to SDSU President Stephen Weber:

As a potential tenant of the new facility, SDSU may have funds available to contribute to the construction of a stadium. SDSU may also have development opportunities it may chose to make available to help facilitate the construction of the project. … SDSU may also have the opportunity to generate substantial revenue through sponsorship and advertising opportunities that are not currently available at Qualcomm Stadium.

Read this story to understand what would need to be done, and how other governments could be needed, to make the National City idea a reality.

— ANDREW DONOHUE