Monday, June 9, 2008 | If San Diego loses the Chargers, it is a major loss—in terms of national prestige, financially and pride and enjoyment for the people of San Diego. The solution is simple—Qualcomm Stadium. The central location (access to all parts of San Diego County, southern Orange County and Imperial County), the present road structure (which can be improved), the trolley lines (which go directly to the stadium and would cost a huge sum to begin to duplicate today), the added income to this community if the Super Bowl returns (and it only will with a new stadium) and the ease of making a “deal” with the Chargers using Qualcomm Stadium.
First, we have to hope that Aguirre gets beaten in the forthcoming election. Second, Mayor Jerry Sanders has to wake up to his responsibility and be prepared to make “the deal”. If I were the mayor, I could make the deal with the Chargers in ten minutes. Phoenix, Arizona has been able to make “the deal” with three major league professional teams (none the equal of the Chargers). If necessary, give Qualcomm to the Chargers and let them develop it. Finally, if the Chargers leave San Diego and Qualcomm needs to be torn down we will have more condos and shopping centers in the Qualcomm location, and we hardly need that.
The answer—for the community and financially—is to keep the Chargers in San Diego. Unfortunately, Chula Vista is not the location, and doesn’t have the “horsepower” to make the Chargers a deal there. The Chargers are a major community asset, the Spanos family has done a good job managing them and we need to find a way to keep them here. We stole the Chargers from Los Angeles. There will be a lot of crying if we give them back.