The Chargers are done with San Diego.
Hosts Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts unpack that huge, city-shaking news in this week’s episode.
There’s a lot to go through, especially considering the fact that Lewis has been covering the Chargers saga since 2003.
A lot of people thought the Chargers would never actually move to Los Angeles. In hindsight, of course, it should have been clear exactly two years ago that the team’s move to L.A. was close to inevitable. Back then, though, city leaders and fans alike dismissed Chargers chairman Dean Spanos’ talk about leaving as mere leverage to move along the stadium deal the team so badly wanted.
The city played Spanos’ game and lots of public money was spent on stadium-related reports and consultants over the past few years. Ultimately, the city lost, but the real losers are the teams’ die-hard fans.
“This is not good for the city,” said Keatts. “No matter what a policy wonk you are out there who has determined that these subsidies are bad, the way the NFL does business is unethical, that there is better uses for our finite city land, that this sucked up too much oxygen in our political discussion – all of that can be true, and it can also be true that this is just sad. There are a lot of San Diegans who lost something they care about.”
The good news is now the city has over 150 acres of land in Mission Valley that could be used for something big.
Also on the podcast, Lewis and Keatts talk about previous State of the City addresses and the progress of some of the mayor’s past promises. We also air the first episode of Season 2 of Culturecast, Voice of San Diego’s podcast covering arts and culture in the San Diego region.
Hero of the Week
Chicano Park was named a National Historic Landmark. Congratulations to the artists and community members who have done a bang-up job keeping the park beautiful and helping get its historical significance recognized.
Goat of the Week
Chargers chairman Dean Spanos. Duh.