The greatest fear of Portland Trail Blazers fans is that their beloved franchise—located in the Pacific Northwest for 56 years—will relocate under new owner Tom Dundon and his quest for investment profit. The franchise is in a heated battle with the City of Portland over funding for renovation of the Moda Center, the home arena for the Blazers. Words have been exchanged. The threat of moving the team has simmered underneath the surface throughout.
One of the bigger worries—buried in the recesses of Portland fans’ minds, occasionally echoed by national columnists and podcasters—is that the process was predetermined from the start. Perhaps negotiations are rough because Dundon doesn’t want them to succeed. What if all of this is just a prelude for forcing a move, management’s plan from the start?
Over the last 24 hours, a couple of news stories have been released that could ease that portion of the fear, at least.
One is a tidbit found in this article from the Northwest Labor Press, a pro-union website. One of the demands from the city to the Blazers is that, if public funds are used in arena renovations, the work on—and at—the site be done by union workers. The Blazers reportedly balked at that demand. But this article includes a quote which, if believed, indicates that the franchise is already prepared to accept that qualification:
Randall Friesen, executive secretary-treasurer of the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council, says the union trades council has secured a commitment from Dundon’s ownership group to negotiate a Project Labor Agreement for the renovations. In other words, the work would be done entirely union.
A second, more direct, assurance comes from this story by KATU News in Portland. It features quotes from internal e-mails among members of the Blazers organization, communication which later became public record when forwarded to the City by one of the team’s attorneys.
The content of the emails is not positive. Blazers executives—including Team President of Business Operations Dewayne Hankins, Chief Financial Officer Joe Loomis, and Director of Public Relations Charles Boyle—indicated some level of annoyance with the City and the questions put to the team regarding the Moda Center. But it was not the kind of nonchalant dismissal one would expect if the organization had already checked out of the process.
The story includes a quote from Zandria Conyers, attorney for the Blazers, asking guidance on how to respond to the City’s request for answers to their questions. Internal communication showed reticence, frustration, and caution, but it indicated a group of executives looking to avoid land mines as they continued towards a hopefully-favorable outcome, not a dismissal of the process itself.
“[W]e are not looking for a legal response but more so positioning, anticipating that our responses will be public. Which brings me to my next point – I don’t think our public answers will be well-received. And I wonder how the councilors plan to use them. I want to think about that and welcome thoughts from you guys,” Conyers wrote. “In the meantime, we can work on answers but the more I think about it – the less I like the idea. Maybe we should think about questions to pose back that paint us in a positive light. But that just leads to more distraction and inefficiency….soooo…I’m just thinking of different issues. The fact that they were so insistent on a written response was weird. But I question EVERYTHING.”
The bad news: at least according to these emails, the Blazers really do feel like they’re doing what’s necessary to get 100% public funding for the arena and are not entirely pleased with the reactions of city politicians, their demands, or the optics of the funding debate.
The good news: the Blazers do appear to be seeking public funding for the arena for real, which means moving doesn’t seem to be their first option.
The praise and benefits inherent in these stories are measured, but at least it’s a glimmer of light in an otherwise-dark and worrisome tunnel.
