The advisory group formed to find a site and develop a financing plan for a new football stadium in San Diego will hold a meeting tonight, March 2, to take input from the public.
The forum will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Club Lounge area at Qualcomm Stadium, the aging facility the Chargers are hoping to vacate. Gates will open at 5 p.m., and parking will be free.
The room reportedly seats 300. Officials are expecting perhaps as many as 3,000 attendees.
“We want to hear about (the public’s) good ideas,” said task force chair Adam Day, “and we want to know what their concerns are as we work toward selecting a site for a new stadium and developing a financing plan for public consideration.”
“The advisory group is in the information-gathering phase, so we appreciate the information the Chargers shared with us (last) week,” Day said. “We had a good first meeting with the team, and we expect to meet with representatives from San Diego County and San Diego State University next.”
Meanwhile, the Chargers’ point-man in their long-running stadium search told City News Service that team president and CEO Dean Spanos would be willing to meet with San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
“Dean has met with the mayor before, and of course I have met with the mayor and his staff on many occasions,” said Mark Fabiani, who has led the team’s quest since the early 2000s. “Dean would be happy to meet with the mayor again.”
Faulconer wrote Spanos Tuesday and suggested a one-on-one get-together in an effort to defuse rising tensions involving the task force and mayor’s office.
Fabiani wrote Faulconer Feb. 24 to ask — among other things — why members of his staff attended the task force meeting referred to by Day and if the group was really independent. The letter went on to suggest that political and media consultants who attended have conflicts of interest.
Faulconer subsequently wrote Spanos to complain about Fabiani’s ongoing criticism of the task force since it was announced Jan. 30.
Matt Awbrey, a spokesman for Faulconer, said the mayoral staff is aware of Fabiani’s comment that Spanos is willing to meet and has called the team to confirm.
“Mayor Faulconer looks forward to meeting with Mr. Spanos in the next few days to discuss how to chart a positive course moving forward,” Awbrey said.
— Fox6