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Force play: Ridge vetoes bill, Pirates set funding deadlines
Tuesday, December 01, 1998 By Robert Dvorchak, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Just hours after Gov. Ridge killed a bill that would have freed up the state share for Pittsburgh's stadiums, Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy said he wanted a guarantee by Dec. 21 that the money was coming or work on his team's new ballpark would stop.
McClatchy also said yesterday that he's evaluating the franchise's worth, a step just short of putting it up for sale.
While insisting that he hasn't triggered a clause in his lease letting him sell the 113-year-old franchise, McClatchy said the valuation is "a very serious step." Asked if he would sell the team if his request wasn't met, McClatchy said: "Check with me on Dec. 21."
In the worst-case scenario, he could sell or move the team if the city doesn't find a local buyer within nine months.
But Ridge said he can't deliver a guarantee, even though he'll continue to work with the Legislature to arrange state financing for the stadiums at the earliest possible date next year.
"I'll give you the commitment to do everything we can," Ridge said he told McClatchy in a phone conversation yesterday afternoon. "There's no way that you'll get some kind of legislative/executive commitment that will satisfy you until we get the bill passed."
At a news conference at Three Rivers Stadium, McClatchy said the Pirates have already spent $1.5 million on building the new PNC Park, and for it to stay on track for an April ground breaking, another $10 million must be spent by Dec. 21 on engineering and design work.
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"I cannot write checks for $10 million on a dream," he said. "In essence, the project is in serious jeopardy. ... If we don't have a commitment by Dec. 21, this project will stop. I would be foolish to spend $10 million without an understanding that this is a done deal."
The baseball team needs to break ground by April if the ballpark is to open in 2001. If the Pirates lose a season in the new park, they project $30 million in lost revenues, and their ability to keep young players would be jeopardized.
"We can't be here long term if we can't put a competitive team on the field," McClatchy said. "We need a new stadium to be competitive. We need to put closure to an issue that has gone on way too long."
Ridge's promise that the state will pay one-third of the costs was a bedrock element of plans to build stadiums for the Pirates and Steelers. A proposal to deliver the state share last week passed the state Senate, 29-19, but died in the House without a vote being taken, and there's no chance that the Legislature will meet again before Jan. 5.
The governor said he understood McClatchy's position -- "He did not threaten. He did not demand," the governor said -- and pledged yesterday that he would push legislative leaders for a pledge that the matter will have an urgent priority when lawmakers return.
Asked if he'd spend for the engineering and design work if he were McClatchy, Ridge replied: "Probably not, probably not. ... He will do what he needs to do as the owner."
McClatchy didn't specify what commitment would satisfy him but suggested there might be some sort of interim funding or a loan to pay architect's fees. "We'll know what feels right when we see it," he said.
Anticipating that Ridge would deliver on his promise, and having come up with a plan to provide two-thirds of the stadium money from local government and team sources, the city has acquired properties and put the wrecking ball to buildings.
The Pirates have a tighter deadline than the Steelers, but the football franchise has also selected a stadium site and has begun selling personal seat licenses to fans.
Mayor Murphy had "no comment" on McClatchy's announcement but will have a news conference today at 9:30 a.m.
Allegheny County Commissioner Mike Dawida was refusing to give up on the stadiums, saying, "I am sure the governor will come through on his one-third commitment."
Fellow Commissioner Bob Cranmer, the third architect of Plan B, said he was disheartened that the state share isn't in place and that he had "no immediate answers" for the future of the stadiums. "At this point, the owners of the Pirates and Steelers should assess their options," he said in a statement.
The third commissioner, Larry Dunn, leading those opposed to using public money for stadiums, said: "They lost Plan A. They lost Plan B. They lost their stealth amendment. Now, they're blackmailing the taxpayers. These people -- and by that I mean Cranmer, Murphy, Dawida and McClatchy -- have ... proven throughout this process they have no sense of honor and will stoop to anything."
House Bill 907 -- derided as the "stealth stadium bill" because state lawmakers were unaware when both chambers unanimously passed it Tuesday that it might have let the governor spend for stadiums without raising the state debt ceiling -- crashed and burned yesterday on Ridge's desk. Its sponsors intended the bill to repeal two dozen obsolete sections of state law governing counties, but a lobbyist noted that it could have opened a loophole for Pittsburgh stadium financing without legislative sanction.
"It is inarguably clear to me that the Legislature did not intend to authorize these projects," Ridge said in his veto statement. "Knowing that fact, I will not sign this legislation into law."
But Ridge remained sympathetic to local leaders who have struggled to salvage the stadiums as part of their vision for the Pittsburgh region's economic revitalization.
"The fight to fund capital projects across Pennsylvania deserves to be won -- but it needs to be won on the merits, straight up, fair and square," he said. "I believe we will win it that way."
McClatchy and the Rooney family, who own the Steelers, agreed with Ridge's veto because H.B. 907 had prompted a statewide backlash.
"We want to do this the right way," Steelers Vice President Art Rooney II said. His father, Steelers President Dan Rooney, said the family sought the veto to protect "our integrity."
At the same time, embarrassed House GOP leaders yesterday said they would try to learn how H.B. 907 slipped through. If involved lobbyists don't provide satisfactory answers, the leaders said they would press for a full inquiry by a select committee of House members.
"I was snookered," House Speaker Matthew Ryan, R-Delaware, said at a Capitol news conference. "Our sin was to rush to finish without making an independent judgment of the bill. It's our fault. We relied on the information we received from the Senate."
Ryan also announced that the Legislative Reference Bureau, which writes and reviews bills and amendments, had determined that the provision wouldn't have had any impact on stadium financing.
But Ryan, joined by other House leaders, wants to learn whether local leaders and team owners sought to mislead lawmakers. Murphy and others said they were aware of the bill's impact before it passed, but called it "serendipity" and insisted that there was no intent to deceive anyone.
Art Rooney II urged Ryan in a letter to press ahead with an inquiry to clear the air over the involvement of his law firm, Klett Lieber Rooney & Schorling, and its Harrisburg lobbyist, Chuck Kolling, who represents not only the Steelers but also the Pirates, the city and county.
Part of the controversy also stemmed from the reaction of Murphy, Dawida and the team owners when, at a news conference Wednesday, they announced that H.B. 907 could fund their projects while Philadelphia stadiums would still require state approval.
"They were telling us, 'Gotcha!' They were beating their breast and doing 'high-fives' at our expense," Ryan said. "And that was not nice."
H.B. 907 could have poisoned the legislative waters. Although the House may have been within five votes of passing the debt ceiling bill last week -- Philadelphia lawmakers provided the last-minute obstacle because of concerns about oversight and minority hiring -- Ryan said fallout from H.B. 907 had cost stadium funding supporters about 15 votes.
Rep. Don Walko, D-North Side, agreed: "The cause was hurt when (Plan B backers) said, 'We one-upped you; we have a trump card.' A lot of representatives feel betrayed. I do, too. I was part of the team trying to work for (stadiums), and I wasn't told what was going on."
Sen. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, who voted for stadium funding, nonetheless agreed with Ridge's veto.
"I don't know where this whole project goes at this point. ... I don't know if there's any more energy to pursue this."
Sen. Leonard Bodack, D-Lawrenceville, who also voted for stadium funding, also favored the veto: "We in Pittsburgh deserve to win funding through the front door, not the back door. I don't believe in these backdoor grabs."
Post-Gazette Staff Writers Peter J. Shelly, Frank Reeves, Tom Barnes, Mark Belko and Timothy McNulty contributed to this report.
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