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Owner wants Oakland's full-time help
By Paul T. Rosynsky, STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND "” Lewis Wolff, the Oakland Athletics managing partner, wants someone at City Hall to work full time on the team's ballpark development plan, and he's willing to share the cost to pay for a staffer, a letter obtained by the Oakland Tribune shows.

Three days after unveiling the team's plan for a new stadium and residential development, Wolff wrote an e-mail to Oakland and Alameda County officials urging the group to push ahead with the proposal.

In that Aug. 15 e-mail, Wolff, a Los Angeles-based hotel developer, suggested the city dedicate someone to work on the plan full time.

"Our thinking suggests that a respected individual from either the public or private sector, or both, be considered to provide active coordination to all the constituencies involved," Wolff wrote. "If a selected individual requires funding, perhaps we can equally share the cost. The need for full-time focus seems important."

Wolff said he would like the person to help in acquisition of land in the area bordered by 66th Avenue, Interstate 880, High Street and San Leandro Street.

"A very direct, city-guided and administrated, interaction with each property owner, ...perhaps with the selected coordinator involved, might best determine the initial level of property owner cooperation in evidence," Wolff wrote.

Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, considered the lead negotiator for the city in dealings with sports teams, said he agreed with Wolff.

"It makes sense for them to have someone they can be in direct contract with," De La Fuente said. "That will ensure that we don't get into any confusing signals."

De La Fuente said he will begin to work on selecting that person next week.

In addition to asking for the full-time position, Wolff also wrote about how hard the project will be and what benefits the team, the government and the property owners would gain by having the stadium built in the area.

Wolff said he envisions property owners gaining "fair value" for their land and says they should be given " a preferential position to relocate into a new and more positive City of Oakland industrial location."

But Wolff said he knows about the long road ahead.

"I just caution all involved that we are not naive," he wrote. "We recognize that the hurdles are significant. I believe the cost of indecision is substantially greater than the cost of making the hard decisions."