— Coalition members are asking, “Why would elected officials of San Francisco covet the Golden State Warriors when San Francisco already has a $14 billion annual tourism industry, and Oakland has only a $800 million annual tourism industry?” —
San Francisco, CA — The San Francisco Department of Elections has vetted the Good Neighbor Coalition, granting it permission to proceed with collecting the required number of signatures, for a local ballot measure for the June 2018 election that greatly affects one of the National Basketball Association’s best teams, the Golden State Warriors.
Coalition members are embarrassed; pointing out, San Francisco has a $14 billion annual tourism industry and Oakland has a $800 million annual tourism industry. So why would elected officials of San Francisco covet the Golden State Warriors, one of the jewels of Oakland, CA? Allen Jones, initiatives proponent says, “A world-class city helps its neighbors. It does not help itself to its neighbor’s jewels.”
The coalition also rebukes NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, who has endorsed this move. Silver has shown great moral leadership against the racist remarks of a now former NBA franchise owner. He has shown moral leadership against the entire State of North Carolina for its discriminating against members of the LGBT community.
However, Adam Silver is the commissioner of a multibillion dollar sports league. Since he has been commissioner, the value of the Golden State Warriors went from $450 million to over $2 billion dollars. The billionaire owners of the Warriors refused to pay their debt of $60 million in upgrades to their current facility. They claim, after leaving their Oracle Arena when their new arena is built they should not have to pay any more of the bills for the old arena, even though the team demanded the upgrades under old ownership that the new ownership enjoys. Silver has showed no moral compulsion to help the community of Oakland who still must pay this bill. Therefore, the Good Neighbor coalition felt the need and moral obligation to, address that issue in its ballot measure statement for other municipalities to consider when opening their doors to billionaire owners.
The Declaration of Policy voters will decide on, reads:
Thou Shall Not Covet Policy of San Francisco shall be: We the People of the City and County of San Francisco California will not invite, entice, encourage, cajole or condone the relocation of any professional sports team that has previously established itself in another municipality and has demonstrated clear and convincing support from community and fans for at least twenty years and is profitable. And we stand against any sports team ownership group that attempts to avoid payment of an outstanding public debt. Instead of looking for an opportunity to take from our neighbors we wish to fully support each other and the entire Bay Area.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to defeat the owners of the Warriors and San Francisco City Hall at their own game.
You may follow progress of the ballot measure on the San Francisco Department of Elections website: Campaign services
About the Good Neighbor Coalition
The Good Neighbor Coalition was created by Allen Jones, a San Francisco resident since 1960 and a Golden State Warriors fan since 1975. The goals of the coalition are to promote team ownership integrity nationwide, greater appreciation for loyal fans and a good neighbor policy to guide municipalities on how best to deal with the loss of, or how to acquire a professional sports team through moral channels.
PRESS CONTACT:
Good Neighbor Coalition
Allen Jones
Jones-allen@att.net
(415) 756-7733