Oakland leaders claim they are nearing finish line on plan to keep Raiders in Oakland

By David DeBolt, East Bay Times (TNS)

Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016 | 11 p.m.

OAKLAND — As the clock ticks closer to the NFL owners' vote on a Raiders-to-Las Vegas deal, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf on Tuesday announced local leaders are close to getting a deal to try and keep the team here, and one that won't need public money.

Speaking before reporters outside Oakland City Hall, a confident Schaaf said Alameda County and city officials are ramping up closed-door meetings with NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott and his investment group.

"The Raiders belong in Oakland. They are part of our identity," the mayor said. "This is one small step in a complicated deal."

The team's future home hinges on more than Oakland's ability to hammer out a development deal for the Coliseum site. Team owner Mark Davis needs to buy in to any plan, and he has previously said he's committed to moving the team to Las Vegas, where in October lawmakers voted to raise hotel room taxes to help finance a $1.9 billion stadium.

However, that deal is not yet done either: Three-quarters of NFL owners must approve the move, which seems more likely if East Bay officials cannot pull together a stadium financial plan to present before team owners begin meetings early next year.

Neither Davis nor Lott could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Alameda supervisors discussed the proposed deal behind closed doors Tuesday morning, but Supervisor Scott Haggerty, the president of the board, downplayed Schaaf's comments that the county was close to voting on Lott's proposal. Haggerty said the city has not released information supervisors have requested. He would not say what that information was.

"The situation is fluid," Haggerty said. "I want to do everything I can to keep the Raiders, but I am one of five votes."

A 90-day agreement for Lott and the city and county to negotiate is set to expire soon. Details of the proposed deal to buy or lease the 120-acre Coliseum site were not released, but Schaaf said the terms would satisfy her commitment to keep the team in town and not use public money. Revenue from the project would go to the estimated $90 million in infrastructure improvements, such as utility upgrades and roads, the mayor said.

Sources have said Lott and his partner, former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete, are working with money management firm Fortress Investment. Lott's group used to include Egbert Perry, an Atlanta developer, chairman of the board at Fannie Mae and CEO of the Integral Group.

Schaaf rejected an offer from Perry and another group that did not include Lott to purchase the Coliseum site for $167 million.

The Oakland City Council is expected to discuss the Lott deal in a closed session Nov. 28. The earliest the City Council could discuss the negotiations publicly would be during its Dec. 13 meeting, Schaaf said. Any proposal would have to be approved by the council and supervisors in an open meeting.

Supervisor Nate Miley in October expressed concern over an early term sheet submitted by Lott, saying "too much would be asked of the taxpayers." Schaaf said that's no longer the case.