Check the tape
Posted by Carl on October 8, 2007
Not calling anyone out, but here’s the problem when one side decides to fight their case in the media and one won’t:
October 8, 2007
Dear Mr. Pecor and Lynx organization:I’m a longtime Lynx fan, hoping, like many others in this City, that there will be a quick and smooth transition from Triple A baseball to a good try at Can-Am ball.I have been impatient with City Hall and Council because they have appeared to be reticent to enable the switch while the opportunity (and Can-Am offer) still exists. Generally I’ve thought that mostly the City was the one playing hard ball. It seems it would be reasonable for the City to agree to handing over the keys to Mr. Wolff’s organization, drop or moderate the claim about debts owed by the Lynx organization, and avoid a costly retaliatory court case related to the parking issue and other contractual obligations.However, I also expect the Lynx organization to engage in this discussion in good faith. The LeHigh Valley Iron Pigs organization currently is linking their team statistics to the Ottawa Lynx statistics page. [ See: http://ironpigsbaseball.com/ironpigs/statistics/ ] That’s a pretty clear indication to me that the Triple A League has officially passed the baton from Ottawa to the IronPigs organization. That’s more or less what the City of Ottawa is also saying, and a reason for issuing their most recent ultimatum. I think there is frustration at the Council level that the Lynx are not being entirely transparent.So if the transition has happened in everything but a public statement, then the only thing to be lost by further delay is baseball continuing in Ottawa at the Can-Am level. If the Lynx have moved on, then make it official and then negotiate the conditions of transfer with the City of Ottawa. If you wait until spring, what is gained? Certainly the chances of Can-Am ball in Ottawa in 2008 are more than likely dashed. Come on, you guys are baseball fans, so let’s get this moving.Robin Collins
Ottawa [Posted to Facebook group, October 8]
Remember what Miles Wolff said in his letter that was posted over on The Team 1200’s website:
In a meeting in April with the Mayor and City attorney, the Lynx, represented by Ray Pecor and Kyle Bostwick, promised to drop the lawsuit immediately if the city dropped their claim of $2,770,000 for the promissory note. The Can-Am League was present at that meeting to state that they were ready to take over the Lynx’s lease and fulfilling all obligations of the lease other than the promissory note. [The Team 1200, September 26]
So don’t think the Mayor and the rest of City council aren’t aware of what’s going on. And an admission by the Lynx that they are leaving won’t help the Can Am League bid - quite the opposite:
IT WILL KILL IT.
According to the Mayor’s office’s email to my family:
“Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the future of the Lynx Stadium.
Presently the Ottawa Lynx have two years remaining on their lease at the Coventry Road facility and despite recent media reports we have not been officially informed that they intend to breach their contract at this time.
Until such time as the Lynx breach their contract, discussions regarding the future of this facility would be premature yet we continue to review our options for the long term use of this facility.
The Mayor’s goal is to ensure that we protect the interests of the taxpayers while continuing to make this facility available for the enjoyment of the citizens of Ottawa. I continue to follow the developments and hope that we may find a solution that fulfills both of those goals.
Sincerely,
Lynne Manion
Administrative Services Coordinator
Mayor’s Office, City of Ottawa” [emphasis added]
If the Lynx declare they are going to leave, the City has made it very clear that they will consider that a breach of the operating agreement. I posted up on this subject here, but I’ll reiterate: if the operating agreement is breached or lost, it’s open season down at Lynx Stadium - they’ll hang out a sign saying “Come one, come all” like they are they should be with Landsdowne Park.
To paraphrase, oh what the hell - to quote uber-blogger Neate Sager:
“The highlights (or lowlights, if you pay taxes in this city) of the letter’s claims (and thanks again to Carl Kiiffner at Ottawa Lynx Blog for the heads-up):
- The Lynx, with Can-Am reps in tow, went to the city last April and promised to drop its $11-million lawsuit against the city over the selling off of Lynx Stadium parking spaces “if the city dropped their claim of $2,770,000 for (a) promissory note” owner Ray Pecor signed when he bought the team in 2000.That sounds like a fair compromise — but the city apparently dragged its feet.
- About that $2.77-million note or “leaving town tax”: The Lynx says it’s interest on the money the city borrowed from the old city of Nepean in the early ’90s to build the ballpark.How can anyone owe money to a lender that now longer exists? Better yet, why would this city hold someone over the coals when it might even cost taxpayers even more for the city’s lawyers to do the examination for discovery, the research, the preparation and court time to fight the Lynx lawsuit. That’s before any potential award that a judge might give to Pecor, who appears to have a fairly strong case.
- As previously noted, the stadium would become home offices and home field for Baseball Canada, which currently has no such facility (bloody scandalous for a country that played for a medal in baseball at the last Olympics and has close to two dozen major leaguers.) How can the local government in the nation’s capital not bend over backwards to help a sport so many Canadians have played and enjoyed for more than a century, especially when it costs them nothing?Try being Miles Wolff. He’s a man from North Carolina appealing to us on grounds of Canadian patriotism, and he’s getting the response, “Well, emmmmmm, maybe, I don’t know.”
- The Lynx offered to turn over “nearly $1 million in assets in the stadium” to the Can-Am League team. It could have been a “turnkey operation,” to borrow the phrasing Wolff used when he was here to meet with city councillors on Sept. 13. Instead, this is dragging out and that equipment — office furnitures, concessions — might have to be liquidated if the Can-Am League isn’t here in May 2008.
- We now understand why general manager Kyle Bostwick has had to play it so coy up until now with whether the Lynx are leaving — they can’t risk that $2.77-million leaving town tax:”The Lynx are prepared to notify the city if the city will assure them that the interest payments are no longer due. The city will not make these assurances. Therefore, the stalemate will drag on, and it will be April when the first game should be scheduled before the Lynx are officially in violation of their lease.”
[Out of Left Field, September 26]
The real question in my opinion? What happened between April and August, when things went from an 80-90% certainty of the Can Am League coming here, to less than 50%?
Please don’t lose sight of the ball here, and don’t put pressure on the wrong people or lose sight of who the “Friends of Can Am Ball” are.
October 8, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Hi Carl,
I think it is clear that the city knows the Lynx are leaving, but in the absence of a letter that says “we’re outta here; sorry we still owe you money”, there isn’t much the city can do.
Assuming this situation is going to happen anyway but in April next year if not right now, there is apparently nothing to be gained by the Lynx organization coming clean and tell us why they are currently silent (assuming of course they DO have a stadium to play in — and if not, then they should say so, all Iron Pigs evidence to the contrary.) Maybe Can-Am ball can make the quick turnaround in April and still set up a team in Ottawa, but what’s the point? The risks seem high, and scheduling makes it more than likely a no-go, the animosity level will possibly not reduce, and the fans may lose interest. Looks like a mess for baseball with no gain to be made by the Lynx.
Robin
October 8, 2007 at 11:30 pm
I should add that I suspect the City thinks:
1. they will win the breach of lease case (and its contingent promissory note) if it goes to court, and
2. the Lynx will lose the parking claim if it goes to court.
From that bit of speculation, the City has no reason NOT to wait it out. Consider the fiscal challenges Council is facing already. $2 million-plus doesn’t seem like a massive heap of money (especially after court costs, let alone the loss of baseball), but if the City says to itself “so baseball goes, we’ll just offer the stadium to the dome-men and get $1.5 million back after expenses. No big deal.”
If that is what they are thinking, then the Lynx better start talking soon, or the boys of summer are gone.
Robin
October 9, 2007 at 5:14 am
Robin - again, respectfully, if the team makes this announcement you will lose any chance of having the Can Am League here in 2008. The operating agreement will cease to exist and the City will not “sole source” a solution - it will be thrown out for an RFP (request for proposal). That process could take months, maybe even a year.
Obviously the City believes it will win their case, just as the Lynx believe they have a strong case - and I’ve stated this before: It’s unlikely that either side will hit a home run; I suspect a judge will saw both claims off in the middle.
The Lynx (according to Miles Wolff) have been talking to the City since at least April - in all of this, they are the ones trying to keep the boys of summer at the Stadium.
October 9, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Carl —
in the current stalemate nothing will happen until spring, at which time the Lynx will still breach their contract, the city will sue, and what happens, happens. The Can-Am team offering will have been lost for 2008.
I don’t see what is gained by the Lynx/Triple A League “pretending” they are not leaving, all the while openly establishing the Iron Pigs franchise. If the city is going to sue, they will do it eventually anyway.
What exactly are we waiting for?
R.
October 9, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Robin,
If the Lynx tell the City they’re leaving, the City will take the position that they’ve breached the operating agreement - they’re supposed to field a team through 2009. Miles Wolff needs that agreement, without it he can’t operate a team here in 2008. If the Lynx breach their contract today, the Can Am team offering is lost today.
October 9, 2007 at 5:48 pm
I’ve said all along that push will come to shove when Pecor finalizes the sale to the Allentown guys. That will be sooner than later won’t it? I would be very surprised if it is not in the lease / OA, whatever, that if the franchise is sold the City must be notified. Does anyone think that he’ll finalize the sale and still not “officially” notify the City that they’re leaving?
Non?
October 9, 2007 at 6:20 pm
I would agree, it will be tough once the team’s been sold. But they’ve never said they intended to hold out until April, only that they can’t give that kind of notice until the deal’s been finalized. Doesn’t that make sense? If the deal falls through, where will they play? Even if the sale falling through is just a remote possibility, why would you give up your rights to Lynx Stadium prematurely if you’re not obligated to?
October 9, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Carl, I agree with you, the Lynx are leaving their options open until they finalize the deal, I understand that. And once it is finalized there will be less posturing and more deal making.
October 10, 2007 at 11:33 am
What it comes down to, seems to me, is whether Can-Am is more or less likely if the Lynx declare now or later that they are leaving. It’s a better’s guess, nothing is certain. On one hand, the agreement becomes nul and void and then any new agreement must go through the ropes, with risk to Can-Am not being the winning bid; on the other the Can-Am schedule passes us by, ball fans lose interest and Council gets their backs up.
October 10, 2007 at 11:59 am
If the Lynx declare now, there is absolutely no chance that the requisite RFP process would be complete in time for the Can Am League in 2008.