A campaign started by Sacramento small business owners trying to delay a possible Kings move to Anaheim is nearing its goal. The Committee to Save the Kings began collecting signatures in Southern California earlier this month in hopes of forcing a vote on the $75-million bonds issued by the Anaheim City Council to lure an NBA team.
Sacramento political consultant Rob Stutzman is leading the charge and expects to have the roughly 11,000 needed to signatures to send the issuance to a public vote. From the Sac Bee:
"What we're doing is very real and matters legally," Stutzman said, adding that he can gather the requisite number of signatures with "one arm tied behind my back."
He does, however, need a little more money. But assuming he gets it--and there are some wealthy people who have an interest in his success--the referendum would place the Anaheim financing deal on hold until the next election, likely in June 2012, long after the next basketball season is over.
Update: According to several Sacramento media outlets, the NBA's relocation committee will be paying a visit to the capital city later this week. The committee's chairman Clay Bennett along with Harvey Benjamin, the NBA's executive counsel of business and finance, will be in town for two days starting Thursday. They are expected to meet with city officials to find out more facts about Sacramento's viability moving forward as an NBA market.
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