Everyone, I mean everyone turns on Clay Bennett
No one is talking about what the meeting between Sonics owner Clay Bennett and Seattle Mayor Greg Nikels is really about, but with the likelihood of Key Arena being rebuilt, sold or refurbished almost nil, you can imagine that the discussion is going to be about buying out the current lease.
Last year a city initiative tied the city's hands on building a new arena, this year fans of the Sonics, specifically a group that had been lobbying along side Bennett for a new arena in Renton, is filing an initiative to force the city to honor the current lease on Key Arena. They essentially want to say "the Sonics aren't going anywhere, for now."
From SonicsCentral:
During the course of the last year I have spent a great deal of time advocating on Clay Bennett's behalf. While I don't regret that decision I have certainly re-thought it a number of times.
...
To this day Bennett has still maintained publicly that he wants to remain in Seattle. I believe however that these statements have to be subject to question based on his behavior of the last several months. During this time frame he has never returned a call from our camp and according to reports from people around the state we are not alone. Potential development partners, political leaders, trade association leaders, all describe Clay Bennett's "open door" as more of an "unsupervised answering machine" where you leave messages and then never receive a callback.
Just over one week ago I contacted Bennett's office advising them that SOS&S had formed a new committee, "A Deal Is a Deal" PAC with the intention of filing a public initiative which would block the mayors ability to negotiate an opt out of the lease.
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