Raiding Public Coffers – Opinions From E. Curtis Johnson

The Oakland Raiders may be the Super Bowl champs of corporate welfare. The Raider’s history is a how-to book for gold diggers. The Raiders dumped Oakland and ran off to L.A. for 13 years. Then the Raiders jilted L.A. when Alameda County pulled up its skirt with an expanded Coliseum. Current Raider owner, Mark Davis, has been flirting with other cities about moving the team.

So, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, has proposed giving the Raiders free land and paying off the $120 million the team still owes on the Coliseum expansion. Quan’s plan hasn’t been vetted and may be as unrealistically lofty as the Raiders having a winning season, which the team hasn’t had in over 10 years.

I’m E. Curtis Johnson. If Alameda County citizens and fans think Quan’s proposed deal is worth keeping the Raiders, who am I to question it. However, let’s be adults and admit that land grants and refinancing bad public debt incurred by private sports franchises isn’t football. This is an expensive game of kick the can down the road. Maybe the problem is that one blind eye on the Raider logo?