County, Real bad blood lingering?

(by Leigh Dethman desnews.com 11-30-06)

Bad blood between Salt Lake County and Real Salt Lake officials appears to linger, as delays continue in inking a contract to fund a soccer stadium in Sandy, according to documents obtained by the Deseret Morning News.

In August, the team agreed to a bare-bones contract with the county for partial funding for the $180 million, 136-acre project, which includes a hotel and broadcast studio. At the time, team and county officials said a detailed contract would be signed by the fall, with construction starting on the stadium by November at the latest.

Now it's December, and a deal to fund the stadium is at a standstill. The team staged a ceremonial ground breaking in August after the county pledged $35 million in hotel taxes, but construction hasn't started yet.

Real and county leaders have fought publicly in the past, particularly after the County Council voted against one funding plan in July. After that vote, team owner Dave Checketts lambasted Mayor Peter Corroon, calling him the "King of England" and blasting overall county leadership as a "completely dysfunctional group."

Now the county's chief administrative officer, Doug Willmore, believes a top Real official is "talking trash" about him behind closed doors. Willmore, who is heading up the contract negotiations for the county, said officials from the Legislature, the Salt Lake City Mayor's Office, the county and Sandy city have approached him with claims that Real chief executive officer Dean Howes said Willmore is "unethical; breaks his word; lies; is out to kill soccer in Utah; and other accusations we both know are false," according to a letter Willmore wrote to Howes, dated Nov. 27.

"Apparently someone has been going around town making false (cowardly, wild irresponsible, unethical) accusations about me and attributing them to you, and I thought you would want to know — because I believe that it really makes you look unprofessional," Willmore wrote.

When contacted for comment Thursday, Howes hadn't received the letter. He said he hasn't spoken to Willmore in months, and was surprised at the accusations.

"I don't know why anybody would say anything about that," Howes said. "I have never once done anything but publicly and privately say that we've made an agreement, and we hope the agreement gets done, and that's it."

Willmore said he's not trying to start a fight — he's just trying to clear the air. "The last thing I want is for this to become some public name-calling match," he said Thursday.

Despite the disagreements, negotiations for a funding plan continue. However, several key issues are holding up the deal, including land-ownership issues and the team's financial viability.

In an interview Thursday, Howes assured that whatever land the county pays for, the county will own. "The county owns the lands. We own the stadium," Howes said.

But county leaders don't believe there is $35 million worth of land and infrastructure to buy. And Corroon insists he won't spend a dime on the stadium.

Another hold-up to the deal is a county-requested review of the team's finances. An independent consultant is currently evaluating Real's financial viability, and a report is expected to be completed sometime in January, deputy district attorney Jerry Campbell said.

Once the study is complete, the county's Debt Review Committee will convene. Corroon insists he will not approve any funding deal without the committee's endorsement.

However, the committee cannot make any decisions without detailed financial data from the team. Real has only given information to the independent consultant, and not to the county, despite repeated requests. In an e-mail to a team official, Willmore said, "Not sending all of your financial data to the DRC, I think, will ensure a negative recommendation from the DRC to the mayor."

Some of the financial data might be protected under Utah's public records law, he added, but some or all might be released.

"That is the price or risk to Real in this process, is that the information would become public," Willmore said. "But it is a necessary risk on Real's part."

Howes said the county will get the information before the independent consultant's report is complete.