Anaheim Rep Kris Murray Fights to Keep Angels

"What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." -O. Wilde

Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait had been waiting for his big blockbuster report to be assembled. He was going to show us. He had a formula to measure value and it was all in simplistic dollar signs and wow did he ever show us.

Tom Tait's commissioned appraisal of the value of the land on which Anaheim Stadium sits has been delivered. To nobody's surprise the land is worth more as a piece of dirt ($325 Million) than with the stadium and surrounding development ($225 Million).

Arte Moreno basically transformed the Angels franchise into an economic powerhouse that benefits the City of Anaheim as well as the quality of life to the surrounding area. As a reward for a job well done and a commitment to the region, the City council had offered Moreno the land to develop for a dollar a year rent provided he assume all costs of maintaining the land and stadium - costs which the city now assume.

Tom Tait has bullied his demands to the point that Arte has sent his errand boy, team President John Carpino, to the cities of Irvine and Tustin to see if any large pieces of dirt might be transformed into the cultural lifeblood of their cities. The idea that the Angels might up and leave the city is not the idea of how the representatives of the people treat entities that enrich the lives of those represented people and enrich the city itself.

One Anaheim city councilperson is standing up to Bully Mayor Tait. Kris Murray, the Pro-Tem Mayor of Anaheim, is pointing out that Tait's entire study is just a short term mirage - the money that the city would ostensibly make would be one time money while the value of having the stadium and the team owner develop the land around it is incalculable considering the benefit to the city, let alone the revenue it will generate for the city.

Murray is one of four council members who has voted to approve the basics of the Dollar-Per-Year deal - understanding that is saves the city money over the current deal. Tait wants to ditch the Angels in the name of transparently reminding everyone of what the city is leaving on the table, but let's see him ever do that when his Disney overlords demands a new tax break or concession - We predict that transparency is never gonna happen when it is time for Tait to get in bed with the mouse.

Murray summed it up to the LA TIMES thusly:

"We have the framework in front of us that keeps the team in Anaheim, renovates an old stadium, and doesn't impact our taxpayers. It's time to get a deal done that's real, with real benefits."

There is a city council meeting on Tuesday. Who will be on the side of the quality of the peoples' lives and who will be on the side of cashing out a cultural legacy for less than half a billion bucks?