Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

I had written earlier about the Dodger’s fall from grace under owner Frank McCourt. “Dodgers debacle shows why people despise big businessmen” is here. On Monday the team filed for bankruptcy. The press release is here:

The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in order to protect the franchise financially and provide a path that will enable the Club to consummate a media transaction and capitalize the team. Dodger owner Frank McCourt cited Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig’s refusal to approve the Fox transaction as the cause for the Chapter 11 filing.

“The Dodgers have delivered time and again since I became owner, and that’s been good for baseball,” McCourt said. “We turned the team around financially after years of annual losses before I purchased the team. We invested $150 million in the stadium. We’ve had excellent on-field performance, including playoff appearances four times in seven years. And we brought the Commissioner a media rights deal that would have solved the cash flow challenge I presented to him a year ago, when his leadership team called us a ‘model franchise.’ Yet he’s turned his back on the Dodgers, treated us differently, and forced us to the point we find ourselves in today. I simply cannot allow the Commissioner to knowingly and intentionally be in a position to expose the Dodgers to financial risk any longer. It is my hope that the Chapter 11 process will create a fair and constructive environment to get done what we couldn’t achieve with the Commissioner directly.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers have tried for almost a year to have Commissioner Bud Selig approve a transaction, which would assure that the Los Angeles Dodgers would be one of the strongest capitalized franchises in Major League Baseball, both now and for years to come. Indeed, for months, the Dodgers have sought approval from the Commissioner of a multibillion dollar media rights transaction negotiated between the Dodgers and FOX, which would immediately infuse hundreds of millions of dollars of capital into the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Commissioner’s office last week rejected the deal, despite having been made aware by the Dodgers since the spring of 2010 of the franchises’ cash projections and in turn liquidity needs for 2011.

“The deal with Fox demonstrates that the Dodgers have enormous value which substantially exceeds the team’s current and future liabilities,” said Bruce Bennett, bankruptcy counsel from Dewey & LeBoeuf. “The team is entering the bankruptcy case with enough committed financing to meet all of its short term expenses and to successful reorganize. The media rights will, one way or another, generate enough value to facilitate a reorganization.”

Operating under Chapter 11, the Los Angeles Dodgers have received a commitment for $150 million in Debtor-in-Possession (DIP) financing. This financing will enable the Dodger organization to fully meet its obligations going forward. There will be no disruption to the Dodgers day-to-day business, the baseball team, or to the Dodger fans.

Under Chapter 11, the Dodgers will continue to operate in the ordinary course of business. Pursuant to that authority, and additional authority the Dodgers have sought in motions filed today with the bankruptcy court: All salaries of Dodger employees will be paid and all Dodger employee benefits will continue. The Dodgers will operate within their existing budget to sign and acquire amateur, international and professional players. Ticket prices will remain the same and purchased tickets will continue to be honored. All amenities at Dodger stadium will continue in place, and promotions will continue as usual. Dodger vendors and suppliers will be paid any post-petition amounts in the ordinary course, with the intention of paying any pre-petition amounts in full prior to or at the conclusion of the bankruptcy case.

McCourt concluded, “The Chapter 11 process provides the path on which to position the Los Angeles Dodgers for long-term success. The process will allow us to focus on maximizing value in a manner that is transparent and driven by the best interests of the Los Angeles Dodgers and our fans.”

Chapter 11 filings were also made for LA Real Estate LLC, an affiliated entity which owns Dodger Stadium, and three other related holding companies.

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This weekend we wrote that Assemblyman Dan Logue’s “Business of the Year” was a like-minded newspaper owner — of the Marysville-based Territorial Dispatch — that had contributed significantly to his campaign. Imagine that amid all the other hard-working small businesses in his district, now set to greatly expand with redistricting.

Coincidentally The Union also ran a powder puff article about Logue this morning. It is here. My favorite line: “If you make a profit in California, you’re going to go to jail,” he told the newspaper.

Here’s the distribution footprint of the free weekly newspaper, where Logue also is a regular, according to its website.

Yellow — Commercial 12,100
Green — Residential 30,400

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Editor’s note: We’ve been debating the merits of Prop. 13 for months here — and in recent days. The issue increasingly is coming to the forefront.

“Gov. Jerry Brown hinted that if the budget talks with Republicans break down, the initiative fight that would follow would not be limited to Brown’s plans to raise sales, vehicle and income taxes. He said he expects labor groups to pursue changes to Proposition 13, tweaking the current caps on commercial property taxes, if no bipartisan deal can be reached. 


‘I would expect there will be efforts to accelerate the reassessment of commercial property tax,’ Brown said. 


“During his remarks to about 250 apartment owners and developers at the Moscone Center on Thursday, he acknowledged some of his failures in budget talks, particularly over his proposal to eliminate redevelopment agencies.

‘I wouldn’t be ready to write the obituary of redevelopment agencies,’ he said. ‘They’re very powerful and they’re still alive and well despite my best efforts.’”

The rest of the article is here.

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Editor’s note: Our Assemblyman Dan Logue’s favorite candidate for president — Texas Gov. Rick Perry — is stirring up some controversy of his own:

“For more than a week now, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been under fire for his plans to lead a prayer rally in Houston later this summer that is sponsored by the American Family Association (AFA), a particularly virulent gay-bashing group. A petition is circulating demanding that Perry abandon the event. But its organizers are moving defiantly forward with a new and expanded cast of some of the most charismatic figures in the anti-gay circuit endorsing the governor’s prayer rally.

“The event, which has been billed as ‘The Response,’ boasts endorsements from a veritable Who’s Who of the anti-gay movement. Among them is Cindy Jacobs, the Generals International pastor who claims that catastrophic natural events are the product of God’s anger over the acceptance of homosexuality, most famously when she attributed the mass death of blackbirds in Arkansas to divine wrath. ‘What happens when a nation makes a decision that is against God’s principles? … Nature itself will begin to talk to us,’ Jacobs said.

“Mike Bickle, Luis and Jill Cataldo, Randy and Kelsey Bohlender – all part of the International House of Prayer Missions (IHOP) based in Kansas City, Mo. – have signed on to the leadership committee, too. The church lists Lou Engle as a senior leader. Engle has predicted that ‘wrath will come upon the whole nation’ if judges permit same-sex marriage and abortion. He also has said same-sex marriage is a blatant ‘legalizing of evil’ and called marriage equality laws ‘anti-Christ legislation.’”

The rest of the article is here.

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The Sacramento River Cats and Reno Aces are cementing a new rivalry in Triple-A, minor-league baseball: Called the I-80 series.

Both teams lead their respective divisions in the Pacific Coast League. On Sunday the River Cats beat the Aces 9-2.

Minor league baseball is packing in the fans despite the sluggish economy. It attracts more than 40 million fans a year.

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The classic hometown parade begins at 11 a.m. on Monday, July 4 in Grass Valley. More than 100 entries and several thousand spectators are expected.

This year’s Grand Marshall will be Kyle Bryant, who was diagnosed with Friedreich’s ataxia, a genetic, progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects all muscle coordination from the toes to the finger tips. Kyle founded Ride Ataxia in 2007; a movement that has traveled 6,500 miles by bike in the past three years helping to raise $960,000 for FA research.

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