SAN JOSE—The City of San Jose’s efforts to lure the Oakland A’s from their longtime home hit a road block following a court ruling that determined the city needed to gain voter approval before allotting a slice of downtown real estate for a new baseball stadium.
“The city is and has been in violation of (the law) for several years and it does not appear it will comply with the terms in the foreseeable future,” said Judge Joseph Huber of Santa Clara County Superior Court .
Judge Huber opted to support a lawsuit to block a potential sale of the Downtown land to the A’s franchise. The plaintiff in the lawsuit was Stand for San Jose, a group of citizens with close ties to the San Francisco Giants that want to corner the San Jose market for the current world champions.
In a final push to move the A’s franchise to San Jose, city officials will appeal the decision. However, the city still faces Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption, which has remained a huge roadblock in a mutual effort between the A’s and San Jose to move the franchise out of Oakland.
The city plans to challenge that exemption before the United States Supreme Court.
“Either way, San Jose has been damaged by Major League Baseball’s refusal to allow us to compete with other cities,” said Mayor Sam Liccardo. “Ultimately, the final issue will still be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which is what we’ve sought all along.”
