Sacramento business leaders want Maloofs to bow out | News

SACRAMENTO, CA - Approximately two dozen business leaders in Sacramento have signed a letter to the NBA saying it's time for the owners of the Sacramento Kings to go.

NBA Commissioner David Stern, the league's Board of Directors and the Maloofs, the Kings' principal owners, are meeting in New York to discuss financing, including disputed pre-development fees, for the new entertainment and sports complex in downtown Sacramento.

City of Sacramento leaders had not planned to attend the meetings but it was learned Thursday afternoon that Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and city arena consultant Dan Barrett would be in New York on Friday.

The letter calls for an ownership that is "fully committed to being a good faith, constructive participant in the arena process" as well as operating a viable, "thriving competitive organization."

The group goes on to say recent events cast doubt on the "Maloofs motivations ... and their ability to participate financially in the arena development."

READ: April 12, 2012 Sacramento business community letter

PREVIOUS STORY: New arena documents conveys Maloofs' concerns

A spokeman for the Kings, Eric W. Rose, offered this statement in response:

We are saddened and disappointed when members of the community, who are not fully informed on the true details of the complex dealings in this arena process, choose to criticize us publicly today at a news conference.

The Maloof Family and the Sacramento Kings organization have been involved in Sacramento's civic and charitable community for many years. We are proud of the substantial contribution of time, money, and energy, including $20 million in cash and in kind contributions donated to more than 200 charitable and community groups in the Sacramento region. The goal of the Kings organization has always been to provide complete customer and employee satisfaction.

We share in the community's frustration on forging a workable agreement on what is ultimately a $400 million transaction that will impact the region for many years to come. However, we must all remember what is at stake in the development of a new arena in Sacramento, and must insure the agreement works for all parties involved, and most importantly, the residents of the City. We only need to look a few miles south to Stockton to learn the lesson of what a bad arena deal could cost the taxpayers.

The building of a new arena in downtown Sacramento includes the sale of important city assets; the sale of city land; and infrastructure issues.

We are currently in New York meeting with the NBA and the league's owners, presenting the timeline of facts that have transpired during this process. With that said, the goal of the Sacramento Kings' organization remains to open the 2015 NBA season in a new arena in Sacramento, and we look forward to working with the City on making that goal a reality.

News10 has a crew in New York following the meetings and will have more later.