Alameda supervisors approve A’s lease

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an agreement to extend the Oakland A’s lease at the O.co Coliseum for another 10 years.

The vote is the next-to-last step in an often-contentious 14-month-long negotiating process aimed at keeping the baseball team in Oakland. The final step is a vote by the board of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Joint Powers Authority on Aug. 6.

The JPA’s attorney, Jon Streeter, said he expects the board to approve the agreement because it voted to approve an earlier version of the lease on July 3.

The agreement approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors today includes changes that the Oakland City Council made two weeks ago and were approved by the A’s last week.

Streeter said he was happy with the original agreement but the changes made by the City Council were “a net improvement” that better protects the interests of the city and the county.

The lease agreement includes an escape clause that allows the A’s to leave the Coliseum after the 2018 Major League Baseball season. However, the team would still have to pay rent at the Coliseum until the end of the agreement in 2024 unless it moved to another site in Oakland.

The agreement also allows the city to force the A’s out of the Coliseum if a deal to develop the site and build a new football-only stadium there for the Oakland Raiders materializes.

The most significant amendment made by the City Council and approved by the A’s and the Board of Supervisors would free the city of Oakland and Alameda County from liability if the Raiders violate the terms of their lease at the Coliseum.

Describing the lengthy negotiating process, Supervisor Wilma Chan said it has:

“… gone through more twists and turns than any road anyone has ever seen.”