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NFL may see pay dirt outside S.F.

Mayor Gavin Newsom and other supporters of the effort to keep the 49ers in San Francisco like to suggest the National Football League is secretly on their side.

Not so, according to Michael Bidwill, president of the Arizona Cardinals.

Bidwill, who recently visited our editorial board with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, was asked about the 49ers' proposed move to Santa Clara. He said NFL owners were eager to have the 49ers' and Oakland Raiders' stadium situations resolved as soon as possible - and their impression was that "a lot of loose ends" remain in the San Francisco option.

"My sense is that the finance plan in Santa Clara works out for them," Bidwill said.

The Cardinals know the benefit of a state-of-the-art stadium. Bidwill said their stadium (financed with about $285 million in public support, something that would never happen in California) was a factor in building the team that went to the Super Bowl this year. He also knows about fans' initial angst - and ultimate acceptance - about locating a stadium away from the city center. The Cardinals' stadium in Glendale is about 20 miles west of downtown Phoenix, which did not deter the NFL from awarding it Super Bowl XLII in 2008.

By the way, those Phoenix business leaders were in the Bay Area as part of what they called their "California strategy" of turning Silicon Valley's innovation in solar technology into manufacturing and production jobs in the Arizona desert.
This week's news

Tuesday: The full Board of Supervisors meets at 2 p.m. and they are expected to pass the budget.

Saturday: Bayview-Hunters Point residents are invited to a meeting with Bay Area Air Quality Management District officials who will answer questions and concerns about air quality. The meeting begins at 1 p.m. at Bayview Hunters Point YMCA, 1601 Lane St.
The week in numbers

$96 million The amount of state funding San Francisco received to begin building new housing developments.

$1,000 The minimum monthly fee food vendors would pay the city to peddle their food in parks.

293 The percentage increase the city will pay over the next three years as pension contributions rise.
Quote of the week

"I don't know a whole lot of people who have had meals with Newsom. He's not exactly a social eater."

Former mayor and consummate power diner Willie Brown, on successor Gavin Newsom's approach to business dinners.

John Diaz
Sunday, July 19, 2009
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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