Oakland (Special to ZennieReport.com) – On Tuesday, November 14th, 2023, the managers of Schools not Stadiums, the organization that filed the failed attempt to gather signatures to place the bond-issue for the Oakland A’s Las Vegas Stadium up to a state-wide vote, issued a press release announcing a new lawsuit. But upon review, the arguments presented by the Oakland-backed non-profit are flawed and will lead to another embarrassing loss in court.
Schools not Stadiums Press Release Claims SB1 Violation, Comes Up False
The Schools not Stadiums press release that issued the lawsuit threat stated:
While pursuing a referendum petition to block the use of state tax dollars in the A’s Las Vegas stadium project, Schools Over Stadiums has also been looking deeper into conflicts between the language of Senate Bill 1 authorizing the stadium deal and the Constitution of the State of Nevada. Dawn Etcheverry is an elementary music teacher and President of Schools Over Stadiums. “After several months of organizing, our commitment to blocking the use of public funds for the stadium project has only grown stronger. We believe SB1 violates at least 5 sections of the state Constitution which should lead to the bill’s partial or total invalidation. We have asked legal counsel to draft litigation and will be filing to overturn SB1 in Nevada District Court in the coming weeks.”
From SoS press release.
Then Schools Over Stadiums issued what it called “Relevant Sections of the Constitution of the State of Nevada” with respect to its lawsuit. In other words, Schools Over Stadiums listed where it was going to focus its legal attack: from the Nevada Constitution’s language. The trouble is, Schools Over Stadiums didn’t bother to state the reasoning behind the selected articles it believed pointed to an action, the passage of SB1, that was against the Nevada Constitution.
So, Zennie62Media CEO Zennie Abraham, with a background in urban economic and public financing, and experience as an intern, economic analyst, mayoral policy analyst, consultant, and project manager with the City of Oakland, the Emeryville Redevelopment Agency, and the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, as well as forecasting the revenue short-fall that the first SB1 for the Oakland Raiders Las Vegas Allegiant Stadium would and did put the Schools Over Stadiums claims under an analytical microscope.
That report starts after the April 2017 Zennie62Blog.com post regarding this author’s finding that the Stadium Hotel Tax would not bring in enough revenue to meet the bond debt service requirement for the $750 million lease revenue bond issue for the Raiders’ Las Vegas stadium now called Allegiant Stadium.
The news was presented to Clark County Finance Director Jessica Colvin, who told this author that such a scenario would not happen.
This author’s prediction came true when the bonds were sold the next year April 18th, 2018: a shortfall was apparent and was noted in a news report by Las Vegas TV Station KTNV.
Schools over Stadiums Makes Giant Blunder In It’s So-Called “Legal Review” Of SB1
Schools over Stadiums has listed the “Relevant Sections of the Constitution of the State of Nevada” in its press release, and starts with this article in the Nevada Constitution:
- Article IV, § 18(2) …an affirmative vote of not fewer than two-thirds of the members elected to each House is necessary to pass a bill or joint resolution which creates, generates, or increases any public revenue in any form, including but not limited to taxes, fees, assessments and rates, or changes in the computation bases for taxes, fees, assessments and rates.
Schools not Stadiums mistook SB1 for a public tax-levy, when in point of fact, it’s a public bond-issue done for a private purpose – the vote was about a bond issue and not a tax or fee to be charged to the public at large. In other words, the Nevada home-owner is not being levied a tax or fee, or an increase of any kind. The language above clearly concerns itself with any attempt to collect money from the public and to feed a general fund; this is a bond issue fueled by money gained from activity within a special district, and used for a private activity: funding of a bond-issue for construction of a ballpark.
- Article IV, § 19 No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of
appropriations made by law.
Does Schools not Stadiums Know A Public Bond-Issue Versus A Tax?
Because Schools not Stadiums mistook SB1 for a public tax-levy, when in point of fact, it’s a public bond-issue done for a private purpose, it’s lawyer assumed for this language applied regarding money drawn from the reasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law”, when that wording has no place in the SB1 discussion.
- Article IV, § 21: …in all other cases where a general law can be made applicable, all laws shall be general and of uniform operation throughout the state.
Because Schools not Stadiums mistook SB1 for a public tax-levy, when in point of fact, it’s a public bond-issue done for a private purpose, it’s lawyer assumed for this language applied regarding taxes and that they must be uniform. But, again, this is regarding a private-activity municipal bond.
- Article IX, § 3 The State may contract public debts; but such debts shall never, in the aggregate, exclusive of interest, exceed the sum of two per cent of the assessed valuation of the State… Every such debt shall be authorized by law for some purpose or purposes, to be distinctly specified therein; and every such law shall provide for levying an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest semiannually, and the principal within twenty years from the passage of such law, and shall specially appropriate the proceeds of said taxes to the payment of said principal and interest; and such appropriation shall not be repealed nor the taxes postponed or diminished until the principal and interest of said debts shall have been wholly paid.
Schools not Stadiums obviously hates doing math, but first, some facts: SB1 is not a state bond-issue, but an issue impacting Clark County. That fact, alone, invalidates the Schools not Stadiums claim. But if one does the math, the total assessed valuation of the State is $82 billion; the bond-issue is $120 million, and the total package of tax credits is $260 million.
Since the tax credit is a reduction in taxes, that eliminates it from consideration as a bond-issue. That leaves the $120 million bond-issue, which is just 0.00014616% of the total assesed value of the State of Nevada – well below two percent. But, remember, this is considered a Clark County debt, not that of the State of Nevada. So, Schools not Stadiums loses in two ways: assignment of the bond-issue to the County, not the State, and the tiny percentage size of the bond-issue with respect to the State, which doesn’t apply, anyway.
- Article IX, § 4 The State shall never assume the debts of any county, town, city or other
corporation whatever, unless such debts have been created to repel invasion[,] suppress
insurrection or to provide for the public defense
Since SB1 is state bond-issue, but an issue impacting Clark County, the above article has nothing to do with it. Schools not Stadiums loses, yet again.
Schools not Stadiums fails, again : In short, this proposed lawsuit is yet another sad waste of time on the part of Schools not Stadiums. Schools not Stadiums issued a press release that made it clear it did not do its homework before communicating concerns to the public about SB1. So, what they wrote was completely incorrect and shows Schools not Stadiums doesn’t know the difference between a tax-levy and a bond-issue. There is no good evidence that Schools not Stadiums is concerned with Nevada Education. If Schools not Stadiums were, it would try to work a plan with the Las Vegas-bound Oakland A’s that helps both the MLB organization and Nevada Schools.
Schools Not Stadiums Is Flirting With A SLAPP Lawsuit
In its press release, Schools not Stadiums reports:
School Over Stadiums was formed by Nevada educators in response to a giveaway of hundreds of millions in tax dollars to a California billionaire for a stadium, when Nevada schools rank 48th in per-pupil funding with the largest class sizes in the nation. Schools Over Stadiums is pursuing every possible path to stop the use of public funds to subsidize a billionaire’s stadium.
But the words, “is pursuing every possible path to stop” have produced feeble legal challenges that make School Over Stadiums look like a desperate Keystone Cops routine. The problem is that School Over Stadiums is more interested in waging class-warfare than helping Nevada Schools. If it keeps up the series of nowhere legal pot-shots, it could trigger a SLAPP lawsuit.
A SLAPP lawsuit is a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. School Over Stadiums constant filing of weak-argument lawsuits could draw a SLAPP and alienate the whole of Las Vegas, Clark County, and the State of Nevada against School Over Stadiums. It’s better off negotiating with Oakland A’s President Dave Kaval to help the A’s help Nevada Schools. SB1 does not violate at least 5 sections of the Nevada Constitution.
School Over Stadiums Is Financed Mostly by Oakland Politicians and Oakland Politicos
Anyone who actually believes School Over Stadiums is around for any reason other than its manager Alexander Marks got help from Oaklanders like Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Oakland Port Commissioner Michael Colbruno, and former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan in the formation of the non-profit, is in for a surprise.
While Schools Over Stadiums claims to be an effort led by Nevada teachers, the only fund-raising photo the organization posted on social media (specifically, Facebook), was one taken in Oakland.
One has to know Oakland to spot who’s who, but without the names, the fact that Oakland A’s Fans are involved is demonstrated by those persons wearing the now-famous “Sell” t-shirts, first unveiled during the “Reverse Boycott” that drew over 27,000 fans to the Coliseum for a game.
But, as to the question of who’s who in the photo, the tall gentleman on the right in the dark green suit is Alexander Marks, the Executive Director of the non-profit Schools Not Stadiums organization. Mr. Marks is visiting Oakland from Las Vegas and the money-raising event was held August 17th, 2023 at Fluid 510 Night Club at 1544 Broadway in Downtown Oakland.
The photo of supporters includes the afforementioned former Mayor Jean Quan dressed in dark-pink, Mr. Colbruno standing right behind her wearing the “Sell” t-shirt, Sean Sullivan, the co-owner of Fluid 510, is in a dark-blue t-shirt and wearing a cap, and Chris Dobbins, Oakland lawyer and former Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Board Member. This is proof that while Schools Not Stadiums is a Nevada-based effort aimed at trying to stop the public-funding part of the A’s Las Vegas Ballpark financing, it’s money comes from Oakland, California.