LAS VEGAS-. A group of teachers from Nevada filed a lawsuit to prevent the state government from allocating taxpayer money to build a baseball stadium on Main Street in Las Vegaswhere they will move Oakland Athletics.
Strong Public Schools Nevada, a political action committee supported by the state Education Association, filed a lawsuit Monday in court in Carson City. He thus challenged the allocation of up to $380 million in public funds approved in June by the state Legislature dominated by Democrats and the Republican governor.
“Every dollar we spend to build stadiums is a dollar we are not using for public education,” the association stressed in a statement issued Tuesday by its spokesman Alexander Marks. “Public money should not go to a billionaire for a stadium at a time when Nevada ranks 48th in the nation with the largest classroom groups and the highest educator vacancy rates in the country.”
The $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium would be built on the site now occupied by the Tropicana hotel. It is close to the stadium of the Las Vegas Raiders, the NFL team that moved in 2020, also from Oakland.
Also nearby is the home of ice hockey’s Golden Knights, who won the Stanley Cup the previous season in just their sixth year of existence.
The fight over public funds comes amid debate in other cities and states about the costs and benefits of taxpayer support for sports venues. In 2016, Nevada state legislators provided $750 million in public aid to Allegiant Stadium, the Raiders’ home base, which cost nearly $2 billion.
T-Mobile Arena, home of the Golden Knights, opened without public attendance.
Carolyn Goodman, the Las Vegas mayor who lost her bid to have the ballpark located within city limits, said in a podcast Monday that an A’s move “didn’t make sense.” The Tropicana hotel is outside the city limits but within Clark County.
“Personally, I think they should find a way to stay in Oakland to make their dreams come true,” he said.
Source: AP
