Sonics in Renton?

Honorable Readers,

As most of you know, the Sonics have been considering Renton as a possible new home for a few months now, and it is my understanding that they remain interested in our city. Meanwhile, I’ve received a great deal of input on both sides of the question of whether we consider hosting a new Arena in our city. Recent news about the Sonics sale has only confounded this debate, pitting the higher stakes of the Sonics possibly leaving our region altogether on the one hand, with it being even more risky that Renton could end up with an empty arena on the other. Plus we still face the existing tradeoff of the positive entertainment and economic drawing power of the Sonics on the positive side, against the traffic on game days on the negative side. And I feel it goes without saying that we could never do more than provide a site with access….the State Legislature will have to decide if and how any entertainment related taxes or other mechanisms are used to assist the Sonics in funding the constuction and maintenance of the arena…Renton could simply never afford to go there.

Here is a letter from a gentleman named Jordan Zetty on the topic. As always, I invite your comments on the topic of a new Sonics Arena in Renton. My only request is that since this is such an emotional topic lately, please work at keeping your comments focussed on the issues, not on the other commenters. Thanks! READ MORE »