Oakland Tribune Outtakes

I got my story about SF wooing the Warriors online only 20 hours after Matier & Ross — a new record for me.

I didn’t have enough time/space in the story to drive home this point, but the city is definitely moving ahead with a $3.5 million study for its plan to turn the coliseum area into a sports-entertainment complex with new buildings galore for the Warriors, Raiders and even the A’s.

There is some question about where the money for the study will ultimately come from. The city had approved using redevelopment dollars, but the state killed that program last year, and it’s unclear whether the Controller John Chiang would challenge that as an improper use of funds. But even if he does, city officials say they will move ahead with the study and find other sources to pay for it.

In fact, in a statement released Monday Mayor Jean Quan noted that Oakland has a $45 million reserve — for now. It’s still unclear whether the state will challenge Oakland’s nifty accounting last year that netted it $28.3 million for selling the Kaiser Convention Center to its now defunct Redevelopment Agency. If the state nixes that deal — the wording in a recent letter from the Controller seems to indicate that it’s a decent possibility — Oakland would have a much smaller reserve fund.