Anaheim Mayor Pro Tem Kris Murray

Anaheim Mayor Pro Tem Kris Murray

On Friday, Mayor Pro Tem Kris Murray spoke out strongly on the city-commissioned appraisal in particular and the state of negotiations with the Angels in general, making it clear there is a deal at

“We have the framework in front of us that keeps the team in Anaheim, renovates an old stadium, and doesn’t impact our taxpayers. It’s time to get a deal done that’s real, with real benefits.”

That struck a nerve with blogger Mat Gleason, who blogs Halos Heaven as “Rev Halofan.” Yesterday, he published an earnest post in which he vividly expressed his response:

Anaheim Rep Kris Murray Fights to Keep Angels

Someone Finally Stands Up To Mayor Tom Tait

Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait had been waiting for his big blockbuster report to be assembled. He was going to show us. He had a formula to measure value and it was all in simplistic dollar signs and wow did he ever show us.

Tom Tait’s commissioned appraisal of the value of the land on which Anaheim Stadium sits has been delivered. To nobody’s surprise the land is worth more as a piece of dirt ($325 Million) than with the stadium and surrounding development ($225 Million).

Arte Moreno basically transformed the Angels franchise into an economic powerhouse that benefits the City of Anaheim as well as the quality of life to the surrounding area. As a reward for a job well done and a commitment to the region, the City council had offered Moreno the land to develop for a dollar a year rent provided he assume all costs of maintaining the land and stadium – costs which the city now assume.

Tom Tait has bullied his demands to the point that Arte has sent his errand boy, team President John Carpino, to the cities of Irvine and Tustin to see if any large pieces of dirt might be transformed into the cultural lifeblood of their cities. The idea that the Angels might up and leave the city is not the idea of how the representatives of the people treat entities that enrich the lives of those represented people and enrich the city itself.

One Anaheim city councilperson is standing up to Bully Mayor Tait. Kris Murray, the Pro-Tem Mayor of Anaheim, is pointing out that Tait’s entire study is just a short term mirage – the money that the city would ostensibly make would be one time money while the value of having the stadium and the team owner develop the land around it is incalculable considering the benefit to the city, let alone the revenue it will generate for the city.

Murray is one of four council members who has voted to approve the basics of the Dollar-Per-Year deal – understanding that is saves the city money over the current deal.

You can read the entire post here.