PHOENIX - Maricopa County, Ariz., told the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team it won't pay $65 million for repairs to the bond-funded Chase Field in downtown Phoenix, sparking a war of words between the team and the county government.
Newly released documents published by local media detail an acrimonious exchange between County Supervisor Andrew Kunasek and the Diamondbacks' president and chief executive officer, Derrick Hall.
The Diamondbacks have repeatedly hinted that they are not satisfied with taxpayer-funded and owned Chase Field, which opened as Bank One Ballpark in 1998. The club recently asked for another infusion of $65 million for repairs to the facility, sparking a harsh response in an April 28 letter from Kunasek to Hall.
"Whether you are motivated by greed, are politically naïve, or lack an understanding of the proper role of government is irrelevant to me," Kunasek wrote, adding that he personally believes that the stadium should never have been built with public money to begin with.
Hall responded with a May 3 letter to the entire board, prefacing it by saying he assumed Kunasek spoke for them all. In that letter, Hall expressed "disappointment" in the contents of the first letter and accused Kunasek of making "ugly" comments to him and other members of the team's front office while hand-delivering the letter. In addition to some expletive-laden comments, Hall said Kunasek told them that "If it were up to me, I'd let you take your stupid baseball team and get out."
Hall continued his message to the board with data from an Arizona-based economic analysis firm that he said demonstrates that taxpayers have already received a more than double-return on their $238 million investment in the ballpark. The two sides disagree on who is responsible for funding the repairs, raising the specter of possible legal action to resolve this issue. Kunasek has declined to seek reelection this year.
