“Business makes strange bedfellows.” That is certainly case with Mortenson|McCarthy working with Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher and Team President Dave Kaval.
For those who have not been following along with the Athletics drama in regard to a new ballpark. Mortenson|McCarthy got hired as the construction company to build one in Las Vegas, Nevada once Fisher gets approval to relocate the team. Problem is the renderings of the new ballpark that were used to get approval from the Nevada senate in June were not even usable. Brad Schrock who is the A’s Director of Design said “you saw renderings in the newspaper, but wad those up for now.”
Those are still wadded up and even worse is that the site is too small for a ballpark.
Looking at the mission statement from Mortenson it says “it’s our never-ending quest. Our purpose. To create great experiences and the best outcomes for everyone. And our core values guide the way.”
Interesting that Mortenson uses “outcomes for everyone.” One has to wonder if the company is paying attention to what is going on with Fisher and the A’s. Currently, there is a lawsuit against Schools Over Stadiums which was started by Nevada educators who are opposed to using taxpayer funds to finance a new ballpark.
Schools Over Stadiums on September 6 put out this statement that says the group has been “committed to pursuing every possible path to stop the use of public funds to subsidize a billionaire’s stadium and that has always included putting the question to Nevada voters who were effectively shut out of the process. Nevada’s priorities are misguided and when we launched Schools Over Stadiums in June, our goal was to ensure that public funds go to the services Nevadans depend on like our public schools, not to a California billionaire for a stadium.”
Mortenson cannot even abide by its mission statement by working with Fisher and the Athletics. Hardly a good look for any company to get associated with a group that is willing to file lawsuits against educators. The same can be said for McCarthy.
Beyond that the Athletics know that Las Vegas residents and stakeholders were against the ballpark. A poll done prior to a special session showed 80 percent of Las Vegas residents and stakeholders against it.
One also has to wonder does that everyone also include A’s fans? Cause simply put, having their favorite team stolen away to another city hardly qualifies as a “great experience” or “outcome.”
So now if Mortenson|McCarthy actually wanted to build a ballpark in Las Vegas the easiest solution is to skip working with the Athletics all together. Instead, all that is needed is to work with Major League Baseball and come to an agreement to build one in Vegas for an expansion team.
For Mortenson|McCarthy it is still not too late to do the right thing. End their partnership with the Athletics immediately.