The Sacramento versus Seattle battle for the Kings basketball team just got more vocal: Sacramento wants a debate.
Local arena proponents have sent on open letter to businessman Chris Hansen, challenging him to show up in Sacramento in 10 days to face off against a construction worker, a local arena employee and kid who loves the Kings in a debate over which city deserves the team more.
The letter, written by Jeremiah Jackson of the Think Big Sacramento group, states up front, in capital letters: "Keep your hands off our Kings."
Recent reports out of Seattle indicate Hansen, a San Francicsco hedge fund manager and Seattle native, has been in talks with Seattle city officials on how to finance a new arena and bring NBA basketball back.
The Seattle Times obtained documents indicating Hansen's group has been monitoring Sacramento's efforts to build an arena to keep the Kings.
Hansen did not respond to a Bee phone call last week. Jackson of Think Big Sacramento said his group does not know if Hansen has talked with the Kings owners about purchasing the team. Team officials have consistently said the team is not for sale.
In the letter today, Jackson wrote:
"Given what is at stake for Sacramento and your highly publicized effort to steal our team, we challenge you to come to Sacramento and participate in a debate at high noon on February 23rd at the Oak Park Community Center where you can defend the indefensible and explain the inexplicable: your effort to steal our jobs.
"Participating in this debate on behalf of Sacramento will be a construction worker representing the thousands of workers from the Building Trades who have been out of work with unemployment for construction workers in excess of 20%, a current employee at Power Balance Pavilion who will lose their job should the Kings depart, and a representative of our youth community who love their Kings and wants them to stay in Sacramento."
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