City, county in soccer feud

The race to land a major league soccer stadium has Salt Lake City Council members pointing an accusing finger at Salt Lake County, suggesting county officials lack political integrity.

In a letter sent Tuesday to County Mayor Peter Corroon, City Council members question whether county leaders were up-front in negotiating a deal for Salt Palace expansion funds. Twenty million dollars of that funding was slated for a parking structure at the South Towne Expo Center but may now be used to buy land and a parking lot for the Real Salt Lake stadium.

Salt Lake City pitched in $8 million on the expansion deal, but Sandy didn't pay any of the cost. Now, city council members say they may end up essentially subsidizing a stadium for Sandy that Salt Lake City has been trying to land for months.

"This is not so much about the location of a soccer stadium as it is about integrity among elected officials," the City Council said in the letter.

The letter suggests the city was misled when county officials said there were no cheaper options for an Expo Center parking lot and that Sandy would not reap any economic benefit from the parking lot funds.

But after the final funding arrangements were put together during last month's interim legislative session, House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, and Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan began kicking around a deal that could use the $20 million for a surface parking lot shared by the stadium and the Expo Center. There may even be some money left over to help with the stadium.

"The Salt Palace expansion funding was never about building a soccer stadium and should not now be used for that purpose," the letter says.

The council demanded that the county "provide a timely, clear and specific response" addressing the concerns the City Council outlined.

Salt Lake City officials seem especially perturbed with County Councilman Joe Hatch, who represents Salt Lake City on the County Council. Earlier this month Hatch was the sole county official at a meeting between Real Salt Lake leaders and Sandy officials.

City Council Chair Dale Lambert wondered how Hatch, who is supposed to represent Salt Lake City on the County Council, could think that brokering a meeting between RSL and Sandy was looking out for the city's interests. Lambert said the jury is still out on whether city officials will try to get Hatch voted off the County Council when he is up for re-election in 2006.