Speak Up: Should the City Fund Pro Basketball Facility?

The Golden State Warriors want to bring their minor league team to a parking lot in our city by the bay. If you missed the story, check and side.

The Santa Cruz City Council will begin talking about the proposal at its 3 p.m. meeting Tuesday.

As with all sports franchises, there is opportunity for collateral profit and expense.

The games are played after the summer tourist season and this would bring tourists back during the lull. They will find their way downtown, instead of just to the Boardwalk, because the tented portable structure would be on the fringe of it.

People would eat here, spend money here, leave behind tax revenues.

However, aside from the initial projected expense of $2.5 million, of which the city would pay half, Santa Cruz may also have to come up with extra hours for an already-strained 94-officer police department and more parking for 3,200 fans when finding a spot is already frustrating.

In a city that goes to the mat on most every issue, you can expect great debates over the topic as the months unfold. You will undoubtedly hear some argue that sports teams are private businesses and should fund themselves and others saying the money should go to the homeless.

On the other side, with a downtown shuttering up businesses and few jobs in sight, people will claim this is a good economic stimulus package, not just for sports, but concerts and events such as Cirque du Soleil.

Some cities, such as San Jose, have been happy with their franchises. The 1988 vote to build an arena for the Sharks passed by a hair, but today you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who admits to voting against it. Santa Clara just won an election to bring the 49ers to the small city, after it had earlier voted down a proposal to move the San Francisco Giants there in the 1990s.

In Sacramento, the owners of the Kings are squabbling with the city over who pays for a new arena, now that the old one is dated and doesn't have mass transit or enough luxury boxes for high-end sponsors. And remember the battles to keep the Raiders who picked up and left Oakland and then came back?

What do you think? Here's your chance to post a vote and a message to the community in the comments section.

ALSO: There is no name for the team yet. Do you have a suggestion? Add it under comments.