A former longtime member of the stadium authority that oversees Safeco Field says a new 25-year lease extension for the Mariners is too favorable to the team and should be sent back and renegotiated.
In a letter to the King County Council, former Superior Court judge Terrence Carroll, a member of the Public Facilities District (PFD) from 1997-2014, wrote that any subsidies for the Mariners should require a more thorough vetting of their private books.
The letter was obtained by The Seattle Times.
The Mariners have said they won’t renew the lease agreement unless King County provides the PFD about $180 million in public lodging tax money to cover capital projects at the stadium.