The first Seattle SuperSonics Taskforce meeting was convened yesterday by State Representative Mike Hope (R-Lake Stevens) and State Representative David Frockt (D-Seattle) as a large group of bi-partisan elected officials, community leaders and  business owners  came together to discuss a strategy and vision to bring a multi-purpose stadium to the region, capable of housing both an NBA and NHL team.

Joined by Rep. Ross Hunter, Rep. Tina Orwall, Rep. Eric Pettigrew, Sen. Jean Kohl-Welles and several other community leaders, the Sonics Taskforce meeting established several sub-committees to look at ideas for revenue sharing, stadium location, marketing and economic impact.

“Our proposal to bring an NBA/NHL team to WA State will mean hundreds of millions of dollars in additional state revenue every year while helping interject new money into businesses around WA State,” said Rep. Hope.

Developing a plan that would not raise taxes or cost the tax-payers any money is the primary objective of the Sonics Taskforce meeting. “Funding professional sports teams is not the responsibility of the tax-payers. We will only move forward with a plan that benefits our economy, adds revenue to our cities and brings new opportunities to WA State without costing the tax-payers money,” said Rep. Hope.

A follow-up taskforce meeting is scheduled for next month where the sub-committees will report on their findings and further discuss stadium location, profit-sharing and community development.