In response to the recent release of "secret negotiations" between the Maloof and the City of Sacramento, it was revealed the Maloofs have asked for the Monarchs to not be part of the agreement as far as forcing the team to stay at the new arena for the full 30 year lease if the team chose to play elsewhere. The following is an email sent from Maloof Sports and Entertainment to Monarchs fans, and then a response from the ValleyVue Editor in Chief:

Dear Daniel,

I am communicating directly with you because it is important to me to clear up the recent confusion about the Monarchs and their future in Sacramento.
In the agreement that the Maloof family successfully negotiated with the city and county this summer it was important over the course of a 30-year new arena lease to provide for all possibilities for the Monarchs.

This provision in the legal documentation of the agreement (the MOU) was only in the unlikely event that, at some time during the course of the next 30 years, the Maloof family no longer owned the Monarchs; ie, the remote possibility that the WNBA were to revert back to centralized League ownership, as the WNBA was originally conceived, and teams were to be relocated by the League.

I believe that we have all personally experienced the Maloof family's powerful commitment to the Monarchs and to bringing WNBA Championships to great fans like you. As you know, I feel very fortunate to be a part of an organization with ownership like the Maloof family, whom WNBA president Donna Orender has called the best owners in the League. I assure you the Maloof family believes in the WNBA and wants passionately to see the Monarchs continue to thrive in Sacramento.

Thank you for all of your loyal support.

Sincerely,

Danette Leighton
Vice President of Monarchs Business Operations

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Ms. Leighton,

If the WNBA were to "revert back to centralized league ownership", allowing the league to relocate teams as they choose, it would be a powerful tool for this region to have a contractual clause mandating the Monarchs remain in Sacramento. If that unlikely scenario were to play out, the league would be forced to deal with the people of this region to allow the movement of our team.

The Maloofs and the WNBA appear to have forgotten that the basketball fans of our region have a vested interest in the team at an equal or greater level than the owners of the team. I will be a team of the Sacramento teams long after the Maloofs decide to sell their interest. That is why I support Q and R. I will be here, and part of this town, for the rest of my life. I was born here, and I love Sacramento. I have followed the Kings since they arrived in town, and have followed the Monarchs since the WNBA began. I know this is a business, but it remains a business where teams represent cities and regions. If the Monarchs leave, they will change, and never be the same franchise again. The Kings of today will never be the same franchise as they were in their Kansas City, Omaha, Cincinnati, or Rochester days.

As a Sacramento basketball fan, I have been dismayed at how the "committed" Maloof family and franchise ownership group has been so much more interested in the teams they own rather than being more committed to this city. Without Sacramento, their properties would not be what they are today.

I still intend to vote for Q and R, mostly because it is a Sacramento initiative rather than a Maloof proposal. I support the idea of a new arena not only to keep the Kings, but because I want to see the Monarchs stay here. I am disturbed that the Maloof Sports business, which has so much to thank Sacramento for, would be as callous as to seemingly decrease the likelihood of OUR teams staying here forever.

Still a proud supporter of the Sacramento Monarchs,

Dan Borlik