Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 5

3 HNM. Thursday, November 8, 1990 mum The Arizona Republic A9 i '4A i King Day loss puts Super Bowl '93 in jeopardy KING DAY, from page Al And Los Angeles Mayor Tom been a bigger prize. This was the would be taken away from Arizona if think the league would reconsider 1 Bradley said the Rose Bowl also- biggest elation of my career. Now, it's the King holiday was rejected. Me- Phoenix's bid for the '93 game.

i nj two years preparing the Valley's wants to get back into bidding for the the bieeest disappointment. I don't cham said that such pressure was The Rev. Joseph Lowerv. president two years preparing the Valley's wants to get back into bidding for the biggest elation of my career. Now, it the biggest disappointment.

I don't cham said that such pressure was The Rev. Joseph Lowery, president Sff game. He also congratulated the NFL I i rfr) 3 Paul Tagliabue National Football League Commissioner suggests not playing the 1993 Super Bowl in Phoenix "in the best interest" of the league. 514.1 million bid for the game. League owners are scheduled to meet next Wednesday in Dallas, but NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said no decision will be made at that time.

He said that a vote to move the game could be taken at a special meeting but that the decision will go before the annual owners meeting March 17 in Kona, Hawaii. It would take 21 votes from among the 28 teams to move the game. Officials from Los Angeles, San Diego and New Orleans said they would bid for the game. Los Angeles renews bid Los Angeles and San Diego were finalists for the '93 game, which was awarded to Phoenix in March. Phoenix edged Los Angeles on the fifth ballot by a 16-12 vote.

San Diego was eliminated on the first ballot. After Phoenix had been chosen to play host to the game, league officials warned that the event could be taken away if the King-holiday controversy wasn't resolved. After the vote, San Diego Mayor Maureen O'Connor faxed a message to Tagliabue that her city still is interested in playing host to the game. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, also said he thinks Tagliabue made a good move. "It's a healthy sign," Lowery said.

"I think they scored a touchdown. If people want to harbor those prejudices and biases, they have to be willing to pay the price." Shover attributed the loss of the game to a report by sportscaster Greg Gumbel on CBS-TV's The NFL Today on Sunday that the league already had prepared a statement saying it would "take back" the Bowl if the King vote failed. "The leak obviously changed the voter's mind," Shover said. Rep. Jay Rhodes sent a telegram to Tagliabue urging that he give the state more time.

"The King Day matter was substantially ahead in all polls until a leak from your office gave the opponents of this proposition the one issue they needed to revitalize a failed campaign," he said. "The threat of economic coercion from a source outside the state angered many, myself included." Also contributing to this article were Norm Frauenheim, Kent Somers and Steve Yozwiak of The Arizona Republic. improper but that if the league wanted to withdraw the game, it should. "We're a good civil-rights state," he said. "We don't allow discrimination knowningly here.

For us to get slammed around on this kind of a deal, I think it's really bush league. I don't think the NFL has any right telling us what to do." Phoenix Cardinals owner Bill Bid-will, who was credited with clinching the bid with an impassioned plea at the owners meeting in March, issued a statement in which he called the defeat of Proposition 302 a "disappointment." "I still believe approval of the King holiday was simply the right thing to do," Bidwill said. "I also feel sorry for the many people and leaders of Arizona, including our players and staff, who unselfishly gave their efforts and contribution to this cause." Reconsideration 'unlikely C.A. Howlett, vice chairman of the Phoenix '93 Committee, said he was disappointed that Tagliabue made such a quick decision to pull the game. But he said he hasn't given up hope that Phoenix can get it back.

However, Braman said he doesn't want to be known as the only city in the history of the game to lose it." Bill Shover, chairman of the Phoenix1 '93 Committee, called the move to rescind the ganje "devastating" Tor the Valley. "I felt the Super Bowl was the thing to bring back the community from the ravages of the (former Gov. Evan) Mecham regime and make us proud of ourselves," said Shover, public-affairs director of Phoenix Newspapers which publishes The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette. "Everyone was saying, 'We won It was a big win for the town. To have that lollipop taken out of your hand it's going to take a long time before we recover." If the owners revoke Phoenix's claim on the '93 game, the next available berth will be in 1995.

'Bluff discounted Mecham said Wednesday he thinks it was "a bit too much" that the NFL would attempt to dictate how. Arizon-ans should vote on the King holiday. He said he had believed that the NFL- was bluffing when reports surfaced last weekend that the game Norman Braman The Philadelphia Eagles owner calls the recommendation to pull the 1993 Super Bowl from Phoenix "a courageous choice." i is on its "moral stance" in renouncing the vote of Arizona's electorate. Pasadena officials said they welcome the opportunity to get back in the running for their fifth Super Bowl. "This is very sad for Phoenix, very unfortunate, but delightful for Pasadena," said Pasadena's former mayor, Bill Thomson, who remains on the city's board of directors.

Phoenix '93 Committee members, along with Gov. Rose Mofford and Sens. Dennis DeConcini and John McCain of Arizona assured league owners that a holiday would be in place. But on Tuesday, Proposition 302, which would have created a paid King Day and retained Columbus Day, was defeated by about 17,000 votes, or 1 percentage point. 'I cried' The same Phoenix '93 Committee members who said in March that getting the game "was like winning the lottery" were crushed by the news.

"I cried," said David Radcliffe, president of the Phoenix Valley of the Sun Visitors Convention Bureau. "I didn't think there had ever ii 'Only hope9 7 King Day trounced in Mohave County for holiday with Mofford By Bill Goodykoontz on this, and this state is entitled to that," said Shover, director of public affairs for The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette, noting the narrow margin by which the King holiday was defeated. Proposition 302, which would have created a King day, kept Columbus Day and resulted in an 11th paid day off for nearly 20,000 state workers, failed 533,510 to 516,274, or only 1 percentage point. Proposition 301, which would have traded King Day for Columbus Day, was defeated overwhelmingly. It was rejected, 766,387 to 250,549, or 75 percent to 24 percent.

Proposition 302 won narrowly in urban Maricopa and Pima counties 4 I The Arizona Republic KINGMAN Although the mar-f1 gin of defeat for a paid holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther' King Jr. was razor-thin statewide, in Mohave County it was no contest. Harriet Pillow of Kingman thinks she knows why. "This area is known for its racial discrimination and its ness," said Pillow, one of the few' blacks living in Mohave County.

"As far as not voting for King, that is a streak of meanness that only God can explain." But not everyone in the county agrees that racism was behind the vote. Some people argued that the vote was against another paid holiday, not King himself. "They're getting sick and tired of this free ride," the Rev. George Stookey, chaplain at Havasu Samaritan Regional Hospital in Lake Havasu City, said of voters. "It won't be long before every day on the calendar is a holiday and people will want a paycheck." Mohave County voters overwhelmingly rejected Proposition 302, which would have established a paid state holiday honoring the slain civil-rights leader while retaining Columbus Day as a paid holiday.

In Mohave County, 19,940 people more than 72 percent voted against the measure; 7,523, or 27 percent, voted for it. In terms of percentages, it was the widest margin of defeat for Proposition 302 in Arizona's 15 counties. Results from the Secretary of State's Office on Wednesday showed the proposition was defeated statewide by less than 1 percentage point. Proposition 301, which would have substituted the King holiday for Columbus Day, fared even worse: 23,626 people, or 87 percent, voted against it, and 3,549 people, or 13 percent, voted for it. That measure also failed statewide by a wide margin.

"Arizona's not sending a very good 'ONLY from page Al Arizona's only hope of salvaging the multimillion-dollar Super Bowl XXVII and avoiding a Fiesta Bowl embarrassment appeared to rest with quick action by Mofford. Mofford spokesman Vada Manager said "no decision has been made" on what might be done about the King holiday. But he added that nothing has been ruled out. "It's a power play from here on said former Gov. Evan Mecham, who said he would file a legal challenge to any such executive action by Mofford and take any action by the Legislature to create a paid King holiday back to a referendum.

"We'll just go ahead and put it back on the ballot and then recall all of those who couldn't abide by the vote of the people." Mecham maintains that an unpaid King holiday on a Sunday, which he created in 1987, should suffice. 'Power of the people' But neither the NFL nor other King-holiday backers have ever recognized the Sunday holiday, saying it docs not conform to the federal paid King holiday or similar paid holidays celebrated in most other states. "I think the power of the people is on my side," said Mecham, who said he believes that after Tuesday's vote, the only avenue "ethically" left to backers of a paid King holiday is to launch an initiative and let the voters again decide the issue. That could mean Arizona would be without a paid King holiday until at least the next general election, in 1992, and backers of a paid King holiday said two years is too long to wait. Mofford, they say privately, has nothing to lose by taking action.

"She may interpret it as an opportunity. She cares so deeply about these (the King holiday and the Super Bowl). This is her legacy. She is committed to getting this done," said one source, who asked to remain anonymous. "She'll get heat." Supporters won't quit but was rejected soundly in the state rural counties.

CBS Sports assailed Both supporters and opponents of the measure said a major factor was anger over a report by CBS Sports on Sunday that the NFL had prepared a statement saying the Super Bowl would be withdrawn from the Valley if there was no paid King Day. Shover said a decision on a new push for King Day may not have to be made soon, because the NFL owners are expected to put off a decision on the 1993 Super Bowl until March. But a league spokesman said Wednesday that a decision will be made before the March meeting. In addition, Shover said, King supporters are considering ways to put the King holiday back up for a vote, possibly in February, when an expected gubernatorial runoff election between Democrat Terry Goddard and Republican Fife Symington is held. Paul F.

GeroThe Arizona Republic Julian Sanders, (right) an anti-King Day activist, listens as holiday supporter Arnie Zaler discusses Proposition 302. Sanders said Wednesday that "proponents of the King Day are not accepting the will of the electorate." opposing both King propositions, said that he also would take Mofford to court if she used her executive-order option and that he would put the issue back on the ballot if the Legislature passed it again. Benjamin Hooks, executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he was "deeply disappointed" by the rejection of the King holiday and warned that the state could return to the days of 1987 and 1988, when scores of convention groups boycotted Arizona over the lack of a holiday. Wilbert Nelson, president of the Maricopa County chapter of the NAACP, said he believes voters were confused about the holiday's costs and may have thought it would increase taxes. "The first impulse is to go primitive and say, 'Wow, this is a racist But I would not go so far as to say everyone who voted against it is a racist or a bigot," Nelson said.

"I think it was confusing, so people just voted no." He added that the impact of the King-holiday failures on the minority community is "demoralizing." Contributing to this article were Sam Stanton and Mary Jo Pitzl of The Arizona Republic. But if Mofford were to create a King holiday by executive order, would the outcome be the same? Corbin's successor, Republican Attorney General-elect Grant Woods, supports the King holiday. Would he have the same opinion as Corbin? Woods was resting Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. Both of Mofford's potential successors Goddard and Symington support the King holiday. Whatever Woods' opinion might be, would either of them be willing to rescind Mofford's action? No specific plans Goddard said that the state has to move toward healing itself and that the next governor will have to resolve the King issue once and for all.

But he declined to offer any specific plans. Symington also declined to provide any specifics. Senate Minority Leader Alan Stephens, a south Phoenix Democrat who supports the holiday, said Wednesday that he was too busy with other political matters to speculate on what might happen next. Meanwhile, King-holiday supporters throughout the state and nation decried Tuesday's failure at the polls. Coretta Scott King, King's widow and founding president of the Martin Luther King Jr.

Center for Non-Violent Social Change in Atlanta, said through a spokesman at the center: "I commend all of the good people of Arizona who worked so hard for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and all of those who voted for it. It is unfortunate they will share the economic burden of the vote. But the vote was so close that I hope they will continue their efforts to build support so the holiday will soon be enacted." Holiday foes relish win Holiday opponents relished their victory and criticized King supporters for refusing to abide by the voters' decisions. Julian Sanders, an anti-King Day activist who put Proposition 301 on the ballot, said, "I'm very pleased that we won, but the problem is the proponents of the King Day are not accepting the will of the electorate.

"It's very frustrating, because it's not the American way. We pledged that we would accept the will of the people, and if it went down, they wouldn't hear any more for us. It continues to be a one-sided disregard for at least half the people in Arizona." Bob Rose, who led a campaign But that still would be too late for the Fiesta Bowl and continuing efforts to persuade out-of-state interests to do business, hold conventions and stage concerts in Arizona. Then-Gov. Bruce Babbitt, a Democrat, created a paid King holiday by executive order in May 1986 after the Legislature failed to pass one.

Babbitt's action rescinded Incoming GOP Gov. Mecham rescinded Babbitt's action in January 1987. Mecham maintains that Babbitt's action was illegal and that his own action was required because of an opinion by Attorney General Bob Co bin. Corbin had said that creating a new holiday amounted to an appropriation of funds to pay for essential state workers' overtime and to account for lost productivity, something only the Legislature can do. Bill Shover, a key supporter of the King holiday and major player in efforts to bring the Super Bowl to the Valley, said holiday backers will not give up.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said Wednesday that he will urge the league's team owners to vote to withdraw the game from Phoenix. Observers expect the owners to go along with that recommendation. "We've got to look at every option message" by defeating the King holiday proposal, said county Supervisor Becky Foster, "and it certainly doesn't send a very good message from Mohave County." "I would hope the 'no' vote was just because they (voters) don't want to pay for another holiday," she said. "But I suspect that's not the reason. 'j I'm second-guessing people, but preju- dice could be a part of it." Of the 90,100 people who live in Mohave County, fewer than 150 arevs black, according to Arizona Depart- ment of Economic Security estimates.

"It's the older population" that killed the proposal, Pillow said. "They're set in their ways," she -added. "They don't want to give a black man recognition. Vt But Stookey, former pastor at, I Havasu Christian Church, said "lazy loafers" and greedy politicians up with the idea for a King holiday. f.

"These politicians ought to be taken out and have a millstone hung around their neck and dropped the deepest part of the ocean," he, said. County Supervisor Bill pointed out that former Gov. Evanrt Mecham carried Mohave County in the September primary election for governor. "It follows that he opposed the I holiday," Roper said. "If his influence was that great in Mohave County, then I would say his idea carried through to the general election." Sportscaster has no regrets over breaking NFL story '-Pi By Bob Cohn The Arizona Republic Greg Gumbel has no no second thoughts and no problem with the story.

He only wishes the vote had turned out differently. "We had a job to do, and that's what we did," said Gumbel, the host of 77e NFL Today show on CBS. It was Gumbel who on Sunday reported that the National Football League was ready to "take back" the 1993 Super Bowl And I feel badly that it had anything to do with sports." Gumbel, who is black, said he feels no sense of irony at being cited as someone who helped derail the holiday. "If you're doing news and you see a news story, there will always be repercussions," he said. "But it's news, and you do it.

And, frankly, it's a little silly for people to think I might be responsible for something that went on in the voting booth." from Arizona if a proposition failed to create a paid holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King's birthday. Some supporters of Proposition 302 say the report created a backlash among voters who felt they were being threatened or intimidated. The proposition was narrowly defeated in Tuesday's election. The CBS report was borne out Wednesday when NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said he will recommend to team owners that the Super Bowl be moved out of Arizona.

"To be honest with you, I certainly didn't think a report like this would have a negative effect," Gumbel said Wednesday evening from New York. "That's what I don't understand. In retrospect, I think it's unfortunate. "I feel badly for the people of Arizona who wanted to do the right thing. I feel badly there had to be a political brouhaha over something basic, like Martin Luther King's birthday being declared a holiday.

Greg Gumbel "I certainly didn't think a report like this would have a negative effect.".