Politics & Government

Hagerstown Council Supports New Stadium as Suns' Ownership Meets with Fredericksburg

Baseball is not the only game the Suns are playing this summer.

Hagerstown City Council now has a majority in favor of building a new stadium for the Hagerstown Suns, whose owners have been flirting with moving to Fredericksburg.  

Hagerstown Councilman Donald F. Munson pledged his support for a downtown location on Tuesday, the Herald-Mail reported.

The announcement came the same evening Suns' majority owner Bruce Quinn was meeting with Fredericksburg baseball negotiating committee members Councilman Fred Howe and City Manager Bev Cameron.

"Quinn said in an email Tuesday night that the meeting in Fredericksburg was 'positive,'" the Herald Mail reported. "He also noted that he had similar positive discussions with [Hagerstown Mayor] Gysberts and City Administrator Bruce Zimmerman earlier in the day."

Suns' owners and the City of Fredericksburg had agreed July 9 to extend their exclusivity agreement, but it was never signed.  "The city manager did not sign it because the team offered back a change and it was not what we agreed upon," Howe said.  The team wanted one-way exclusivity, where they could negotiate with Hagerstown but Fredericksburg could not negotiate with another team.

Pending FOIA Case

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case is pending against all City Council members and City Council as a whole.  On August 2, a public meeting was cancelled between the Hagerstown Suns and the Fredericksburg City Council's Baseball Committee, then an unannounced closed meeting was held instead.

"There is an appearance of violation of Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) laws by government entities and officials entrusted with the well being of the citizens and taxpayers of the area," Liberty Guard president Joe Seehusen said in a telephone call with Fredericksburg Patch.

Liberty Guard filed for an emergency injunction hoping to prevent an August 13 closed meeting.  Fredericksburg General District Court Judge John R. Stevens denied the emergency injunction, but the FOIA case is pending.

The Free Lance-Star did not report on the court filing or decisions, but local news editor Dick Hammerstrom has since started a blog he calls Focus on FOIA.  "In Fredericksburg, some confusion on the part of a few council members resulted in a meeting that failed to meet legal requirements," he wrote.

Hammerstrom has been chairman of the Freedom of Information Committee of the Virginia Press Association and serves as vice president of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government

Fredericksburg Deal to be Presented Next Week

Fredericksburg City Council is expected to present the deal to the public at their August 27 meeting, Howe said.  That begins at 7:30 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall, 715 Princess Anne St.

Read the entire Herald-Mail story: Majority of Hagerstown council members now supports downtown stadium for Suns

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