Los Gatos Weekly-Times

RAIDERS WON'T COME TO TOWN FOR THEIR CAMP

By Dale Bryant

The Oakland Raiders may yet hold their annual summer camp in the South Bay, but Los Gatos is out of the picture.

Negotiations came to an end last week, according to advertising executive Bob Rauh, when it became clear that the Los Gatos Lodge would be unable to meet the housing needs for the pro football team during approximately six weeks in late July and early August.

Rauh and fellow Los Gatan Darrell Monda brought the Raiders together with officials from the town, Los Gatos High School, whose fields would have been used for the summer training, and Los Gatos Lodge, where the team--if all had gone according to plan--would have eaten meals and rested their heads at night.

Town officials made it clear from the start that it was not their decision to make, but Mayor Randy Attaway said at the time that he didn't see any reason why the town would oppose the project if school officials believed it would provide some benefit.

According to Rauh, the Raiders were willing to put up some money toward the construction of a weight-training or stretch room at the high school. It was something the high school has been trying to fund for years. And the Raiders would have needed the facility to make the location practical for their summer training needs.

The fly in the ointment, however, was the lodge. At the time team negotiations began, the lodge itself was in negotiations with a prospective buyer. On Jan. 25, new owners took over the property, and negotiations between the team and the lodge were back to ground zero.

Although the lodge has already begun a planned program of extensive renovation, Ron Nelson, who represents the new owner, said it is not the renovation that is the problem. The new owner is listed on the liquor license change of ownership as Keet Singh Nerhan.

"I just don't have the number of rooms that were required," he told the Los Gatos Weekly-Times.

Nelson said he tried to accommodate the team by checking with the Campbell Inn and with the Best Western motel across the street from the lodge to see if either could help house the team. "They were both agreeable," Nelson said, "but apparently the Raiders wanted the entire team on the same property."