Clear Channel and city brace for Shoreline hearing Clear Channel and city brace for Shoreline hearing (December 09, 2005)

By Jon Weiner

Lawyers for Clear Channel and the city of Mountain View are set to appear in court Thursday, Dec. 15, to argue the validity of several claims in the lawsuits the two sides have filed against each other.

The actual trial is set to begin Feb. 6, and each side is working hard to limit the scope of the charges they face. The city wants Judge William Elfving to dismiss Clear Channel's claims that a parking lot rearrangement at Shoreline Amphitheatre created an unsafe environment and cost the company money. Clear Channel, in turn, has asked the judge to reject four of the city's claims, including racketeering and theft of public funds.

If the city prevails in its request, it will mark the end of the last claims the company filed against the city. If the company wins its arguments, it will still face trial, though with a reduced risk of punitive damages. The city could still boot promoter and Clear Channel subsidiary Bill Graham Presents (BGP) from the amphitheater.

BGP is also facing a lawsuit from the owners of the Warfield Theater in San Francisco, who want to evict the company from that venue two years before the lease runs out. Meanwhile, Concord is considering whether to cut another deal with BGP despite mounting losses at the Concord Pavilion.

"Some of the stuff that will come out in this case may put Concord on notice that they're not getting everything they should be getting," said city attorney Michael Martello.

The company recently sent the city 18 boxes of documents in order to comply with a judge's order to cooperate with city auditors, who have said the company owes at least $3.6 million. Twenty more boxes are on the way, according to Martello.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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