As a way to encourage feedback, the Oakland A’s and team president Dave Kaval have launched office hours, a weekly forum for fans.
The A’s are facing several major decisions about their future. Among the top priorities for Kaval and other team officials is to carry out the task of securing a new ballpark, an effort that in recent months has been increasingly focused on various locations in Oakland.
The push for a new facility to replace the 50-year-old Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum is a clear need to improve the team’s revenue, but Kaval has said he wants to make changes in the interim. One of the points of emphasis he has specifically discussed is the fan experience at the Coliseum, which he has said he wants to improve in order to boost attendance and revenue.
According to Kaval, the office hour forums will be a way to get direct feedback from fans not only about the ballpark search, but on how to enhance certain aspects of the Coliseum. More from the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
The sun had long since set before Kaval’s day was done getting suggestions for food trucks and different ways to structure the A’s annual fanfest. He’ll be doing this weekly now, but it’s nothing new. He had office hours when he was teaching at Stanford, and he had them as president of the San Jose Earthquakes, a title he still holds.
“It’s important to hear from the stakeholders,” Kaval said. “You need to get that feedback. If its big things or little things like the lack of light bulbs, they can talk to someone who can get things done and cut through the clutter if he knows about them.
“It’s not that we can follow through on every suggestion; it’s no joke to say you can hear it all at office hours. Some people are going to be angry.”
Kaval took over the president post from Michael Crowley in November.
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