A’s owner: ’I don’t really have a Plan B’

With his dream of a Fremont ballpark-to-be going up in smoke, Oakland A’s owner Lew Wolff doesn’t know what his next move will be.

There has been no official word out of either Wolff or the A’s, but after sinking $24 million into efforts to get ballpark construction under way in two Fremont locations, the effort has hit a wall.

The first site, just west of the Nimitz Freeway, was a bust because of concerns about traffic and possible court fights with neighboring businesses.

Site two, at Warm Springs, sank as neighborhood opposition gathered strength. As a result, the A’s would either have to put the ballpark proposal on the ballot or face a long environmental review - or both. Either way, they would be tied up for another two years.

Wolff - whose son Keith even moved up here from Southern California and has been going door-to-door trying to ease neighbors’ fears - said the impasse is a reflection of how difficult it is get projects of any size done in California these days.

As for the oft-mentioned Plan B - a move to San Jose?

"To tell you the truth, I don’t really have a Plan B," Wolff said. "Right now, I’m going to take a breath and think things out."

How about moving out of state? "I’m not really sure things would be any easier in Omaha, either."

Omaha?

The office: State Sen. Abel Maldonado got a lot of ink by slamming Controller John Chiang for spending nearly $1 million on new office furniture while the state was going over the financial cliff.

Well, Maldonado got his wish - which was for the money to go bye-bye.

It turns out, however, that the new furniture was to go into new, cheaper offices the controller had leased.

So now, there’s a problem. Chiang can’t cancel the lease and can’t move in without furniture, so his staffers are stuck in their current, high-rent office.

Upshot: Maldonado got his $1 million in savings, but the state may be on the hook for $4.8 million in higher rent and other expenses over the next six years.

Oh, and the 20-year-old furniture in the controller’s office doesn’t meet requirements under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act. So something is going to have to be done about that.

Any ideas, Sen. Maldonado?

Meg’s mojo: Running for political office seems to have done wonders for former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Just look at the two photos here - one from two years ago, and the second from last week when she launched her campaign in San Jose.

A bit of a makeover here?

"Not that I know of. She has always looked great," said press aide Mitch Zak, who has been with Whitman for years.

Interesting to note, however, that Jenny Craig is on Whitman’s fundraising team.

For hire: San Francisco may have just laid off city 400 workers, with more to come, but the financial pinch doesn’t seem to have reached the airport.

SFO officials have just put out a bid for a $400,000-a-year consultant to act as a "go-between" for airport managers and the airlines.

Apparently, the task of working with the airlines on such things as redesigning terminals is just too touchy for either airport Director John Martin (who earns $250,000 a year) or his eight deputy directors (who earn anywhere from $164,000 to $211,000 a year) to handle.

Neither Martin nor Airport Commission President Larry Mazzola returned calls for comment.

Airport spokesman Mike McCarron, however, said paying for a go-between consultant is something the airlines and the airport have been doing for years.

Besides, he said, the money comes from airline fees, not taxpayers.

Like we said, they must be doing very well out there.

Spinning Sully: What do you do when the TV satellite trucks pull up on the front lawn?

If you’re San Ramon’s Lori Sullenberger, whose husband, Chesley, managed to land his crippled US Airways plane safely in the Hudson River last month, you call a friend who calls a friend - who puts you in touch with Alex Clemens and Libby Smiley at San Francisco’s Barbary Coast Consulting.

Clemens and company then handle the 300 to 400 calls a day coming in from the media. They also get Chesley Sullenberger, the crew and the flight attendants association together on a conference call to engineer the media roll-out. Sully insisted it be group thing.

Then it starts with "60 Minutes," followed by Larry King, the various network morning shows and David Letterman.

Then you go local with an interview with KGO-TV, where Lori has appeared in the past as a health and fitness expert.

Once thing quiet down, you start on the money end: dealing with requests for product endorsements and paid speaking engagements.

In between, Chesley Sullenberger still manages to do it his way - breaking ranks by giving an interview to his daughter’s high school paper, then turning down some more interviews to fly home from New York and take daughter Kate down to the Department of Motor Vehicles for her driver’s test.

Did she pass?

"I certainly hope so," said spin master Clemens. "She’s driving."