San Diego Chargers chairman Dean Spanos has tapped local developer and attorney Fred Maas, founder of MRV Systems and chairman of MRV Capital Partners, to help the team win voter approval for a new Chargers stadium. Maas has extensive experience dealing with city issues and helped in re-planning North Embarcadero, provided an analysis for expanding the Convention Center, and was involved in planning a new Chargers stadium, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

He's working with the team's legal counsel, Mark Fabiani, and Spanos to compile information for the city to decide where the stadium should go and what type of public help is appropriate. These issues must be resolved by the third week of March to get enough signatures and promote the ballot initiative in time for the November election. The team's owners and Spanos were previously involved in designing a downtown stadium, the new Qualcomm Stadium, and the abandoned Carson stadium (pictured). One of those plans could be used for the new Chargers stadium.

Two sites under consideration are the 166-acre Qualcomm site in Mission Valley and a 15-acre site east of Petco Park in downtown. The downtown site is owned by the city’s Metropolitan Transit System and has challenges that could delay construction of the stadium for several years. [SDUT]