Will new mayor work with Chargers on stadium?

• New mayor says he'll be 'the toughest negotiator' the Chargers have ever faced.
• As quest for stadium drags on, Chargers remain a perennial candidate to move north to L.A.
• Team and mayor could find common ground with labor unions, a mutual ally

The San Diego Chargers' decade-long quest for a new stadium almost certainly won't be submitted to voters until at least 2014.

But even that possibility appeared less likely this week with the election of new mayor Bob Filner, a Democrat who has vowed to be "the toughest negotiator the Chargers have ever faced."

Without a solution, the Chargers remain a perennial candidate to move to Los Angeles – even as soon as next year, though the team has shown a commitment to San Diego as long as viable options are on the table.

"We've waited this long, and if we have a path to success, we can wait until 2014," said Mark Fabiani, the Chargers point man on the stadium search. "Right now we don't have such a path, but we hope to find one with the new mayor."

Even if it goes to voters in 2014 and is approved, a new stadium probably wouldn't be ready for play until 2018.

Both mayoral candidates had opposed public financing of a new stadium, but Filner's opponent, Republican Carl DeMaio, had said he was open to creating a public-private partnership for the project.

Filner, a Congressman, states on his campaign website that "our city has been held ransom by our sports teams, a fact we cannot forget." He states "the only deal" he would make "is one that will give something back to the city and its taxpayers." He states that could include "partial ownership of the team" and "greater involvement and support of our public schools."

Filner's office didn't immediately return a message seeking comment. He is to be inaugurated on Dec. 3.

Still, there may be common cause for Filner and the Chargers, particularly with the labor unions, a staunch supporter of Filner's. The unions generally have supported a new stadium for the team on the basis that it would create union jobs.

"We look forward to working with Mr. Filner," Fabiani told USA TODAY Sports Wednesday. "We have mutual allies in the labor community, and our proposed project would create thousands of jobs and major construction in three separate sections of the city, so we hope to be able to find common ground here."

The city's current mayor, Jerry Sanders, had tried to make progress toward a new stadium, even touring stadium districts in other cities last year to gather ideas for San Diego. He had hoped to submit a downtown stadium plan to voters in 2013.

But that is not likely now because of entanglements involving the state's dissolution of redevelopment agencies.

The stadium is projected to cost around $1 billion, with money coming from the NFL, the team and taxpayers if they approve it in a vote.

The team wants to boost its revenues with a new stadium. It currently plays in 45-year-old Qualcomm Stadium, a city-owned facility that needs $80 million in repairs, maintenance and improvements, according to a city-commissioned report last year. The report also said the city would lose at least $10 million a year on Qualcomm Stadium through 2020. Even so, other financial problems for the city have kept the stadium issue on the backburner in recent years.

According to their lease with the city, the Chargers can negotiate with other cities and relocate during a three-month window each year starting Feb. 1. To leave in 2013, they would just need to pay the city $22 million.

Meanwhile, 120 miles up the road, Los Angeles is on the verge of building a new NFL stadium, pending a commitment from a team willing to move there. The goal is to have the stadium built by the 2017, but the stadium's developer, Anschutz Entertainment Group, has indicated it could be ready to accommodate a team in a different Los Angeles facility as soon as next year while the stadium is being built.