Reacting to criticism from a high-profile mayoral candidate over talk of a possible A's move to Fremont, Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty lashed out at Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente on Friday, calling him a "thug" and noting his son's pending double-rape trial.

After a story Friday in The Argus — a sister paper of The Daily Review — about Haggerty's renewed call to bring the A's ball club to Fremont, De La Fuente called the newspaper to say the supervisor made that suggestion because he feels marginalized about no longer being able to serve on the board that oversees the Oakland Arena and Coliseum, the current home of the A's.

"Haggerty is feeling neglected and ignored, and sometimes you have to do things to get your name out there," said De La Fuente, who added that he didn't think the A's franchise is looking at any other Bay Area city outside Oakland to build a new ballpark. "I don't think Fremont or Pleasanton are in the picture, period. I don't think San Jose or Santa Clara are in the picture, period."

But Haggerty said that rather than respond to reports in the media about alternative sites for a baseball-only stadium, De La Fuente should be focusing his attention on Oakland's budget woes, which have forced the city to "dump" its jail population on the county.

De La Fuente replied that he settled the city's budget two weeks before it was due. "I'm taking care of my business," he added.

Haggerty,

whose district includes most of Fremont as well as Pleasanton and Livermore, said he was not intimidated by De La Fuente's "thug tactics."

"I continue to reach out, and he continues to be a thug," Haggerty said. "I tried to reach out to him when his son allegedly raped a girl. I called Ignacio and told him I was sorry this happened." Ignacio De La Fuente Jr. faces two counts of rape.

Haggerty and Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman wrote letters this month to A's co-owner Lew Wolff asking him to look at Fremont as a possible site for a new stadium. Haggerty has repeated he would love the A's to stay in Oakland but doesn't want to risk seeing them leave the county.

De La Fuente urged patience, saying the A's have plenty of time to make a decision before their lease is up.

He and county Supervisor Gail Steele, who both serve on the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Joint Powers Authority, have been having regular talks with Wolff to keep the organization in town, De La Fuente said. Steele, who chairs the joint-powers authority, represents Union City, Newark, Hayward and part of north Fremont.

The council president has backed an idea to build the ballpark along the Oakland Estuary at a site referred to as Oak to Ninth.

"We are doing everything we can within reason to be responsive to the A's need for a stadium," De La Fuente said. "But we are not about to get into any competition with any city or anyone else over building a stadium."