The prophecy of a grace roots group, Santa Clara Plays Fair, finally rung true. But the public idolizes Kathy and Lisa still. They have not witnessed their nasty girl attitudes and therefore feel they are right to condemn and push aside the efforts of Hardy, Park, Suds, Raj & Becker who are trying to amend the bad deal Kathy, Lisa and team brought to Santa Clara. Do not be fooled. Many of those others that sat in your living room trying to convince you what a great deal it left the city, Lisa and her crew have cost this city More Financially and Ethically than the 5 new council members. Thank goodness the Niners put their money up to get them advertising – because after all isn’t that what they did to ensure they would have a stadium. The Niners supported the likes of Mathews, Mahan, Caserta, Kolstad, Kornder, Moore, Gilmore, Marsalli. Y’all want more of these people again? I don’t think so. Fortunately Kathy showed us what “my event” looks like; anything other than people she does not like. It must hurt her that she is no longer one of Jed’s favorites because she so loves ‘her team’, or have the public forgotten her disappearing to go to a game instead of being at council? want to know more:

http://www.savesantaclara.org/city_council.php

http://santaclaraplaysfair.blogspot.com/2014/

https://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/santa-clara-appoints-kathy-watanabe-to-council-city-manager-set-to-resign/

http://www.savesantaclara.org/Lisa_Gillmor.php

http://www.metroactive.com/metro/09.12.07/coverstory-0737.html

It is all the 49ers fault

Check out Kathy Watanabe’s Facebook

She does a selfie gobbling three bratwurst while chugging a brew at a 49ers game.

That is a lot of bratwurst for a critic over the 49ers.

Levi’s Stadium is owned by the City of Santa Clara. Its construction was mainly financed by the City of Santa Clara Stadium Authority with total costs of more than $1.3 billion in a deal whose benefits to the City are not clear-cut (https://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/Levi-s-Stadium-The-1-3-billion-bet-5687409.php#photo-6723396). The stadium has been leased to the San Francisco 49ers organization since 2014. Owner Jed York and the 49ers signed a contract regarding the use of the stadium with the City of Santa Clara Stadium Authority that year but have attempted to take advantage of City resources and to violate the terms of the contract.

The City repulsed 49er attempts to acquire other City property and successfully defended the terms of the agreed contract in court. In general, Mayor Gillmor and the pre-2020 Council majority (that included Watanabe) did not back down in the face of a 49er encroachments and public relations campaign to discredit and intimidate them.

York’s “Plan B” was a hostile takeover of the City Council through a massive intervention in the 2020 council elections in which he spent $3 million in support of four 49er-friendly council candidates, of whom three prevailed (Anthony Becker, Suds Jain and Kevin Park). When combined with two other “pro-49er” Council incumbents (Vice Mayor Raj Chahal and Karen Hardy), York expects a pliant 5-2 (or at least 4-3) Council majority to modify the Levi’s Stadium lease and other arrangements in ways more favorable to the 49ers (see https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-council-candidates-49ers-police-union-point-fingers-over-campaign-donations/ and https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/10/25/opinion-santa-clara/).

Sparks flew into public view recently when Mayor Gillmor called for transparency regarding the content of meetings between “pro-49er” Councilmembers and 49er representatives. Those Councilmembers, in turn, called for similar transparency for meetings with all lobbyists with business with the City, including those involving Mayor Gillmor (https://www.sanjoseinside.com/the-fly/gillmor-could-get-more-than-expected-in-transparency-pitch/).

Santa Clara has a long track record of being well-run and well-financed due, in great part, to its direct public ownership of “business type” assets, e.g. electric utility, water utility, sewer utility, water recycling utility, Mission City Cemetery, Santa Clara Convention Center, sports and recreational facilities. These public entities collectively bring in more than twice the revenues collected by the City via taxes and fees. Such publicly-owned enterprises allow the City to maintain superior infrastructure, facilities and services for its 130,000 residents at lower cost (see the easy to follow June 2019 financial report https://www.santaclaraca.gov/home/showdocument? id=65838).

In other words, publicly-owned enterprises make Santa Clara a more affordable and pleasant place to live. This is vitally important for city residents. With Levi’s Stadium’s economic viability in the post-COVID-19 uncertain, the City could be saddled with financial obligations and burdens it could not previously anticipate and that could negatively effect finances and services. This is in addition to any further encroachments and costs that the City might end up absorbing now that there is a majority of Council members beholden to York and his agenda.

As such, there is a significant threat to the fiscal and governance integrity of a city that has historically distinguished itself by its relatively strong finances and services. These very consequential circumstances for Santa Clara residents are what Ms. Bitters completely missed while covering Ms. Watanabe’s rudeness and its fallout.