Friday, October 31, 2014

Dominic Caserta and the Housewives of Silicon Valley

Dear Santa Clarans,


To truly measure a political campaign, follow the money - from all sides.

Dominic Caserta's money machine amassed $64,000 between January 1st and October 18th.

Less than $4,000 of that even came from Santa Clara businesses, and less than $2,000 of it came from Santa Clara residents.  That's less than 10 percent from the city and residents that Mr. Caserta claims he's suited to represent.

So much for that so-called "grassroots campaign," eh?

Now, Kevin Park's campaign committee received less than $3,000 over that same interval.

One hundred percent of Kevin Park's support came from Santa Clarans and Santa Clara small businesses.

Now that's what we mean by "grassroots campaigning."   I encourage you to search for "Caserta" and "Kevin Park" here .   Look for "Form 460."

I'm the committee Treasurer for Santa Clara Plays Fair, so I must also submit Form 460s - same place as you'll find the two candidate reports above.  I'm required to correctly identify contributors to our group by occupation and employer when their donations amount to $100.00 or more in an election cycle.

For example, the designation "Homemaker , No employer" is a perfectly acceptable entry on a Form 460 when a homemaker tenders a contribution which is a contribution from  is large enough to be reported.  Since a typical donation to us is $50 or less, our group doesn't get to itemize large gifts from homemakers that often.

Dominic Caserta, however, sees a lot of them.   His campaign Treasurer, a Mr. Pietro Costa, recorded on Dominic's 460s a total of thirteen "Homemakers" donating an average of $336 each and putting a total of $4,400 dollars into the Caserta moneypot.  What gives?

Well, the first "homemaker" I picked at random on the form, from Scott's Valley, turned out to be a real estate broker.   Her name popped immediately in the state Department of Real Estate's licensing lookup.  Her out-of-town contribution to the Caserta Machine?   $500.00 .

Another "homemaker" is from Danville - and her name came up in connection with a luxury goods business.   Another $500 to Dominic Caserta.

A third "homemaker" is apparently the vice-chairwoman of a wholesale beverage distributing business.  $250.

A fourth is in fact a gentleman "homemaker."   That trail ran cold - but it ran real close to a real estate and insurance office in San Jose.  Another five hundred bucks to Dominic.

You get the idea.   Also, note that not a single one of the thirteen "Housewives of Silicon Valley" conduct business in Santa Clara or reside here.

This is troubling from another standpoint, too:  Note that Dominic Caserta is the one who signed the City of Santa Clara's Campaign Ethics Pledge.   Yet, part of those same campaign ethics is the truthful disclosure of who's really funding one's campaign.

Kevin Park, declined to sign that same pledge - but he then proceeded to honor the very process our city's leaders and their consultants claim that they want.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr., has noted, "Our character is what we do when we think that no one is looking."   Dominic Caserta and the Housewives of Silicon Valley have some explaining to do, I feel.

But Kevin Park, the true grassroots candidate, has explained himself rather well.   He deserves all of our support, and he's earned our votes this coming Tuesday.



Thanks for your continued support, and best regards,

William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
http://www.SantaClaraPlaysFair.org/

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Thursday, October 30, 2014

Dominic Caserta and his Niner Bucks

Dear Santa Clarans,


In addition to the $32,000 from developers and real estate interests accepted by the Caserta campaign, ten executives from the front office of the San Francisco 49ers poured in an additional $5,000 - all within 48 hours beginning on May 1st.

Anyone can read what I've read.  The FPPC Form 460 for Dominic Caserta's dollar-drenched campaign is here - just search for "Caserta."

But the 49ers have their subsidized stadium in our city - and we Santa Clarans are stuck with it.  So what would make the team's management so fearful?

Well, Santa Clarans will probably learn that the San Francisco 49ers need a compliant council in order to guarantee a compliant Stadium Authority.  This means a Santa Clara Stadium Authority that won't stand up to the team on issues such as parking stalls on the Montana hotel parcels - and which will not ensure access to the city's Youth Soccer Park by parents, soccer coaches and players during the NFL season (The 49ers want your Soccer Park so that they can park stretch limos on it.).

If you have a council and Stadium Authority that considers the 49ers' needs to be more important that residents' needs, then we have a big problem.   But putting the 49ers first has been an agenda for our city's leaders since at least 2007, when then-Mayor now-Councilwoman Patricia Mahan justified putting a 14-acre stadium on a 17-acre plot by stating:  "This site, we believe, would give the fans a great game-day experience and that's what it's all about: doing what's best for the 49ers and doing what's best for the fans."   (Emphasis mine.)


Santa Clarans living north of U.S. 101 will tell you exactly what the price of the above policy has been.   Does anyone actually believe that Dominic Caserta will go up against his 49ers when real neighbors truly need his support?

Recall Dominic's sandbagging the "No-on-A/B" voters on the BAREC issue in the previous post.  Still believe him?

We need an independent city council in Santa Clara - but Dominic Caserta is simply too flush with developer dollars and Niner Bucks to claim as much - any more than he can claim that he's running any kind of "grassroots" campaign.

But I want a council that puts Santa Clarans at the top of the list, and I believe you do also.   We'll only achieve that by denying Dominic Caserta our votes.

The candidate who has taken no developer money or Yorkbucks - and whose campaign is truly grassroots - is right there on that same ballot for Council Seat 5.

Please. Vote for real change.   Vote Kevin Park on November 4th.



Best regards,
William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
http:://www.Santa Clara Plays Fair.org

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Still coming:   Dominic Caserta and the Housewives of Silicon Valley
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nfl&id=2909173

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Dominic Caserta and his Developer Dollars - Kevin Park and a TRUE Grassroots Campaign

Dear Santa Clarans,


Would you consider for just a moment?:

A single-family dwelling next door is about to get razed to the cellar and replaced with a "mini-dorm" holding ten SCU students - with no onsite parking for their ten automobiles.

A hotel/banquet complex will be torn down.   The very first plan we see shows it being replaced with 511 living units - with a density of 67 dwelling units per acre (!) - and with barely enough parking provided for its residents.  For the mere fact of the 22 bus passing by this site, the developer is actually entitled to demand an additional increment of 25% more living units as a "transit sop."

These are not hypotheticals.  They're 2325 Park and 2500 El Camino, in fact.

Now consider who will represent you on the Santa Clara City Council:

Kevin Park accepts not one dime from developers, real estate brokers or their lawyers.  That's $0.00.

Dominic Caserta has taken, between January 1st and October 18, over $32,000 from those same developers, brokers, developers and their lawyers.  That's $32 grand.

So, which candidate, if elected, will more fairly hear the legitimate grievances of homeowners forced to watch the value of their homes destroyed in the name of unconstrained and reckless development?

Unquestionably, that's Kevin Park.   He sat on the very General Plan Steering Committee that proposed moderation in the mad rush to super-dense housing.  In the case of 2500 El Camino Real, for example, that new General Plan recommends a much more sensible 280 units, maximum, instead of 511.

On the other hand, anyone who remembers the battle over open space at BAREC, or 90 North Winchester, will recall clearly how they were treated by Dominic Caserta:   After they had walked precincts and planted yard signs for him over a period of some months, Dominic proceeded to take thousands of dollars from Summerhill Homes, the developer of BAREC - and he then tanked the open space proposal altogether.  Mr. Caserta has struggled to stamp this website out, but thanks to web archives, we can see it for the truth it told us back in late 2007.

If this were youthful indiscretions, we could wave this stuff off.   But please see these links, two accounts from one columnist six years apart,  which tell this Santa Claran pretty much who Dominic Caserta really is:   2008    2014

We really do have an alternative.   In my own dealings with Kevin Park, I've found him to be ethical and above board.   Over the past eight weeks, I've been quite pleased to walk precincts for Kevin and help get the word out:   A resident rather than a professional politician is actually running for our city council, and that's been extremely gratifying to see.

Truth be told, it was precisely over this revolving door of stale candidacies that Santa Clara Plays Fair endorsed Kevin Park along with four other candidates for council and our school district's Trustee seats.

As Santa Clarans, we can make a real difference in the governing of our city.   I'd like to urge all of you not to pass up this opportunity.

Please vote Kevin Park for Seat 5, Santa Clara City Council.

And as usual, thanks to all of you who have given Santa Clara Plays Fair your generous support - contributions, shoe leather, hand work and words of encouragement.


Best regards,

William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
http://www.Santa Clara Plays Fair.org/

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Coming:  "Dominic Caserta, his Niner Bucks - and the 'Housewives of Silicon Valley' "

Friday, September 26, 2014

Walk with us.


Dear Santa Clarans,


I'd like to thank the many Santa Clarans who visited new candidates' tables at the Santa Clara Art and Wine Festival.   Meeting new people and connecting with old friends was a welcome delight for me, and I know that the candidates we support enjoyed the opportunity to meet with you all.

We think our platform is clear:

  • Santa Clara Councilmembers responsive to Santa Clarans, not to developer dollars or Niner Bucks.
  • Santa Clara Unified Trustees standing for academic excellence and resisting political pressures out of City Hall and monied interests.
We can make that case.   It sells itself, in fact.

But will you help us get the word out?

The most important way we can reach voters between now and Election Day is by walking the voting precincts of Santa Clara.   Volunteers are already out there, and they're not politicians or pretend-consultants - they're your neighbors and your friends.

If you'll provide your time, we'll provide the materials, the training and the partners.   Just contact us at:

info@santaclaraplayfair.org

...and let us know when you are available to walk for Chris Koltermann, Michael HelmsKevin Park, Karen Hardy and Deborah Bress.

I'm walking myself, and I'll look forward to joining you these next several weeks.


Thank you for volunteering - and as always, for all of your support,

William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
http://www.SantaClaraPlaysFair.org

Please visit our blogs at:
http://www.SantaClaraPlaysFair.Blogspot.com
http://www.stadiumfacts.blogspot.com

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"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

                                            --- Mahatma Ghandhi

Monday, September 15, 2014

Why we need an independent City Council


Dear Santa Clarans,


Whether you’ve got “mini-dormitories” in your Old Quad neighborhoods, or abusive 49ers’ fans parking up and down your streets while dropping their litter behind them, or automobile speeders using your streets as expressways, we’re betting that you can feel it:

A city government far less accessible to city residents than it ever has  been, and much more beholden to special interests.

A quick look at the FPPC campaign finance reports on file with the City Clerk’s office – and only as of June 30th! – tells just a part of the story.   Just halfway through the Form 460 of returning candidate Dominic Caserta, one finds the following totals of contributions:

~$18,000 from real estate, construction and developers,
  ~$5,000 from the San Francisco 49ers

And that’s only the first twenty some-odd pages.  For Patrick Kolstad,

  ~$3,750 from the San Francisco 49ers. 

You get the idea.  But what if there were an alternative?

What if, rather than “returning incumbents”  pretending to be challengers, we had real challengers who have accepted NO money from special interests?  Candidates who believe that Santa Clara is for Santa Clarans? 

It could be that the best way to welcome regular city residents into City Hall may be to elect more regular residents, with the energy and desire to serve, to our City Council.

And that is why Santa Clara Plays Fair strongly endorses:


√ Karen Hardy  for Santa Clara City Council, Seat 2:

√ Kevin Park  for Santa Clara City Council, Seat 5:

√ Deborah Bress  for Mayor,  City of Santa Clara:


On November 4th, elect a truly independent City Council.
Thank you for all of your support,


William F. “Bill” Bailey, Treasurer

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Why an independent SCUSD?


Dear Santa Clarans,


Do you recall the 2010 Candidates’ Forums?

Candidates-for-mayor Jamie Matthews and Chris Stampolis squared off on the mayor’s role in the affairs of the Santa Clara Unified School District.   Mr. Matthews solemnly lectured Mr. Stampolis about the proper separation between the city as a political entity and the school district, which is charged with preparing young Americans.  Two necessarily separate things, said Matthews then.

But it’s 2014, and our Santa Clara Unified School District is apparently just a little too independent to suit this same Jamie Matthews, Lisa Gillmor and certain candidates for Council.  They’re singing a far different tune this year.  Would you believe that it’s all about soccer pitches?

Here’s why:   Throughout the summer of 2009, Santa Clarans were fed a load of nonsense about some “synergy” among the 49ers’ stadium, Great America, the Golf and Tennis club and the Youth Soccer Park.   Jed York and the 49ers’ front office were happy to exploit the appeal of a youth athletic facility such as the YSP in order to get up the steam for the stadium subsidy – the $42,000,000 that the 49ers sucked out of our former Redevelopment Agency.

But by last fall the 49ers knew that they didn’t have enough parking for their guests’ stretch limos.   They then decided that the Youth Soccer Park was just too close to their stadium – but that it would still make dandy parking spaces.  The Soccer Park would have to go.

Rather than engaging with soccer parents and young players fairly, the 49ers reneged on an agreement to fund the relocation of the Soccer Park.  They reneged yet again when they refused to fund the development of additional soccer pitches in our city.

The Council should be stepping up on the issue for us residents.  However, Councilmembers Mahan, Gillmor and Kolstad are instead running interference for the San Francisco 49ers.   Their ad hoc Council Committee claims to reach out to all the stakeholders – but its real aim is to force Santa Clarans give up even more to the 49ers than we already have.

This coercion started against youth soccer in our city, but it’s now a squeeze play intended to make the School District solve Jed York’s parking problems for him.  Why are they demanding that our childrens’ schools (!) surrender control of district athletic fields for soccer pitches which are unlikely ever to be enjoyed by those same students?

They’re not done:   This arm-twisting now continues with attempts to carve up city park lands.  In the City Council meeting of June 10th, the neighbors of Jenny Strand and Montague Parks saw this firsthand.  In particular, friends of the Ulistac Natural Area, know all about it.

Santa Clarans, you can see how the dominoes are truly falling:  This City Council voted to build a 14-acre NFL stadium on a 17-acre plot.   They are now running a blame game against the SCUSD along with a possible grab of city park lands.    The City Council – not the Santa Clara Unified School District – have led us exactly to where we are today.  Clearly, this City Council no longer believes in an independent SCUSD. 

We’re Santa Clara Plays Fair, and we do believe.   For an independent SCUSD,  we urge your vote on November 4th for Dr. Chris Koltermann and Dr. Michael Helms for Trustee Areas 2 and 3.  They will work for all of us – not for special, monied interests.

Say NO to the blame game – and NO to giveaways of park and school land.


Thanks for your support,

William F. “Bill” Bailey, Treasurer

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Monday, September 1, 2014

Santa Clara Voters, please vote for an independent Council and School Board!

Dear Santa Clarans,


Santa Clara Plays Fair is proud to announce our group's endorsements for the November 4th General Election.   We urge all city residents to cast their votes for an independent City Council and for independent Trustees of the Santa Clara Unified School District:


 Karen Hardy for Santa Clara City Council, Seat 2: 

        http://www.hardy4council.com/      Email: hardy4council@gmail.com
 
Kevin Park   for   Santa Clara City Council, Seat 5:
        www.kevinpark.org                        Email: santaclarakevin@yahoo.com

Deborah Bress for Mayor, City of Santa Clara:
        http://www.deborahformayor.com/   Email: DeborahforMayor@gmail.com


Dr. Christine Koltermann for SCUSD Trustee Area 2: 
        www.chriskoltermann.com            Email: chris@chriskoltermann.com

Dr. Michael Helms for SCUSD Trustee Area 3:
        www.michaelhelms.org                  Email: michael@michaelhelms.org


If one Santa Claran or School District resident will endorse these candidates to three or more neighbors, we have a real chance to build a Council and a School District which represent residents and taxpayers - not special interests. 
 
As always, we thank you for all of your support.


Best regards,

William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
http://www.SantaClaraPlaysFair.org

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If you are a Santa Clara resident not registered to vote in the November 4th election, you must register on or before October 20th.   A paper registration is available at the Office of the Santa Clara City Clerk at 1500 Warburton Drive, Santa Clara.   Telephone the City Clerk at 1(408)615-2220 for more details.



Sunday, August 3, 2014

Please Save the Date: Northside Branch Library Opens on Saturday, August 9th

Dear Santa Clarans,


I simply couldn't resist:


"The pride and presence of a professional football team is far more important than 30 libraries."

                              --Art Modell,

                                late former Browns, Ravens Owner

 
Right back at cha, Art:

Please come out to the Northside Branch Library's opening next Saturday, August 9th, to see one example of the proper business of the City of Santa Clara concluded at last - and Mr. Modell proven wrong yet again.

Sometimes, We the People - taxpayers and residents - do score a win:  Recall that this branch library has been promised to Santa Clarans repeatedly since at least 1987.

After 27 years, it's about time.

It's also worth noting that in 1987 the Santa Clara City Council gave eleven acres to the San Francisco 49ers on a sweetheart lease that yields, even today, only a paltry $26,000 a year into our city's General Fund.

So, there is much to celebrate next Saturday.   If you can make it, especially you regular patrons of Central Library, please do come on over. 

Even on Moreland Drive, the parking will still be a lot easier than it is around Levi's Stadium.


Thanks for your support and best regards,
William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
http://www.SantaClaraPlaysFair.org

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Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Santa Clara Citizen's Advisory Committee Meeting, Wed., July 2nd: Welcome S.F. 49ers's Manager of Government Affairs

Dear Santa Clarans,


The Santa Clara Citizens' Advisory Committee will meet this Wednesday evening, July 2nd, at 7:00 pm in City Council Chambers.

The guest speaker for the evening will be Mr. Rahul Chandhok, the Manager of Government Affairs for the San Francisco 49ers, who will present on the status of Levi's Stadium and host a question & answer session.

Can you make it?   Tell your neighbors, and please come out and ask those questions about the stadium you've always wanted to ask.


Thanks for your support,

William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
SantaClaraPlaysFair.org

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Monday, June 23, 2014

The 49ers' Traffic Jams and Parking: The Last Community Meeting will be held this Wednesday, June 25th

Dear Santa Clarans north of U.S. 101,


There is just one Community Meeting left for the public discussion of the traffic and the parking management which will be needed throughout the area near the 49ers' stadium:

Date Time Location
Wednesday, June 25 7:00-8:30pm Santa Clara Youth Soccer Park
Conference Room
5020 Stars and Stripes Drive
Santa Clara, CA 95054
  
An NFL event will lead to a stream of easily 20,000 motor vehicles into our city's north side - an SUV for virtually every resident of Zip Code 95054.

The earlier meetings have been attended by maybe a hundred folks each, tops - meaning that only a tiny fraction of people with a stake in the traffic management associated with the stadium have turned out for these meetings.

How the multi-city police force parks those 20,000 vehicles over the five hours before a kickoff - and sends them on their way during the 90 minutes after game-over - affects every resident of Santa Clara and a great many also in north San Jose and Sunnyvale.    

Please note:

1.     Anyone may attend the meeting on Wednesday evening at the Youth Soccer Park. 

2.     You do not need to be registered to vote in order to attend these meetings.

3.     You do not need to be a homeowner to attend.  If you rent, you have a stake in this, too.

From the May 19th meeting, please see the actual PowerPoint slides here, and if you have any questions, we urge you to contact directly:

Mayor Matthews and the City Council 
        or          
The Santa Clara Police Department

 

Please let us know if we may provide anything else, and thank you for all of your support.


Best regards,
William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
http://www.SantaClaraPlaysFair.org/

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Next:  More on the June 10th Council Meeting - and a little on the Development Study Session that preceded it.
 

The 49ers' Stadium Subsidy: Includes our City Parklands, too.


Dear Santa Clarans,


As you know, our City Council and our Department of Parks and Recreation are contemplating the placement of soccer pitches on one or both of Jenny Strand and Montague Parks.   At the City Council Meeting of last Tuesday evening, June 10th,  Santa Clarans and friends of those parks strongly urged that they be left exactly as they are.

Those public comments also gave us a clue to how we got where we are today.   One resident lateraled this easy pass right over the dais - 'You're not closing the City of Santa Clara Youth Soccer Park, are you?' 

Mayor Matthews responded, in essence, 'Heavens, no!' 

Right answer.    However, it was the wrong question.

Of course we're not closing the YSP!   The real question should have been, "Why are we moving dedicated soccer pitches into Santa Clara city parks?  We have a Youth Soccer Park!"

We do indeed.   Of course one could try to make a case for additional soccer field capacity elsewhere in the city simply because the Youth Soccer Park is so heavily booked during the season.  But please consider that, since the passage of Measure Jed over four years ago, not one word of that has been spoken other than in the promises made by Jed York to the Santa Clara Youth Soccer League - promises since broken by Mr. York and the San Francisco 49ers.

There is no motivation for the 49ers - or even for the Santa Clara Stadium Authority, for that matter - to guarantee access to the Youth Soccer Park on an NFL event day.  In fact, it is much more in the interest of the 49ers' front office to frustrate soccer park patrons as much as they possibly can, first to drive the offsite soccer pitch development (paid for by us and not by the 49ers) and then to force the city to relocate the Youth Soccer Park altogether (ditto).

All so that Jed York can park his VIPs' stretch limos on the grass.

Santa Clarans, the San Francisco 49ers are desperate to keep their names out of this entire affair.  It is no accident that the three City Councilmembers who placed themselves on the Ad Hoc Additional Soccer Fields Committee** are diehard 49ers stadium boosters.   They're more than happy to run interference for Jed York.

But Santa Clara Plays Fair urges that all residents call it for what it is:   Coercion by the 49ers which, at minimum, is intended to force soccer matches out of the Youth Soccer Park on NFL game days.   The Councilmembers on the Ad Hoc Committee should be working for us on this issue and demanding that the 49ers do what they promised us.   They should not be shielding Jed York and the 49ers from the consequences of their own double-dealing.

We would truly appreciate hearing from residents on this issue.  However, where Santa Clara city parks in your own neighborhoods are concerned, it's much more important that you ask hard questions of our seven City Councilmembers, particularly since they also comprise the Santa Clara Stadium Authority.   Please contact them at MayorAndCouncil@santaclaraca.gov  .

In sum:   If Santa Clarans are being forced to give up the use of the Youth Soccer Park and multiple city park lands all because of the San Francisco 49ers' parking fiasco, then we're once again subsidizing Jed York and the 49ers by losing taxpayer-supported city services we've paid for but which we will no longer have available.

We've given Jed York and the San Francisco 49ers quite enough.   We most certainly do not owe Jed York what was demanded of supporters of Jenny Strand and Montague Parks last Tuesday night.

As for youth soccer in our city:   We have one Youth Soccer Park.   We should not be forced to live with three or four little ones.

The City of Santa Clara Youth Soccer Park, after all, is where real football is being played.



Thank you for all of your support,
William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
SantaClaraPlaysFair.org

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Next:  More on the June 10th Council Meeting - and a little on the Development Study Session that preceded it.

**Agenda Item 12D, City Council Meeting of March 25th, 2014   (Scroll down to item 12D.  That's the only place in which the formation of the Ad Hoc Committee is even noted.)














Saturday, May 31, 2014

The 49ers' Traffic Jams and Parking: Please attend Northside Community Meeting on Monday, June 2nd

Dear Santa Clarans north of U.S. 101,


Three of the five Community Meetings concerning the management of stadium traffic and parking have been held on our city's north side.   They've been well-attended, meaning that about eighty to ninety residents have mostly filled a hundred-or-so seats at every meeting.

However, there are somewhere between 22,000 and 25,000 Santa Clarans who live in the area of Zip Code 95054, so perhaps only 1% of northside residents have actually seen and heard this very important presentation.

How the multi-city police force parks over 20,000 vehicles over the five hours before a kickoff - and sends them on their way during the 90 minutes after game-over - affects every resident of Santa Clara and a great many also in north San Jose and Sunnyvale.    It might be worth clarifying:

You do not need to be registered to vote in order to attend these meetings.

You do not need to be a homeowner to attend.

Anyone may attend either or both of the two remaining meetings.

Santa Clara Plays Fair would like to urge especially that as many Northside residents as possible come to these final two meetings:


Date Time Location
Monday, June 2 7:00-8:30pm Kathryn Hughes Elementary School
4949 Calle De Escuela
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Wednesday, June 25 7:00-8:30pm Santa Clara Youth Soccer Park
Conference Room
5020 Stars and Stripes Drive
Santa Clara, CA 95054

From the May 19th meeting, please see the actual PowerPoint slides here, and if you have any questions, we urge you to contact directly:

Mayor Matthews and the City Council 
        or          
The Santa Clara Police Department

Yes, the plan for the stadium traffic jams is dynamic and subject to change.   But the state that it's in right now is a fair indication of the disruption that Santa Clarans can expect not only on game days, but on non-NFL event days as well.

Please let us know if we may provide anything else, and thank you for all of your support.


Best regards,
William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
http://www.SantaClaraPlaysFair.org/

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Monday, April 21, 2014

The 49ers' Blame Game: Pin it on the School District? Oh, sure.

Dear Santa Clarans:


The spinmeisters of the San Francisco 49ers were out in full force during and after the City Council Meeting of March 25th.

Regrettably, some of those doing the spinning were seated on the dais of our own City Council.

At about 7:45 that evening, Santa Clara Unified School District's Trustee Board President, Dr. Christine Koltermann, made perfectly clear that there was one single meeting between representatives of the 49ers, and the District Superintendent at the time, Dr. Bobbie Plough, regarding the use of district athletic fields.

At no time was any proposal brought to the Board of Trustees in public session, and most certainly none with any commitment of 49ers funds, for the simple reason that the 49ers failed to return to the SCUSD at any time after that.

But it took Councilmembers Mahan and Gillmor less than 30 minutes to misrepresent precisely those contacts between the team and the school district, each essentially claiming that our school district was somehow sandbagging the 49ers.

The spinmeisters - on and off of our Council - need desperately to persuade us that Santa Clara Unified is spoiling everybody's fun by denying the use of SCUSD athletic fields by the Santa Clara Youth Soccer League.   Not only is that false on its face, it not even what this is about.

Believe it or not, it's about parking stretch limousines:   Among the over 20,000 parking spaces the the 49ers now claim they've secured, the team still can't seem to find enough parking stalls for their VIP guests.   They're putting the screws to the Santa Clara Youth Soccer Park to give up their use of a youth athletic facility that our tax dollars have already paid for.

At the time of the March 25th Council meeting, in fact, the team's extortion was much worse:   The San Francisco 49ers were actually  withholding the very funds they claim they were previously willing to expend for additional soccer fields.  They did that to coerce the youth soccer teams into giving up their use of our soccer park on NFL event days.  In other words, 'give us your soccer pitches, or we won't pay for the ones we promised you when we were trying to get you to vote Yes on Jed.'

Now, as a result of the San Francisco 49ers reneging on their agreement, YOU are paying the initial $2,000,000 for the development of new soccer pitches.

To make an unpleasant story short, the press releases we've seen since the March 25th meeting - city and team - could be most charitably characterized as "indignant backpedaling":   Due to the uproar over the 49ers' broken promises on the Youth Soccer Park, City Hall has itself now finally stated publicly that the Youth Soccer Park will be accessible and open to the soccer leagues on NFL event days.

At last!

But the question remains:  If there was no intent to hand the Youth Soccer Park over to the 49ers during every NFL event, then why wasn't the assurance above given to us residents last September when the 49ers's parking fiasco became public?

This is nothing more than the 49ers' parking problems, reloaded, and the Santa Clara Unified School District is not responsible for fixing them.

Instead, we urge all residents to demand that our Council - identically our Stadium Authority - force the 49ers themselves to honor their commitments to our city's youngest residents.



Thanks for all of your support,
William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
http://www.SantaClaraPlaysFair.org/

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1.    http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/Lots-of-oil-in-rail-tank-cars-about-to-be-coming-5341197.php  - scroll down to "Niners vs. Soccer"

2.    Several links to the city's own statements on the accessibility of our Youth Soccer Park are now stale.  But a snippet of the coverage in Danville.com follows:

         Dan Beerman, spokesman for the city, said it is not true as some have reported that the 49ers are trying to take over the Santa Clara Youth Soccer Park , beside the $3 billion Levi's project on Stars & Stripes Drive near Tasman Drive in Santa Clara . 
         The city-owned park, which has two grass fields and one artificial turf field for soccer and 140 parking stalls, is not closing and will be open even on crowded days when the 49ers play football to 68,500 fans on starting this fall, Beerman said. 
         "The soccer field is going to stay at the stadium and is going to be available to play at any time," Beerman said. 
         "People will be able to get in and access it even on (49ers) game days," he said. 

 

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