The 49ers' Stadium Subsidy: How to Buy an Election

Dear Santa Clarans,


The San Francisco 49ers seem to be showing us just how an election can be bought - if one has the money. Our campaign finance reports were due at 5:00 pm today, and they revealed the following:

The 49ers Astroturf group has taken in a total of ***$3,647,780*** so far this year, virtually every penny of that from the San Francisco 49ers themselves.

Not one contribution from a single Santa Clara resident was itemized in any of their campaign statements, a stack that ran to scores of pages.

I declared a total of $16,362 in cash contributions to Santa Clara Plays Fair.

A total of $15,248 of that was contributed by Santa Clarans.

If the 49ers' millions were truly buying an element of truth for Santa Clarans, we could talk about it. However, they simply aren't - All we're getting is the same old glitz, buzz and hype, all designed to conceal the corporate welfare being paid to the 49ers and their owners.

None of the money that the 49ers are pouring into the Measure J con job makes a $444,000,000 subsidy a good deal for Santa Clara.

And that's all the more reason to keep speaking out, Santa Clarans.

"J" is for Jeopardy - On June 8th, please VOTE NO!



Thanks for all of your support,

Bill Bailey, Treasurer

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Merc/KGO poll: Santa Clarans, we can connect the dots!

Dear Santa Clarans,


While examining the Merc / KGO poll, it might be worth looking at the two sets of pie charts presented, rather than simply the first.

That second pair of pie charts made it pretty clear: 63% voiced concern over the costs of a 49ers stadium to Santa Clara taxpayers, and 64% recognize the traffic nightmare caused by stadium events, NFL or not.

Santa Clarans are connecting the dots.

They're right. The General Fund loss of $67,000,000 caused by the stadium subsidy ripoff is exactly what will affect Santa Claran taxpayers. There is no way that our General Fund can possibly absorb such a loss without real cuts - either in staff or in services or both.

They're right again. It's not possible to absorb 20,000 cars on NFL game days while paying overtime to 160 police officers - and you can't keep even a semblance of peace and order in our neighborhoods north of U.S. 101.

The total of $444,000,000 in subsidies for a 49ers' stadium causes real losses to Santa Clara's taxpayers and to the quality of life in our neighborhoods.

That's why "J" is for "Jeopardy." We urge all Santa Clarans to connect the dots - and vote NO on June 8th.



Thanks, Santa Clarans, for your support,

William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer

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The 49ers' Stadium Subsidy: "A contract is a contract."

Dear Santa Clarans,


Cedar Fair is demanding that their lease for the Great America theme park be renegotiated, as you've heard. Regardless of the merits of that action, it's worth focusing on the response of Mayor Patricia Mahan: "No. We have a contract. A contract is a contract."

Santa Clara Plays Fair would like to remind Mayor Mahan and the other four elected "Stadium Boosters" on our City Council that a Guiding Principle is a Guiding Principle:

"7. Great America Theme Park/Cedar Fair must agree to and cooperate with any proposed stadium project sited on existing City-owned lands leased or committed to them."

(Agenda Item 5D.1, 1/9/2007)

Note, however, that Cedar Fair puts more Fixed Ground Rent into our City's General Fund than the San Francisco 49ers ever will. Simply compare the $5,300,000 Great America fixed lease payment with the most that the 49ers will ever pay us, $1.5M. Cedar Fair is entitled to be a bit exasperated with the Council's "Stadium Boosters."

Not only that, the City Council got the news this last Tuesday evening: The city's worsening deficit makes it imperative that we protect our General Fund dollars wherever we can.

But subsidizing the San Francisco 49ers causes even worse General Fund losses than we have now - and Cedar Fair, which gets NO subsidy at all from our city while paying us far more, has just drawn a bold red line under that fact.

Regardless of the Cedar Fair action: To protect Santa Clara's General Fund on June 8th, Santa Clara Plays Fair urges you to VOTE NO ON MEASURE J.



Thanks for all of your support,
Bill Bailey, Treasurer

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Councilmembers Kennedy & McLeod: 49ers stadium is not a good deal for Santa Clara

Dear Santa Clarans,


Please visit the San Jose Mercury News for a well-informed statement of why a subsidy for a 49ers stadium is a really bad deal for Santa Clara:

http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_14831892

Councilmembers Kennedy and McLeod, of course, are more than qualified to speak to the issue. For three years, while other members of City Council were content with mere boosterism, Kennedy and McLeod were asking the tough questions. The answers to those questions should be enough to make every voting Santa Claran question the very sanity of the $444,000,000 stadium subsidy:

"The most damaging hit is to the city's general fund, which pays for services to residents. The staff report shows that the stadium deal will result in a net $67 million loss to our general fund. Money that should flow into it from the Redevelopment Agency will be redirected to the stadium. And yes, that loss includes all of the rents, projected taxes and other income that the city will receive from the stadium."

[Emphasis mine.]

The broken link in the article is easily fixed:

http://santaclaraca.gov/ftp/csc/pdf/49ers-Term-Sheet-Presentation.pdf

See especially slide #48 - contrary to what the "stadium boosters" are now claiming, that $67,000,000 ripoff of our city's General Fund is REAL.

We urge all Santa Clarans: Please - let two responsible elected officials tell the real story on the stadium subsidy. Then write the Letters Editor at the San Jose Mercury News, and tell them you appreciate Councilmembers Kennedy and McLeod getting the truth out there for all to see:

letters@mercurynews.com
(125 words or less, and please include your address and telephone, which will not be published. Please don't CC: us; your letters to the Mercury News Editors should be original material.)

Great backup to this opinion piece: Please consult "Ten Top Reasons to vote NO on Measure J."



Thanks for all of your support,

Bill Bailey, Treasurer

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The 49ers' Stadium Subsidy: The word is out - VOTE NO ON J!

Dear Santa Clarans,


You've been very generous in your support of Santa Clara Plays Fair. We've used your contributions to reach out to as many of our neighbors as we can. Also, many of the folks who've donated are also giving their time to walk precincts - and meet even more Santa Clarans.

We're sharing the rest of the story on the massive 49ers stadium subsidy,too.

Not only about the $444M itself.

Our walkers are getting the word out about the $67M General Fund ripoff, too.

Will you join us? And will you speak out? Please contact us anytime and let us know how you'd like to get the REAL Facts out to more Santa Clarans.


Thanks again for all of your support,
William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer

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The 49ers' Stadium Subsidy: Skin in the Game

Dear Santa Clarans,


Santa Clara Plays Fair filed its campaign finance statement this afternoon.

In that mere nine pages, you will find $1,908 in cash contributions from Santa Clara residents - people who live here**.

In the 49ers' "Astroturf" group's same statement, you will find a mere $35 from Santa Clara residents.

...and in those 44 pages, you will find OVER A MILLION DOLLARS coming from the San Francisco 49ers.

If you're looking at a mailbox full of the 49ers' slick brochures - making completely unsustainable promises and trumpeting misleading numbers - the above campaign finance statement from the 49ers Astroturf group pretty much explains that. The cool million is designed only to fool Santa Clarans into giving the team $114,000,000 up front and raising $330,000,000 more for them.

And after we do that: Our General Fund WILL LOSE $67,000,000, as well.

We urge Santa Clarans: Please don't be fooled. The massive stadium subsidy from Santa Clarans buys almost nothing for Santa Clara. It rewards only the San Francisco 49ers.

Anyway, thank you, Santa Clarans, for all of your support.

You've got skin in the game.

On June 8th, please vote NO ON Measure J - It's NO JOKE.


Best regards,
Bill Bailey, Treasurer

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** Out of a total of $1,928, we received a single $20 bill from a San Franciscan.

The 49ers' Stadium Subsidy: Santa Clarans, Please VOTE NO ON J!

Dear Santa Clarans,


If you visited the main webpage, you know it's official as of this morning: The Registrar of Voters has given us a letter for the 49ers' Stadium Subsidy Measure which will appear on our ballots on June 8th.

That giveaway is Measure "J," but we promise you, it's "No Joke!"

It's deadly serious, in fact. Tucked away in its bland, feel-good, "not-a-single-dollar-sign" language is a scheme to:

• Hand the San Francisco 49ers $114,000,000 upfront,
• Raise $330,000,000 more for them, and
• Lose $67,000,000 out of our City's General Fund.

Unfortunately, this is a ballot measure bought-and-paid-for by the San Francisco 49ers themselves, and it's built on myth-making. Let's debunk those myths by adding a few dollar signs:

SAY NO TO THE 49ERS SUBSIDY!

If you have any questions about the real numbers behind Measure J - the numbers that the San Francisco 49ers are terrified you'll find - please contact us anytime, and we'll prove them with the City's OWN data and reports.

VOTE NO ON "J"une the 8th - Protect our City and its General Fund!



Thank you for all of your support,

William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
Santa Clara Plays Fair

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