An Indian cultural event will get $10,000 in city money despite concerns over whether it is a political event.
At the Santa Clara City Council’s Tuesday meeting, the council awarded a community grant to the nonprofit Grow Empower Nurture (GEN) to put on a Diwali celebration at Live Oak Park on Saturday.
Awarding the grant proved divisive, with some claiming the festival’s nature is religious and political. The law prevents cities from using tax money to fund such activities.
The Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce has promoted the event extensively. Harbir Bhatia, president and CEO of the chamber, is running for District 1, where the event will take place.
One of Bhatia’s opponents, Satish Chandra, urged the council to deny the request. He and District 1 Council Member Kathy Watanabe brandished the flier promoting the event. They claimed one of Bhatia’s political fliers was nestled inside the Diwali promotional material, a clear indicator, they said, that the event was political.
“Given the extensive promotion of the Diwali event, it is clear the event is being positioned in a way that serves a political agenda that ultimately serves my opponent’s campaign,” Chandra said.
Adding to the concerns, City Manager Jovan Grogan told the council that “significant outstanding” matters have yet to be resolved. Those outstanding items included insurance, food vendor licenses, assurances that enough volunteers would be available and whether adequate neighbor outreach had been conducted for the Diwali event.
Details of the event had changed significantly between the time when the group requested a special event permit and when it applied for the grant. Because the number of expected attendees had swelled from between 75 and 100 to an expected 2,000, another sticking point was whether enough police would be available on such short notice.
Jaya Gautam, chamber of commerce, assured the council that the event is multicultural, not religious. She emphasized the work GEN does with youth, saying the chamber is promoting it for that reason.
“We want to make sure young kids know that they can do something that which is good for them, that they become business people, that they can become CEOs,” she said.
However, absent in Gautam’s explanation was an assurance that Bhatia would not use the event as a political platform, something Mayor Lisa Gillmor said left her “disappointed.”
Given that GEN failed to submit the proper paperwork with adequate time for city employees to coordinate and the “perception” that it is political, she opposed the approval.
“It sounds like it has been thrown together at the last minute,” she said. “This has been turned into something different, and I am sorry to say that.”
City Attorney Glen Googins said he was comfortable that the Diwali event hosted by GEN was multicultural and not religious. Further, while the celebration may be “politicized,” he said its nature doesn’t appear to be political.
In a 5-2 vote, the council approved awarding the grant, provided GEN can resolve the outstanding issues prior to the celebration. Gillmor and Watanabe voted “no.”
City Falls Short on HUD Grant Goals
The council also approved a report to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The report details how the city has used federal money for housing assistance. HUD allocations are on a five-year cycle, with 2024 being the fourth year.
Adam Marcus, division manager of housing and community services, said the grant money goes toward five key pillars: affordable housing, homelessness, public services, fair housing, public facility improvements and administration.
The lion’s share—60%—of the $1.9 million went toward affordable housing and homelessness services, with the former using $582,882 and the latter, which includes support for domestic violence victims, using $552,406.
While the city has fallen short on many goals for the year and is behind schedule for most of its five-year goals, it served 1,329 households within the homelessness category, 223% of its yearly goal. The city has already met 507% of its five-year goal on this front.
The council approved accepting the report in a 5-0 vote, with Council Members Suds Jain and Raj Chahal absent for the item.
Zoning Code and Bikeway Plan Get Codified
Finally, the council tinkered with the zoning map to align with general plan designations and adopted the Monroe Street bikeway plan study.
Reena Brilliot, planning director, said clerical errors necessitated four amendments for various properties — 4995 Patrick Henry Drive, 3005 Democracy Way, 807 Washington St., 1435 Lewis St., 1430 Lewis St., 1448 Madison St. and 2805 Bowers Ave. — to resolve inconsistencies.
Further, the council also adopted an option for the bikeway plan that sees two lanes with buffered bike lanes, a center turn lane with parking on both sides of the street. That plan prohibits parking on Monroe Street between Lawrence Expressway and San Tomas Expressway.
Consent Calendar Spending
The council approved the following spending in one motion via the consent calendar:
- A two-year $552,685 contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. for planning services for the De La Cruz Boulevard, Lick Mill Boulevard, and Scott Boulevard bikeway improvements. Approval of a state grant, also on the consent calendar, bumped the contract total by $24,299, for a total of $580,835.
- A two-year $762,812 contract with BKF Engineers for design services for the De La Cruz Boulevard, Lick Mill Boulevard, and Scott Boulevard bikeway improvements.
- A $69,050 increase to a contract with Safe Moves, Inc. for the Safe Routes to School Program. The total contact is now $714,250. A state grant, also approved as part of the item, funded the increase.
- A five-year extension to a contract with Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure for maintenance and support for the computer-aided dispatch system. Contract total is now $5.34 million.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 8 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1500 Warburton Ave. in Santa Clara.
Members of the public can participate in the city council meetings on Zoom at https://santaclaraca.zoom.us/j/99706759306; Meeting ID: 997-0675-9306 or call 1 (669) 900-6833, via the city’s eComment (available during the meeting) or by email to PublicComment@santaclaraca.gov.
