A seemingly routine informational report about two marquee events at Levi’s Stadium became a bit of a to do at the Santa Clara City Council’s most recent meeting.
In 2026, Levi’s Stadium will play host to six FIFA World Cup soccer games as well as the Super Bowl. During an informational report Tuesday night, city employees updated the council on the two events.
A big takeaway of those presentations was that the Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC), the nonprofit putting on the FIFA games, has agreed to cover the city’s costs for preparing for the games. The interim funding agreement will reimburse the city up to $150,000 for city employee time from July 1 through the end of the year.
Once $125,000 of that money is spent, a provision requires that the city and the BAHC to discuss further reimbursement.
Chuck Baker, assistant city manager, said the idea is to have a more permanent agreement in place before then to handle reimbursement. City employees are still negotiating for the reimbursement of $328,000 of city employee time incurred between May 23, 2023 to June 30.
Despite the item being a simple note and filing, the fireworks started even before the council heard the item.
Brian Doyle, Santa Clara’s former city attorney who the council fired, asked the item to be continued at the meeting’s outset. He cited Al Guido, president of the San Francisco 49ers, signing FIFA contracts on behalf of the BAHC and the team, effectively negotiating with himself.
He urged the council to delay the item until the full, unredacted contracts were publicly available.
But City Attorney Glen Googins assured the council those materials would become available soon, and the item went forward.
“The part of the documents that are, at this point in time, have not been made available to the public, will be made available to the public prior to the council being asked to take any action with respect to those agreements,” he said.
Mayor Lisa Gillmor joined Doyle in calling for more transparency, saying City Manager Jovan Grogan and Googins used the redacted documents as the basis for contracts they already signed.
“I didn’t sign the nondisclosure agreement, so I don’t know what is going on behind the scenes in terms of agreements that have been delivered to council members that signed that agreement,” Gillmor said.
The BAHC has agreed to bear the cost of the soccer matches but collect all rent FIFA pays. Between planning and event costs, city employees estimate public safety costs alone around $11.5 million. The games will necessitate bowl modification at the stadium, the cost of which Grogan refused to disclose.
However, Gillmor said she would like a bit more certainty the nonprofit can pony up the money, something such as a performance bond, promissory note or guarantor.
Grogan said he shared Gillmor’s concern and that the city continues to work toward an amenable solution to that problem.
The council voted 6-1 to note and file the report, with Council Member Kathy Watanabe as the lone “no” vote.
Council Approves Another Data Center
The council also amended the general plan to make way for another data center. The four-story data center, located at 2805 Bowers Ave., is located on 5.1 acres of land.
The amendment alters the land use from high-intensity research and development to light industrial. The planning commission denied the conditional use permit.
Gillmor said she didn’t understand the “brujah-ha” around the planning commission’s decision, calling approval an “easy yes.” She added that she didn’t “see the opposition” accusing people who criticized the development of being “people creating things that didn’t really exist.”
Construction of the data center would require demolishing the office building onsight, built in 1974. A portion of the public utility bill — roughly $50,000 per megawatt — from the data center goes into the city’s general fund.
Several union members spoke in support of the project.
The council approved the project unanimously.
Event Speaking Policy Gets Tweaked
Another seemingly routine item got much attention. A change in city policy will give more opportunity for every council member to speak at public events.
The item came out of the city’s governance and ethics committee as a way to give the council a greater voice. Typically, the mayor acts as the city’s mouthpiece at community events, but many on the council have taken issue with the policy over the past few years.
“There was a long time where people were not allowed to speak,” said Vice Mayor Anthony Becker. “We were rejected from being able to speak.”
Council Member Kevin Park, who experienced the denial to speak at an event, called the attempt to block the change “the worst attempt to deny people a voice” he has ever seen.
But the council minority disagreed.
Gillmor said the change will create “inconsistent messages,” foster “personal agendas and grandstanding,” adding that it is “self-serving” before finally calling the proposed change “preposterous.”
Her political cohort joined her disdain.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. What the city’s policy has been, what the protocol has been … has worked just fine,” Watanabe said. “People don’t come to events to hear everybody and his brother speak. They come to hear the mayor, maybe they wanted to hear the council member from that particular district. That is fine, but they don’t come to hear everybody speak. People have limitations.”
The council amended the city employee’s recommendation to specify that outside events, i.e., those not put on by the city, that the organizers decide who they want to speak.
The motion passed 5-2 with Watanabe and Gillmor voting “no.”
Consent Calendar Spending
The council approved the following spending in one motion via the consent calendar:
- A $600,000 purchase order with Pivot Interiors, Inc., other suppliers, and/or their authorized dealers for the purchase and installation of office cubicles and furniture.
- A five-year $1 million contract with Pump Repair Service Company and SHAPE, Inc. for storm drain pump preventive maintenance and repair. This contract has a $1 million contingency to add or remove services, provided the total contract does not exceed $2 million over five years.
- A $843,000 contract with HomeFirst for modernization and rehabilitation of eight below-market-rate apartments, update two apartments so they are ADA accessible, and replace approximately 100 windows in the Sobrato Family Living Center located at 1509/1503 Agnew Road in Santa Clara. This action required a budget amendment increasing the “grant revenue estimate” by the total contract amount.
- A one-year, $250,000 increase to a contract with ACCO Engineered Systems, Inc. for mechanical plumbing maintenance and repair. Total contract is now $1 million.
- A one-year, $250,000 increase to a contract with O.C. McDonald Co., Inc. for mechanical plumbing maintenance and repair. Total contract is now $1 million.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 3 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.