As Tuesday’s Santa Clara Council meeting, Councilwoman Patricia Mahan stated, “the 49ers never promised replacement fields for nothing – they were getting the parking spots at the Youth Soccer Park in exchange…” That is not correct and never part of the deal. As clearly stated in Mr. Jed York’s letter dated 1/10/2012, “As we work with the City of Santa Clara to design the new stadium we were careful to preserve the Santa Clara Youth Soccer Park and its ability to operate even during game days.”
I was present at the Youth Soccer meeting, where Mr. York made this commitment verbally and later in writing. He did not at any time make his commitment to build additional fields conditioned on parking. It’s time the 49ers live up to their promises to the youth. It would also be helpful if Councilmembers operate with good facts before speaking in a public forum.