No surprise this week. The SF 49ers wrapped up the NY Giants with an impressive 30 to 12 victorious outing. The team looked like a team and played like a team, using well-timed offense and dynamite defense executing with determination. Now they will have this week for recovery, rest and further plotting before they host the Cardinals this Sunday.
In Santa Clara, Mayor Lisa Gillmor and her partisans have been running things their own way for a while. But that may be about to change, City Council Member Anthony Becker has returned the “litigation favor” he received over District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s accusation of lying to the Grand Jury.
Becker along with Council Members Kevin Park and Suds Jain have filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission against Mayor Gillmor’s favorite political committee, Stand up for Santa Clara. It appears this “nonprofit” she has used for years for political campaigns isn’t registered with the FPPC.
Normally, that would be enough to cause a serious wrinkle. However, there is more. And from what we have found out, lots more. It appears that Gillmor and friends claim this organization is a 501(c)(3), a nonprofit entity; which by law, cannot engage in political activity, including fundraising and advertising that supports or opposes candidates or issues. And by the way, the IRS doesn’t list them as a 501(c)(3), nor does the California registry of charitable trusts. You can call yourself anything you want on your corporate filing. But only an IRS letter of determination says you’re a 501(c)(3).
Stand Up has been most active in promoting Gillmor, numerous candidates and positions on the political scene for years. You would have to ask; did Gillmor make tax-deductible contributions to Stand Up? That question leads to another. Were donors to Stand Up told their political contributions were to a nonprofit? And, if so, did these donors take tax deductions for their contributions, even though their funds were used for political purposes?
It would not be surprising if Stand Up suddenly took a turn and became “Sit Down” followed by a very loud silence.
When Becker sent a letter to the “mailing address” for Stand Up it came back as undeliverable. This does not appear to be good news for Mayor Gillmor, and Stand Up’s unreported list of donors.
In another pool of water, there remains a once famous swim center at Central Park. To state that “it has outlived its time” would be a hilarious understatement, but it is deeply sad. The 70-year-old center is gasping. Santa Clara needs a new swim center, located on the Northside with parking, hotels, restaurants and access to the airport.
This once grand facility is now an embarrassment. Santa Clara needs participation from dozens of our great companies to make this a reality. Nvidia, are you listening?
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A perfect spot for a new world class Olympic swim center is Mission College. On the northwest side of campus are three softball fields that aren’t used, the college doesn’t even have a softball team, and south of the softball fields is another unused large field with tennis courts tucked next to it. The combined open fields are more than twice the surface area the current aquatic center occupies. Plus, for big events, there are locker rooms, cafeterias, massive parking lots, and the campus is next to the Mercado center with restaurants, hotels are near by, and easy freeway access to reduce traffic through the city. While the current swim center has a legacy of training a high number of aqua-maids, it didn’t make the list of “Ten Aquatic Centers You Should Visit” by Sports Planning Guide, not on the “Top 10 Must Visit Site for a Swim Meet” by SwimSwam, College Ranker doesn’t name it to their list of best Collegiate Competition Swimming Pools, and for public recreation it doesn’t make anyone’s top list. Nvidia, ServiceNow, Intel, NEC Electronics, Applied Materials are all companies in Santa Clara who would likely benefit from naming rights on an Olympic, world class, $100,000,000 swim center.