Santa Clara has to be thankful for the City Council majority that has returned sanity to the budget, the council and weekly decisions. It is frightening to think where the City could be if the Gillmor majority had continued to spend without boundaries.
It is a puzzle in the minds of many as to how Santa Clara could have a $20 million surplus at the beginning of Gillmor’s time as mayor and now be in a $17 million deficit position. No question the exorbitant salaries passed out to former City Manager Deanna Santana and, in turn, the awards she made to her hand-picked managers had a lot to do with that. It will take time to rework these salaries, awards and benefits.
What is puzzling to nearly every resident is the ongoing bias of Mayor Gillmor against the 49ers. While her attacks have been rebuffed with facts, there remains the underlying distrust and the occasional spear thrown in their direction.
The 49ers have done what every company in the valley has done over time. They reorganize, restructure and fine tune. While they have replaced some very good people, they are intent on making their business more productive, responsive and profitable.
Also of interest is the cozy relationship Gillmor has developed with the SF Chronicle. It appears the local media is a bit more selective in how they report stories such as the Grand Jury report and the recent realignment of the 49ers management duties. And, while we are discussing oddities, have you ever seen or noted a time that Council Member Kathy Watanabe has voted with any other council member besides Mayor Gillmor?
The selection of a new City manager and City attorney will be a healthy infusion of common sense. While their addition to City staff will be a welcome infusion of talent, don’t expect immediate miracles. There is time needed to get the lay of the land, the players and finding out who are those who do and those who don’t.
There was a time when it was known around the area as the Santa Clara way. If you wanted it done, you talked to Santa Clara. It would be great to re-establish the” Santa Clara way” as we begin the rebuilding and replacing of key employees in our City.
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The SFChron is focussed on San Francisco. It's right there in the name: San Francisco Chronicle. Even though the 9ers play in Santa Clara, it doesn't matter to a majority of the paper's readers because the paper's readers by and large see it as a San Francisco team. They really only care about any politics that concerns the actual team and its current and/or prior ownership. Many readers are interested in the York family not Santa Clara and its mayor. So, she could spin things how ever she wanted to. Chron subscribers often joke that the Chron doesn't hire enough fact-checkers. Being a Chron subscriber myself, it was abundantly clear from reading the sports section during the period referred to and readers' online comments, that the Chron readers have no clue about the shenanigans that have gone on here in SC since the stadium idea first popped into someone's head. They could not care less. For them, it's all about the team/its players. Likewise, they have no clue about the time SC tried courting the SF Giants to become the SC Giants. Rhetorical Q: how many of you still have your official SC Giants baseball caps?
Miles,
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You have become almost literally a cheerleader for the Forty Niners.
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This is not the same thing as always being negative about Lisa Gillmor.
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I find it curious that you are always provide the Forty Niners positive editorializing. Not just when it gives you the opportunity to attack Gillmor but also when it is really a matter of the Forty Niners versus the city as a whole.
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As if you have a vested interest in the Forty Niners being seen as positively as possible. As if you have something to gain by being an apologist or promoter or just simply a fan of the Forty Niners.
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It is embarrassing for the publisher of what is supposed to be Santa Clara's newspaper of record to always make such a show of prostrating himself before a major corporation that is a business partner with the city but is a partner that must be watched vigilantly because they have established a record of making financial decisions beneficial to them and detrimental to the city.