Former Santa Clara City Council Member Anthony Becker laid bare what he saw as deep-seated problems within the city government when he stepped to the podium during the Feb. 10 city council meeting. During public comment, when members of the public may speak on any topic not on the agenda, Becker pulled no punches before he narrowed in on the leak of information to the San Francisco Chronicle after the May 7, 2024 closed session of the council. Then, he made a formal request.

“I’m formally asking the city council to take immediate agendized action to publicly discuss a proper investigation into the disclosure of that FIFA information with authority to get some real answers,” said Becker. “Investigate council members, investigate staff, investigate me and everyone who was in that room, including the aftermath.”

Becker has reportedly filed a 030, the official document that asks the council to vote on whether to direct city employees to start an investigation into the closed session leak. 

The Weekly has also sought answers about this leak. On Feb. 12, 2025, The Weekly filed a Public Records Act (PRA) request (PRA 25-158), asking the city for all communications about the leak and the ensuing investigation, “including communications among city staff and members of the city council, including the mayor.”

For months, city employees delayed. They offered a rote response saying they were “continuing” to search city servers and needed to consult with another “agency.” They produced no records.

On May 2, 2025, The Weekly took another approach. It filed 16 separate requests (PRAs 25-511 to 25-526). These requests used the same wording but named individuals who were likely in the closed session meeting. 

The Weekly named Mayor Lisa Gillmor, Council Members Kevin Park, Suds Jain, Karen Hardy, Anthony Becker, Kathy Watanabe and Raj Chahal, City Manager Jovan Grogan, City Attorney Glen Googins, Assistant City Clerk Nora Pimentel, Assistant City Managers Chuck Baker, Reena Brilliot, Elizabeth Klotz and Nadine Nader and Assistant Police Chiefs Wahid Kazem and Derek Rush.

The city responded immediately via phone. A city employee requested clarification and then asked The Weekly to close the new records requests and work from the old one filed in February. The Weekly declined. 

The 16 record requests were opened on Friday morning. All 16 were closed by midday the next Monday with “no responsive documents.” 

Furthermore, the original Feb. 12, 2025 request was also closed midday that Monday with “no responsive documents.” 

Feeling that perhaps this was simply a matter of wording in our records request, The Weekly submitted another records request on May 12, 2025 (PRA 25-565).

This asked the city to provide “all communications that reference[ed] the leak of confidential information pertaining to the FIFA World Cup negotiations and city budget surrounding the FIFA World Cup at Levi’s Stadium, specifically information that was divulged to local media in May 2024 before it was discussed in a public session by the City Council.”

The Weekly included a link to the San Francisco Chronicle article, which referenced closed session negotiations, the same article that Becker mentioned in his city council comments on Feb. 10, 2026. 

The PRA continued, “This would include any ensuing investigation into who may have leaked information to local news outlets, as well as communications between the city attorney, city manager, city staff, or members of the city council in the months following regarding the sharing of this information with outside entities, including media.”

Again, the city delayed. The Weekly received three extensions. On June 5, 2025, the city released 1,410 pages of documentation. Every single page was a copy of the May 23, 2024 email newsletter from this publication. A newsletter that highlighted the leak from the closed session and was sent to city email addresses.

A second release of documentation on June 19, 2025 revealed communications with two members of the media, this publication and the Chronicle, but neither communication revealed how closed session material was leaked, or any ensuing investigations as requested.

The city then delayed reporting four more times before a third document was released on Aug. 14, 2025. It was a single PDF that showed the same communication with the Chronicle that was revealed on June 19.

Four more extensions ensued until a fourth document was released on Sept. 25, 2025. This document was a three-page emailed copy of a blog post about the FIFA documents dated Feb. 12, 2025.

On Oct. 9, 2025, the city closed the PRA. It gave several reasons why it could not disclose any information about leaks of closed session materials and cited several government codes:

• Government code § 7927.500: “ordinary course of business.” 
• Government code § 7922.000: “deliberative process privilege.”
• Government code § 7927.700 and Evidence Code § 954: “attorney-client privilege and/or attorney work-product privilege.”

Delays, document dumps and word games appear to be the norm when it comes to the failure to release documents. More than once, The Weekly has tried to get a straight answer from City Hall through the proper channels, only to be met with substanceless responses and bureaucratese, which, to date, has allowed the city to operate without any repercussions.