Santa Clara’s identity is fading year after year, council meeting after council meeting. You look on a map and see the north of Santa Clara, it’s perfectly planned entertainment zone that goes back to the days of former city manager Don Von Raesfeld. Compare what Santa Clara has to Anaheim. Anaheim has an ever so busy convention center, two professional sports teams the Ducks of hockey, the Angels of baseball and the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. Santa Clara has the smaller version of the layout all in close proximity to each other, a convention center, a theme park and a stadium. The entertainment district is something that former Mayor Patricia Mahan was proud of and wanted to preserve and enhance for Santa Clara’s future. The district was the centerpiece of tourism, hotel taxes and the reason for families and tourists Destination: Santa Clara. Before the pandemic, and even before 2018, you could go into San Jose Airport and see brochures on things to do in Santa Clara and the highlights of Great America. Today, there is nothing. There is a reason for this decline, and it is one word: Gillmor.
Great America
Imagine, it is 1976, and the gates swing open for the grand debut of Great America. The trees are still young, the landscape still raw and open, but the promise of something lasting is already in the air. Families step onto freshly paved walkways into a park built for a growing Silicon Valley, where summer would soon come to mean roller coasters, laughter, and long days spent under an unrelenting California sun. From opening day through the end of the season, the park quickly becomes a defining pastime for Santa Clara. “Thrills, spills, and chills” is more than a slogan—it becomes the rhythm of summer life. The night would often close the way it began: with a fireworks display lighting up the sky, echoing over a park full of tired but happy visitors, carrying home memories that felt larger than the moment itself. People came from across the Bay Area and far beyond, turning Great America into a regional destination and, for many families, a yearly tradition that marked childhoods and reunions alike.
In the broader context of Bay Area amusement history, it stood alongside places like Marine World Africa USA in Redwood City, another regional attraction that once drew crowds before relocating to Vallejo in 1986, where it eventually became part of what is now Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. The old Marine World site would later be transformed into corporate development, including the campus now associated with Oracle, reflecting how quickly the Bay Area landscape evolved even as its entertainment landmarks shifted or disappeared. A possible prophecy of Santa Clara’s theme park-less future. Yet Great America endured in Santa Clara, remaining a rare constant amid rapid change. For many, it is remembered not just as an amusement park, but as a shared civic memory—where Silicon Valley families, visitors, and generations of summer crowds all crossed paths under the same lights, in the same place, year after year. An identity, an icon.
Great America started out under the ownership of the Marriott Corporation and why many for years called it “Marriots”. Marriott ran the park from 1976 till 1985 when Marriott sold the land to the City of Santa Clara. The city then took ownership and operations over to Kings Entertainment from 1985-1992. By 1992, the theme park was taken over by Paramount Parks where it pivoted to movie-themed attractions tied to Paramount Pictures popular blockbuster films, a “ride-the-movies” experience. By 2006 Cedar Fair came into the picture and dropped the Paramount movie themes and rebranded to now California’s Great America. By 2024 Cedar Fair merged with Six Flags under the massive Six Flags theme park umbrella. During this time the City lost the control of the theme park and should have never let it go. There were reasons to let it go but it was a loss that was the beginning of the demise of the theme park.
The Gillmor influence is hard to ignore with Great America. Gary Gillmor was there for the grand opening of Great America as was still the Mayor at the time. Lisa Gillmor herself touts Great America as her first job–and probably only job outside of her father’s empire. The influence is even harder to ignore when you flash forward to the 1990s when Paramount invested into the park, the Gillmor’s were right there to influence decisions. Lisa had successfully killed the idea of Paramount’s Great America from building a movie theater complex on the property. The idea was logical considering Paramount is a movie studio with the rides named after their blockbuster films as mentioned above. Because Gillmor killed the deal for Paramount this then gave birth to the Mercado shopping complex with the AMC theaters. The land that Mercado is on was beneficial to the Gillmors. Yet no conflicts of interest. During the 2000’s when Gillmor was off the council there was a time when possible housing was to replace Great America before Cedar Fair came around. Gillmor had said to many that she favored the housing developments but later said she favored the theme park. By the time the 2020’s came around and the park was being managed by Barbara Lea-Granter, Gillmor had a close relationship with her. Shortly after Barbara was announced Great America’s manager the news reports began to come out in 2022 before the elections that the park was sold to Prologis for a hefty price and the plans to get rid of the park by 2027. Gillmor told everyone in 2022 she was completely surprised by this announcement despite being close to Barbara Lea-Granter. Gillmor then called for a community dialogue on the issue and worked with Prologis to keep the park open for as long as it can. This is hard to believe that Gillmor didn’t know and was completely surprised. Gillmor has her thumb on everything in the city so how would she not know this ahead of time, was her crystal ball not working? Yet other things that happened in 2022 that raise further questions on her influence with Great America. Within the long-running civic and legal history surrounding Cedar Fair and California’s Great America, there is attorney Barbara Spector who appears as part of a recurring network of Santa Clara County legal professionals who intersected with matters involving the park’s broader land and development context. During the period when the law firm Hoge Fenton represented Cedar Fair in litigation tied to Great America and related stadium-era land disputes, Spector worked at the same firm, placing her within the professional orbit connected to those proceedings. That overlap is further underscored by her service on the county civil grand jury in 2022 alongside fellow juror Karyn Sinunu-Towery. Both were behind the report Unsportsmanlike Conduct that came out right before the election. Sinunu-Towery’s husband, Judge James Towery, also had professional ties to Cedar Fair and Hoge Fenton, reinforcing the extent to which the same small circle of attorneys and jurists periodically intersected across civic roles and private legal work connected to major Santa Clara institutions, including the evolving disputes and governance issues surrounding California’s Great America. Lots of coincidences right? Connect the dots.
It is no surprise that the park is dying slowly. Little by little it seems to disappear and you can see it with how the park’s configuration is lately. Slowly but surely this pastime will be gone and Gillmor still doesn’t know what to do to succeed, let alone save it.
If only there was a chance to save it or another theme park to invest into it rather than Prologis who clearly don’t want to be in the family theme park business. Prologis’ business is data centers and warehouses, something that is appealing to Gillmor and the Related Company.
The days when you had to wait an hour or more to ride Top Gun or Drop Zone (now Flight Deck and Drop Tower–not as memorable right?) are gone. I would hope as many go to the park and enjoy themselves before this is the first large domino to fall in the entertainment district. The demand is there, just like other pastimes like Raging Waters in San Jose. The marketing, outreach and passion as done in the past to bring guests to the parks is gone. Hence the decline. When Great America closes it will be the day the fun dies and it is not all due to hard economic times it is really about politics what drives this.
Family Fun
Santa Clara had everything available for the family. There was the perfect balance of “work and play” for all ages. The northside had Great America, while the central heart of the city had Billiard Halls, a bowling alley and Bullwinkles. Bullwinkles opened in June 1982 then closed in 1996 to become the nightclub BackBeat then Avalon. Gillmor, the property manager of Bullwinkles, did nothing to save it. It was said that it was shifting in consumer trends and its decline in popularity and the property wanted to appeal to the 18+ crowd by transitioning into the night clubs, BackBeat then later the Avalon. Yet it doesn’t explain why the Bullwinkles is still in business in Upland, CA Wilsonville, OR and Takiwila, WA. Even the night clubs failed. Gillmor and the tenant Avalon Nightclub sued each other for breaches of contract after Gillmor terminated the lease. According to the records, the original case was settled over subtenant rental payments and unpaid rent. However, the family that owned the Avalon nightclub sued Gillmor unsuccessfully a couple years later for allegedly giving a negative reference to a prospective landlord. This “allegedly” sounds a lot like what Gillmor does. It fits the profile.
Once the Avalon Nightclub closed the building was subdivided and today it’s places like DaVita Kidney Dialysis. That shopping center owned by Gillmor on the corner of Lawrence Expressway and Homestead Rd, the site of former Bullwinkles and across the street from Kaiser Permanente looks run down and often hard to maintain tenants. The shopping center itself has lost multiple anchor stores. When Bullwinkles and the nightclubs left the identity there shifted. It used to be a much more attractive shopping center.
Under Gillmor’s watch we lost billiard halls, bowling alleys and family entertainment centers. Gillmor did nothing to preserve the past for the future generations of families. Today, ask yourself what does Santa Clara have to do that is comparable to these past times? Voters think about what has been lost for families in your own community when you cast your ballots.
Convention Center
The convention center has always been in Gillmor’s sights. It is a vendetta that has been simmering for 30 plus years. It started first in Mayor Gillmor then Councilmember Gillmor’s crusade against the convention center and the chamber of commerce in 1993. Following a city council decision to expand the convention center before Gillmor was elected she and then Mayor Eddie Souza began the accusations of embezzlement and “mismanagement”. Gillmor and Souza would lead the city on a witchhunt with investigations, audits, spending city money and man-hours examining chamber, city council and convention center records. Gillmor targeted Councilmember Tim Jefferies for putting a stop to her audits after he supported her. This was a betrayal. But it didn’t stop Lisa Gillmor from continuing the convention center mismanagement narrative. The 1993-94 Civil Grand Jury looked into the matter due to the media coverage created by Gillmor and her own complaints to the Civil Grand Jury. After all the controversy the grand jury released a report that ultimately said the accusations by Gillmor and Mayor Eddie Souza did not live up to the hype. The grand jury “found little justification for the often acrimonious Convention Center debates”. The Civil Grand Jury shut Gillmor’s narrative down in 1994. Many say at the time, the witch hunt of the convention center and chamber was distractions from her own issues revolving around Mission Trails corrupt practices.
After being unsuccessful in taking down the chamber and convention center in the early 1990s , it didn’t stop Gillmor as she appeared to hold that grudge until 2018 when she got the reinforcements she needed. Once she had the council majority and hired mercenary City Manager Deanna Santana and Brian Doyle as the city attorney, she terminated the Chamber CVB. Gillmor and Deanna Santana claimed “mismanagement” , self dealing, and conflicts of interest , a repeat narrative from the 1990s and what she accuses the 49ers or anyone against her of. This was all deja vu.
Santana and Gillmor changed how things worked in 2019. Santana implemented Gillmor’s agenda with the convention center and brought it new management, JLL and Dan Fenton. In 2021, the newly seated City Council debated whether to continue its relationship with JLL and Dan Fenton. Councilmembers Raj Chahal and Kevin Park strongly criticized the firm, pointing to unfinished projects, repeated contract renewals despite poor results, and long standing controversies surrounding Fenton, even former Councilmember Becker referenced a 2007 grand jury report that criticized Fenton and JLL over financial losses tied to the San Jose Convention Center. Despite those concerns, Mayor Gillmor, Kathy Watanabe, and naive Councilmembers Suds Jain, and Karen Hardy voted to continue extending JLL’s contract. The situation became even more ironic a year later when Becker himself became the subject of an investigation that led to an indictment many viewed as politically motivated. One figure tied to the indictment testimony was David Andre, a former CVB employee fired under Gillmor’s majority in 2018. Andre was quite successful at his job in the CVB where they did solid business that has never reached the levels it was when he was around. Andre later became one of Gillmor’s vocal critics and an ally of Becker on convention center issues with guidance on how to get the city tourism back to where it was when he worked there. Whether it was coincidence or political retaliation, the timing raised many questions and only deepened concerns about the city’s political culture revolving around the convention center and the decision makers on the council.
Since then, it has been failure after failure since Gillmor’s purge of the CVB structure that once made the Convention Center successful. Many remember when Eron Hodges served as the founding chair in 2019 and 2020 while Gillmor and Santana rebuilt what they had destroyed. Hodges was clearly aligned with the Gillmor-Santana machine. Then came Matthew Stewart, whose tenure was short-lived and was suddenly under investigation for alleged fraud and domestic issues by Santa Clara police. Supposedly nothing came of it, but Stewart resigned anyway. That then led to the current head, Christine Lawson who has a massive new salary and is clearly aligned politically with Gillmor. Even Stevie Wonder can see that. Yet we now hear that the Convention Center is hemorrhaging money and showing patterns of mismanagement sounds like deja vu all over again right? Mayor Gillmor has effectively been in charge since the purge of the previous management, so where are the concerns she raised back in 2018 when she accused the Chamber CVB of mismanagement. Where is the crusade to get answers now? All of this failure happened under her watch, just like much of what has happened in the Entertainment District. Tourism is down, events are down, revenue is down. Gillmor claimed the previous management was the problem, yet the current management structure is failing at a rate even worse than what she accused the former group of doing. As Gillmor herself once called it, this is now a “money loser.” Gillmor broke something that did not need fixing eight years ago, and between political purges, consultant culture, and post-pandemic failures, the city has destroyed what was once a reputable institution. Now the convention center gets some minor uplifts and fresh coats of paint and new carpet but there needs to be a lot more work. The model Gillmor wanted and pushed for is failing. It just seems strategic that all these entities from the convention center to great america are failing and underperforming.
Voters must know that at the polls this November, they must vote with the thought of saving and maintaining our convention center is key.
Levi’s Stadium
The 49ers came to Santa Clara on the back of Mayor Lisa Gillmor who at the time in 2010 was the lead of Santa Clarans for Economic Progress, the committee responsible for passing Measure J and the injection of the red and gold of the 49ers into the DNA and fabric of Santa Clara. It had her glowing endorsement. Lisa and her father Gary were always advocates for building a professional football stadium near Great America or the Golf Course now the Related Project. Voters passed a successful measure to bring a ballpark to Santa Clara in 1990 yet also voted against the funding mechanism. The Gillmor’s had the Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants on their radar but ultimately failed to bring baseball to Santa Clara however it only opened the door for football.
It was a good idea for a stadium that probably needed a little more thinking through. The deal covered the taxpayers, something most other stadiums don’t. There were still a lot of issues to sort through even Disneyland wasn’t perfect when it first opened. It was looking to be a positive new era in Santa Clara. Yet quickly it would become the biggest issue for city business absorbing a lot from other city needs and infrastructure. The politics certainly made it that way and it was when Lisa Gillmor returned to the city council by appointment not election is when the relationship with the 49ers turned sour during the Soccer Park crusades in the mid-2010s.
For a decade the stadium has been a success but overshadowed by the Gillmor Machine’s never ending attempts to undermine its success. Gillmor and her majority in the past would give curfew extensions to neighboring Great America and come down hard on the curfew for the stadium denying extensions. Gillmor would get her majority to terminate the management agreement on the stadium because of “mismanagement” creating legal conflict with devastating costs to the city. When a new city council was elected in 2020 taking away her majority rule she pivoted and said they were all in the pocket of the 49ers and that they were managing the stadium terribly and selling the city out to Jed York, owner of the 49ers. Additionally she claimed the council allowed nothing but “money loser” events.
Gillmor continues to be a thorn in the side of the stadium’s success. Success needs to happen. Either you were for the stadium to be here or against it, it is here and the city needs to make sure it is successful, profitable and fulfills its contractual duties, the same with the 49ers. Between false civil grand jury reports, legal disputes and political fallout all tied to Gillmor Machine the relationship had not been the best. The current council does what it can with staff. When the Mayor and figurehead of the city continues to say that the stadium is hemorrhaging money or has inner management issues, it turns away business and success.
The 49ers will not stay in Santa Clara forever simply out of loyalty. If the city and Mayor Gillmor toxicity continues down its current path the team could eventually walk away from the stadium entirely. Santa Clara still owes parking spaces promised under the stadium agreement, leaving many to argue the city is already falling short of its obligations. Meanwhile, the ongoing dysfunction with the Gillmor Machine only adds to the uncertainty. The 49ers one day could return to a new stadium in San Francisco forty miles away from Gillmor’s grasp. Unless voters push back and demand leadership focused on the stadium’s success and the preservation of family entertainment and community spaces, Santa Clara could lose not only its soul, but one of the few major attractions keeping the city relevant.
Downtown
Today it is just Franklin Mall, an outdated attempt at a modern village square. Santa Clara lost its heart during urban renewal in the 1960s. The former City Council, Mayor Al Levin and Councilmembers James Viso, Robert Simons, Maurice Dullea, Joseph Rebeiro and Matt Talia all voted in favor of the bulldozer to level the historic downtown. Following that, the attempt to modernize failed. City management and the council knew it was a mistake.
There are attempts today to bring it back and so far with no shovels in the ground. There have been past attempts to resurrect the downtown that went nowhere. Yet, the current Returning Downtown group has a really hard time understanding the reasons why the downtown is not being built. There are many reasons from economics to city management priorities and property owners being on board. Yet, the ultimate reason is Gillmor’s influence. When the downtown was bulldozed, people don’t remember but Gary Gillmor (Lisa’s father and former Mayor) bought land in the downtown along with others. Gary and all bought the land dirt cheap, or as Lisa Gillmor said in her crusade against the 49ers over the youth soccer park, they all got it for “pennies on the dollar”. Original business owners in the downtown, with the exception of Wilson’s Bakery, didn’t come back. Former Councilmember Barcells was among the purchasers of the phase one development and he wanted to see the city subdivide each piece into small parcels because he felt those people couldn’t afford to buy all that land. Those people either just went out of business or ultimately left. By the late 1970s former Council Member Jim Viso invested heavily into the land as a way to “make amends” for his decision to bulldoze the original downtown. Yet, in 1985 Viso sold the land to Prometheus at a profit and by 1987 Prometheus built condo units. The community felt that Viso benefited off of his poor decision making. The downtown was really blighted. Today it is a mismatched jigsaw puzzle that has no vibe or character. Giant parking lots where theaters and a core of the downtown once stood. So when you look at a bigger picture and why the downtown development always stalls is because of those who own the properties, look them up and see who knows who. Gillmor and others are sitting on valuable land. Santa Clara taxpayers have long been asked to subsidize Franklin Square while receiving little in return. The Gillmor family owns about 10,000 square feet of the downtown property which includes their real estate office, yet the city owns the surrounding land and has repeatedly absorbed the bulk of the costs. Taxpayers funded a $3 million renovation of the square in 2001, a project of which Councilmember Lisa Gillmor voted on several times before finally abstaining because of the obvious conflict of interest. The imbalance continues today, with the city paying roughly around $129,000 in annual maintenance costs while the 12 property owners together contributed just what $11,000? In theory, the Gillmor’s profit off the lack of a downtown. As it was put way back Gary Gillmor joked he had a “Ph.D. in zoning” which he and his daughter Lisa has put to good use through many city council loyalties over the years. The Gillmor’s have a lot of weight in land decisions, and they are often called land barons. Anything developing in the City of Santa Clara sure does have the attention and oversight of the Gillmor empire.
A city without a downtown lacks a true heart. And without a heart, it’s hard to hold onto the city’s fleeting soul when places like Great America, bowling alleys, and family entertainment centers keep fading away. The fact that there is no “Uptown” Related Project finished is evident in the Gillmor’s who influenced that decision. Gillmor has failed on promises from downtown to uptown Related. Imagine if Santa Clara had a solid downtown and finished the Related project for the Super Bowl back in February and the World Cup in June.
The Soul of Santa Clara at a Crossroads
Death may be inevitable, but decline does not have to be. Cities can choose whether to preserve what gives them identity or allow it to slowly disappear piece by piece. Santa Clara still has time to save the entertainment district, protect what remains of its family attractions, and rebuild the sense of community that once made this city feel alive.
Yet for years, there has been little vision from the Gillmor Machine beyond land deals, political control, and real estate interests. At no point has Mayor Gillmor presented a serious long-term plan to save Great America or replace what the city continues to lose. One by one, the places that gave Santa Clara its character have faded away. The bowling alleys are gone. The family entertainment centers are gone. The downtown remains unfinished. Great America now sits on borrowed time. Even the convention center, once accused by Gillmor of “mismanagement” and being a “money loser,” now struggles under the very system she helped create.
That is the irony running through Santa Clara’s modern history. For decades, Gillmor has accused others of mismanagement while many of the city’s biggest failures and deteriorating institutions unfolded under her own leadership and influence. The convention center is struggling. The entertainment district is fading. Tourism has declined. Promises tied to downtown and development remain unfinished. Meanwhile, many of the properties connected to the Gillmor empire themselves show signs of neglect and stagnation.
Santa Clara cannot afford another four years of politics built on grudges, control, and recycled narratives through a continuation of the Gillmor Machine. Voters should ask themselves a simple question: does the city feel more alive, more connected, and more vibrant today than it did years ago before Mayor Gillmor? Or does it feel like the soul of Santa Clara is slowly slipping away? To prevent this, voters should stay clear of casting ballots for Kathy Watanabe or David Kertes for Mayor or anyone loyal to the Gillmor machine running for open city council seats. If so they will get the same as in the past.
The city is not dead yet. There is still time to change direction. There is still time to rebuild downtown, preserve gathering places, support entertainment and tourism, and create a future that gives families reasons to stay, visit, and make memories here again. We can save the entertainment district from data centers, stack and packs and warehouses. But that only happens if voters finally decide they want something different.
Otherwise, the slow death of Santa Clara’s soul will continue one closure, one empty promise, and one “money loser” at a time. In the end the only “mismanagement” and “money loser” has been Mayor Gillmor and her 30 some years in office. Save your city.
-Roger Kint
