Due to the quick turnaround of press time, The Weekly focused on one key item from last night’s Santa Clara City Council meeting. We offer more in-depth coverage of other items discussed at the city council meeting in the coming days.  

Contention surrounding the long-term maintenance and financial viability of Levi’s Stadium dominated discussion during the Santa Clara City Council’s most recent meeting.

During its Sept. 14 meeting, the council devoted much time to discussing how much money the stadium authority is spending on capital improvements and how much money is slated to flow to the general fund over the next decade.

“Anybody paying attention knows we have hit a financial cliff, and we really need to start solving this problem,” said Council Member Kelly Cox, who raised the issue. “We cannot continue to budget tens of millions of dollars and have a fraction of that done. Inflation costs go up. The costs of projects rise.” 

Cox took issue with the stadium authority allocating money for improvements and maintenance over the past decade only to see roughly half of that work done. Further, she said, city employees project that revenues to the general fund will dry up moving forward, with only performance rent contributing to it.

She called for better city oversight and more accountability from the stadium manager, the Forty-Niners Management Company (ManCo). The system that determines how money is allocated — called the “waterfall” — is clearly not working, she added.

Kenn Lee, the city’s finance director, characterized the year as “strong,” with $10.5 million flowing to the general fund. Revenues were slightly above anticipated, at 102% projected; costs were slightly below expected, at 93%.

Although large capital improvement projects such as a new boiler and upgrades to the LED system saw completion, the overall investment in maintenance is not keeping pace with the wear on the stadium.

On a brighter note, Lee said the stadium authority continues to pay down the stadium debt, shaving $9.9 million off its liability. There is $209.72 million of outstanding debt on the stadium.

“As a finance director that oversees procurement for the city, we always want to move faster, but there are so many rules that we must abide by to ensure competition is sufficient with regards to public funds,” Lee said. “I want to make sure our bond holders know we have accelerated the payments of our debt. We have made great progress on it. We’ve had strong revenues to ensure those bonds are paid off.”

Further, Lee said, the stadium authority continues to shore up its reserves, with $891,000 going to its discretionary fund, $2.6 million to its public safety reserve, $806,000 to its operating reserve and $9.6 million going into the renovation/demolition reserve.

Addressing Cox’s concern, Lee told the council city employees are in the process of conducting a conditions needs assessment to determine the stadium’s most critical infrastructure needs, having already gotten eight bids.

One of the biggest challenges, City Manager Jovan Grogan said, is that the stadium’s viability is largely due to the “ebb and flow” of non-NFL events and the ability of the stadium to remain competitive among a slew of other options in the area.

Mayor Lisa Gillmor sided with Cox, accusing Lee and others of offering a “dog ate my homework” excuse. Amid years of sufficient staffing and loads of money, the city should be doing more to hold ManCo’s feet to the fire, she added.

“We have to hold them accountable to get this work done,” she said. “I don’t know what the excuses are … there are no more excuses.”

Council Member Kevin Park pushed back, saying the council members never should have been in the position to determine how to run a stadium, intimating that those on the dais are unqualified to judge whether it is being run properly. He advocated for an outside party to oversee ManCo, to keep the matter “apolitical.”

Grogan told the council city employees would return within the next couple months with future plans related to the budgeting of capital projects at the stadium.

The report excluded costs for the six FIFA World Cup games or Super Bowl LX, held at Levi’s Stadium this year. The council voted unanimously to note and file the report.

Council Member Suds Jain was absent.

Santa Clara City Council Consent Calendar Spending

The council approved the following spending in one motion via the consent calendar:

• A $466,237 agreement with Biggs Cardosa Associates, Inc. for the bridge maintenance. 
• A $847,509 agreement with BKF Engineers for the Benton Street bikeway and pavement rehabilitation.
• A $1.53 million agreement with True Blue Automation Services for electrical support for the city’s water, sewer, and storm assets.
• A $1.60 million agreement with Tetra Tech, Inc. for design of the public right-of-way ADA Improvements and bicycle wayfinding. 

The next regularly scheduled meeting is 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1500 Warburton Ave. in Santa Clara.

Members of the public can participate in the city council meetings on Zoom at https://santaclaraca.zoom.us/j/99706759306; Meeting ID: 997-0675-9306 or call 1 (669) 900-6833, via the City’s eComment (available during the meeting) or by email to PublicComment@santaclaraca.gov

Contact David Alexander at d.todd.alexander@gmail.com 

Previous Santa Clara City Council Meetings:
Santa Clara Handwaves VTA Civil Grand Jury Report
Santa Clara Continues to Add Housing — at the Cost of Retail
Sparks Fly Over State-Protected Townhouse Development