"Her own little rules"

When Nancy Reagan was First Lady, she got into trouble for borrowing fancy clothes and jewelry to wear, but never reporting them as taxable income. After getting caught the first time in 1982, she promised not to do it again. When TIME magazine reported in 1988 that she was still doing it, her press secretary tried to downplay the tax evasion by saying "She set her own little rule, and she broke her own little rule."

Fast forward nearly 20 years later...

On January 9, 2007, Santa Clara City Council approved a number of Guiding Principles to be used in evaluating the 49ers' stadium proposal. Among them are the following:

1. Utility funds only used for utility purposes (electric, water, sewer.)
   
2. City Manager responsible for negotiations.
3. Vacant City lands must return revenue to General Fund.

Well, apparently some of our so-called "City leaders," elected or otherwise, are quite capable of selective amnesia like Mrs Reagan, even if they are not a size-4 fashion plate.

Let's see what's happened to some of these "little rules."

1. Utility funds only used for utility purposes:
   
   On March 26, 2007, the SF Chronicle reported that
   

   Last week ... 49ers officials were openly coordinating with former Santa Clara city staff members and elected officials, who publicly called on the city to study using some of city-owned Silicon Valley Power's money for a stadium project.

   Maybe these Raiders of the Lost Utility Reserve think Santa Clara ought to have a taste of rolling blackouts and skyrocketing electric bills?
   
   
2. City Manager responsible for negotiations:
   
   The first rule of negotiations is "Don't show your cards!" Anybody who has ever negotiated for anything more substantial than a waffle iron at a garage sale knows that. You most certainly don't go in bragging loudly about how big a wad you've got in your back pocket.
   
   Yet that is exactly what Mayor Mahan has done with her infamous proclamations about the $160 million cash subsidy being "doable."
   
   Besides being pure fantasy, this indiscreet flashing of the mayoral wad also showed the 49ers that they have clearly bagged a "motivated" buyer.
   
   Even worse, it got Cedar Fair, the owner of the Great America theme park next door, thinking, "Hey, if she's so willing to throw money at them, where's ours?!"
   
   So much for letting the City Manager do the negotiating.
   
   
3. Vacant City lands must return revenue to General Fund:
   
   A report presented to the City Council on July 10 stated:
   

   One of the possible financing options under consideration is the use of City-owned land that ... could be used ... for a portion of the stadium construction cost.

   Ummm, what part of "General Fund" do you not understand?
   

If our City Council is just going to make their own little rules and break their own little rules, then what's the point of adopting these hallowed Guiding Principles?