Environmental Impact Process

The long-awaited Environmental Impact process for the proposed SF 49ers stdium has begun. You have until Sept. 15th to voice specific concerns with the proposed stadium's impact to the environment and our quality of life.

The first step in the EIR is for the public and interested agencies to provide input on specific concerns they have with the physical aspects of the stadium. These concerns can include noise, traffic, parking, light pollution, visual concerns, impact to the environment.

There will be two public scoping meetings held on Sept. 2. These meetings are an opportunity for the public to provide verbal input on specific areas the EIR should cover. Written input can also be provided. All input is due by Sept. 15th, 2008.

This input, together with regulatory requirements and input from staff, will form the basis for the EIR. The EIR will assess the risks and impacts of the identified concerns, and propose ways to mitigate those concerns.

The outline for the EIR is posted at:

http://santaclaraca.gov/pdf/collateral/49ers-20080818-Stadium-Project.pdf

Now is your time to act.

Read the outline, write down all your concerns. In addition to the meetings on Sept. 2nd, comments or questions may be directed to the project manager, Jeffrey Schwilk, at 408-615-2450 or jschwilk@santaclaraca.gov or by postal mail at:

City of Santa Clara
Planning Department
c/o Jeffrey Schwilk, AICP
1500 Warburton Avenue
Santa Clara, CA 95050

"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?

Stadium vs. Rolling blackouts?

Silicon Valley Power, Santa Clara's non-profit power company, is one of the best electric utilities in the nation. Thanks to SVP we had reliable power for a fair price while the rest of California was reeling from rolling blackouts.

Breaking SVP's piggy bank to subsidize a stadium will weaken SVP's financials. This will benefit very few people, many of whom will be out-ot-towners. At the same time, it will expose all Santa Clarans to the wild ups-and-downs of the energy market that PG&E customers had to endure.

The day the music died

Back in 2000, most Californians saw their electricity bills doubled. But even paying through the nose was no guarantee for reliable service. On June 14, 2000, when temperatures in San Francisco reached 103 degrees, the power went out for 97,000 people in the Bay Area. They were victims of the largest planned blackout since World War II. These rolling blackouts continued right on through the following summer. In fact, they spread state-wide.

If you lived in Santa Clara at the time, you'll remember that we were spared the worst of the electricity crisis. Part of the credit goes to voluntary conservation. However, the overwhelming reason why we did OK is because our city has its own electric utility.

According to Metro, SVP is so well managed that big businesses go out of their way to buy electrons from our wee little power company:

"Their service is so good, we paid to extend their network," says Mike Brozda, a spokesman with National Semiconductor, whose plant sits in both Sunnyvale and Santa Clara. Rather than split the building's power between PG&E and Silicon Valley Power, the company extended Santa Clara's power lines into Sunnyvale at its own expense. (Metro, May 20-26, 1999.)

It's called a "reserve" fund for a good reason

A key part of any well-run business is having good contingency planning. Good planning dictates you save money for a rainy day. Having something to fall back on makes it easier to deal with unexpected situations. By having a healthy reserve fund, SVP is able to maintain its power plants properly, absorb the cost spikes, and last but not least, insulate its customers from crooked energy traders.

(Remember the recording of 2 Enron traders joking to each other about stealing from poor grandmothers? It's at 22 seconds in from the beginning of this video.)



Local power is a good thing

Santa Clara is one of only 3 cities in the Bay Area with their own electric utilities. Our electric rates are "on average 35 percent less than" that of our neighbors on PG&E, and our electricity is more reliable to boot. Why should we jeopardize all that to build a ballpark that will sit empty 9 out of 10 days?