Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Help the effort for a referendum!

Santa Clara Plays Fair is organizing a referendum petition drive to give voters the right to determine whether or not the stadium deal is good for Santa Clara. The costs outlined in the Measure J campaign are VERY different from the deal the City Council approved last month. The current deal calls for the 49ers to pay NOTHING towards the construction costs, and calls for the Stadium Authority to take responsibility for $850,000,000 in loans from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.

Contact Santa Clara Plays Fair to find a place to sign the petition or to volunteer to help.

Their website is: www.santaclaraplaysfair.org

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Aside from the cost considerations and political manuevering, Santa Clara and surrounding communities DO NOT have the infrastructure to support professional football in Silicon Valley. San Francisco is a tourist town with an industry to back it up. That is contrast to the valley communities which caters to business travelers. For example, downtown SJ has limited options and pretty much caters to a local crowd, mostly SJSU and other college students. That said, SJPD (rightly so) enforces late night activities. Same for local downtown nightlife including SV Murphy Ave., MV Castro St and University Ave. in PA. The valley doesn't have venues which would be open to national fans who may be visiting and probably wouldn't be easily shared by locals. Being that Silicon Valley companies are dependent on business travel, this could be burdensome to both business and fan travelers who may need to visit. This will surely impact job and business performance. Other than affecting traffic, Santa Clara does not have resources to deal with public safety related to the stadium. With SJPD laying off PD and neighboring cities either considering the same or not hiring altogether, its a little ludicrous to think that agencies outside of mutual aid would want to have their officers patrol the stadium with SCPD. SF is the best place for the 49ers. They want want them so they should keep them. SF is a tourist city with resources and infrastucture to keep the team and NFL fans happy. Candlestick with its faults is part of its 'charm'. Its what makes the 49ers tough. Look at Buffalo or Greenbay or Minnesota. Do their players or fans complain about blizzards? What it comes down to is that Silicon Valley fans will happily travel to the city to get their football fix. Out of town fans will be in the proximity of great bars and restaurants in the city as well as the usual attractions like Pier 49 and Fisherman's Wharf. What do we have to offer here in the Valley? Lots full of unoccupied R&D business parks, Great America, and the (not so) Great Mall.