For the second time this week, Santa Clara policy is under scrutiny by the civil grand jury, but the report concludes that the billion-dollar Levi’s Stadium has not strained taxpayers as some critics alleged.
A third Santa Clara County Grand Jury report released Thursday focused on the city’s 2010 Measure J, which approved the construction of Levi’s Stadium.
The new 84-page report maintained that the original measure protected the city’s general fund, but alleged that contracts with the San Francisco 49ers affiliates that managed the stadium limited revenue from events at the stadium. The grand jury has released two previous reports, including one yesterday. chronic dysfunction and infighting at city hall.
Two years ago, another contentious grand jury report accused the 49ers of having outsized influence over city officials, which the team refuted.
The report says Measure J delivered on its promise to protect and pay down stadium debt and fund reserves more quickly than originally planned. But, the report adds, the promised 1% income “has been hard earned” and there are no consequences if non-NFL events do not generate profits.
Last year, the team published a report from a professor and consultant who found events at the stadium. generated $2 billion in total economic impact for the region in the last decade.
“At the heart of the relationship between the 49ers and the Stadium Authority, there is an imbalance of power,” the report reads. “The Stadium Authority and City negotiators bear great responsibility for this imbalance.”
Jurors said the NFL team benefited more from the complex deals than the city’s Stadium Authority. The Stadium Authority is a board made up of councilors who oversee the stadium. A source with knowledge of the industry said the 49ers pay one of the highest rents of any NFL team with publicly owned stadiums.
The report recommended that the Stadium Authority hire experts in the management of large sports stadiums and fund its own economic impact report. He also said the authority should require the stadium management company to prioritize maximizing city revenue.
The 49ers provided jurors with thousands of documents and hundreds of hours of testimony, according to 49ers spokeswoman Ellie Caple.
“This report reaffirms the success of Levi’s Stadium and that new leadership at the Stadium Authority has improved transparency and generated additional profits for the Authority and the city. We will follow up with staff on next steps and remain immensely proud of the contributions the 49ers have made to this community, including providing $1 billion to the Stadium Authority and $2 billion to the regional economy. ”.
Councilor Raj Chahal said the report was less biased than one from earlier in the week, which he said was “selected” information. He said today’s report on the stadium stated that the original contracts with the 49ers and their affiliates were written to benefit the 49ers, but have been renegotiated over the years to generate more revenue for the city.
Chahal added that the three jury reports have historically been biased, noting that the report on council dysfunction did not mention any instances in which Mayor Lisa Gillmor or Councilwoman Kathy Watanabe acted inappropriately.
“To me, the problem is that the powers of the civil grand jury are being abused,” Chahal told San José Spotlight. “The grand jury should not be politicized.”
The grand jury report requested a response from the Stadium Authority on the 10 recommendations.
In 2010, Santa Clara voters approved Measure J, which brought the $1.3 billion Stadium to the city. Gillmor, the only politician on the council at the time, was a supporter of the measure, before becoming one of the team’s harshest critics.
After the 2022 report was released, 49ers executives called the jury “stacked” with Gillmor’s political allies. The report was released shortly before the November 2022 election, where Becker and Gillmor faced off. Several council members, including Becker, previously told San José Spotlight that they were not interviewed for the report.
Several people allegedly leaked the 2022 report before its release. Becker allegedly leaked the report to the 49ers and is caught up in litigation over alleged perjury to which he has pleaded not guilty. Supporters also suggested Gillmor may have leaked the report to the city’s police union, after talking points from the report were posted early on a website monitored by the union.
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X, formerly known as Twitter.
