City Council Preview

By Robert Haugh

After last week’s intense Stadium Authority meeting, tonight’s City Council meeting should be tame in comparison. That is unless the Police Chief Mike Sellers shows up unexpectedly to read a statement.

Here are some key items:

New Hires and New Positions

The new City Manager Deanna Santana is moving quickly to bring in heavyweight talent.  It’s like when Ted Turner’s WCW brought in big name stars such as Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Scott Hall and Kevin nash to start the Monday Night Wars against the then WWE(F).

The City Council will vote to approve the hiring of Scott McKibben as Chief Stadium Authority Officer ($300,000 salary) and Manuel Piñeda as Assistant City Manager ($310,008 salary).  McKibben is the former Executive Director of the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Authority. From 2009 to 2015, he also led the Tournament of Roses and Rose Bowl Game as its Executive Director. With McKibben, Santa Clara will finally have someone with top-notch stadium management experience, as the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Pineda was  Sunnyvale’s Public Works Director. Previously, he was a Deputy Director for San Jose’s Department of Transportation. He’s handled major development and transportation projects in both cities and is considered a top talent by a couple of our sources who have worked with him.

New Moonlite Lanes Development Proposal

Prometheus returns with their proposal for the former Moonlite Lanes bowling alley (2780 El Camino Real). City staff recommends continuing with the General Plan Amendment application, which changes the site from mixed-use to medium density residential. The plan proposes 58 townhomes, at 20 units per acre. This has been reduced from their original proposal. Neighbors are concerned about the lack of planning for future retail or commercial space in the entire shopping center.

$15,000 to SVO?

The Economic Development Committee minutes from the July 17 meeting will be noted and filed. SVO asked for $15,000 from Santa Clara to participate in the Silicon Valley IDEA program, a regional economic development program. This is an interesting item that was brought to the full council’s attention by community activist Deborah Bress.We’ll be writing a more detailed column about this discussion and SVO’s efforts.

Major City Property Land Sale

The City Staff wants the City Council to approve the sale of  10,000 acres of Silicon Valley Power property located within Lassen, Sierra and Plumas Counties in Loyalton. It was purchased in the 1980s with plans for geothermal power generation. This is a major sale and likely to generate some discussion.

To Develop, Or Not to Develop?

United Communities for Sensible Development is requesting that the City of Santa Clara take legal action against the City of San Jose by:

• Evaluating the fees that San Jose has allegedly  waived for its developments, particularly the traffic impact fees.
• Evaluating San Jose’s “protected intersections” policy that allegedly allows major developments to ignore the gridlock at over two dozen San Jose intersections, which he claims perpetuates gridlock by pushing traffic into residential neighborhoods and bordering cities.
• Taking legal action against San Jose’s Environmental Impact Reports for development policies that “ignore traffic and underfund transportation infrastructure.”

This looks like another battle in the ‘border wars’ that San Jose has started with Santa Clara and Cupertino‘border wars’ that San Jose has started with Santa Clara and Cupertino.

Proclamation

The City Council will issue a proclamation naming August as Muslim Appreciation and Awareness Month.