Four of Five County Supervisor Candidates Oppose Changing Weekday Levi’s Stadium Curfew
By Robert Haugh
We asked the candidates who are running to replace termed-out Supervisor Ken Yeager, what they think of the weekday stadium curfew that the 49ers want to lift for big-name entertainers at Levi’s Stadium.
Four out of the five would keep the weekday 10 p.m. curfew in place. Only Santa Clara Vice Mayor Dominic Caserta would lift the curfew. He was on the losing end of a 4-3 vote to do this is in January when the 49ers requested it for U2 and again in August for Coldplay.
Here’s what each candidate had to say, except for Caserta who would not respond to the question because as he wrote in his email reply to me, “You are a hack. You are simply a joke.” Oh well, I guess I’m not getting a holiday card from him this year.
Jason Baker, former Campbell Mayor
As a former Mayor myself, I know that when people are losing sleep, they look to the Mayor to keep the city’s promise, in this case the promise of a curfew, and that’s what Mayor [Lisa] Gillmor tried to do. There should be real consequences for any entity that violates a curfew that the Council has already put in place – just paying a fine isn’t an excuse for violating the law and harming neighbors. It’s up to the city to decide what time is the proper curfew time, and as a County Supervisor I’ll support Santa Clara and every city in the Santa Clara County to decide what curfew time is right for their community.
Susan Ellenberg, San Jose Unified School District Board of Education Vice President
This is about public trust both in the 49ers as a community partner and in the political process. Any change to the curfew must be reviewed and approved by the neighbors. The families in the neighborhood that I’ve spoken to about this issue have significant concerns. Until those concerns are addressed and the community is thoroughly engaged on the issue, I do not support changing the curfew.
Pierluigi Oliverio, former San Jose City Councilman
From my ten years on the San Jose city council, I am keenly aware of the importance of curfews for places such as the airport, food/alcohol establishments, and sports and concert venues, and the impact they can have on adjacent neighborhoods. Whether we as individuals agree or disagree with an established curfew, it was passed by a majority of council members and is, therefore, a rule that must be followed. (Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from an oped Oliverio wrote for this site)
Don Rocha, San Jose City Councilman
I support the initial decision/agreement that the Council and the 49ers entered into in terms of the current curfew. With that said, I prefer to weigh in on issues knowing the full story/analysis and I am not privy to the negotiation that lead to this decision. So one has to assume that the two parties arrived at the current 10 p.m. time for good reason and a well thought out approach with respect to the community and potential impacts.
And remember that Casherts actually voted FOR the curfew too! The curfew was required as part of passing the environmental impact report. He is not to be trusted at all. He has a consistent history of being a two-faced turncoat. Like Maya Angelou said, when people show you who they are … Believe them! Casherta only wants to be in politics for himself, for the glory, to overcome his own inadequacies … not for anyone or anything else.
Run, do not walk, and leave him holding empty ballot boxes in each and every race he enters forever and ever … for Everyone’s sake.
Vote him out and keep him out … TWJWD
Ellenberg and Rocha once again give the best responses. I believe they will make the run off. Caserta is just temperamental and that is not appealing to me.
I think the city’s is wiser and knows his self-serving voting record. He acts like a whiny brat (narcissist) at the council meetings. Even though dog catcher is a county position I don’t think he’d even have a chance for that.
It’s difficult for me not to sympathize with the Northside Residents. The Niners will never give up
We only need to be concerned with Dominic’s selfishness for another 15 months. Thanks for your service?
Ugh! Rumor has it that if Dom doesn’t get in the runoff, hie is going to run again for his seat!
So 5+ years of the Orange Crush temper tantrums and “slow pitches” for his crooked 49er mobsters?!?
(and whomever else pays him off)
No way Dom could win any election. He has shown his true self for all to see. Acting like a fool at every meeting and on here with alias names 😂 what a joke!! Don’t quit your day job Caserta.
It is great to read these comments from these candidates. I like how four of five are neighborhood first and to show that what the City Council orders matters.
The (Yorks) 49ers have NEVER been community partners, that was the Eddie D 49ers that gave a damn about the community.
I really liked Susan’s comments the best.
At first I thought Don’s were weak sauce, but upon rereading after seeing a negative comment about Don’s views of the curfew it is more nuanced than I thought. He is right, since he (and we, the community!) do not know what the specific negotiations were… it’s hard to give a specific answer. He also talked about the importance of honoring the agreement as the others do.
So to me there are at least five issues here:
1) How do we make the whole process more transparent
2) How do we make the Northside lead ALL of the process here
3) How do we convince the City Council/City Mgr/senior City Staff that it is the people of Santa Clara
that are the first priority and NOT the 49ers or other developers.
4) How do we KEEP the 2009 Draft EIR and 2014 Final EIR in legal standing that had a 10pm curfew?
(ie, if there is a curfew extension, the EIR process needs to be REOPENED!)
This is a can of worms here folks! This CURFEW CHANGE is a violation of the EIRs!
There has to be NEW analysis and community input and NEW mitigations.
5) IF the Northside decides X number of events to till Y time at night, there needs to be a HUGE enough
benefit to the Northside 1st and greater Santa Clara community 2nd to make it worthwhile.
$20k is NOT enough. It needs to be huge and needs to both cover ALL costs of emergency/security personnel, the various city staff and transit agencies to run special buses and trains, etc. BUT it ALSO must cover a huge FEE for the Northside.
We should be talking on the order of $1 million or more. The Northside can and should hold out for big dollars
as Levi’s Stadium Mgmt Company can incur a FEE upfront on the tickets and the customers can pay. I know it sucks as a concert goer, but the focus has to be on the quality of life of the Northside. Being ignored and treated as second class citizens “North of Bayshore” has been “business as usual” for decades. The newer residents may not feel this way but anyone who has spent time here knows what I’m talking about.
I’m glad to see that 4 of 5 respect neighborhoods and people. I think they all stated their opinions well. Rocha waffled a little bit. But I will consider these 4 for my vote. I don’t live on the Northside but have lots of friends who do. I feel for them.
Wow. I heard Caserta was a jerk. But I didn’t realize how big a jerk. Don’t sweat it. I wouldn’t want a christmas card from the guy. But I’m not a developer or the 49ers so I wouldn’t get one anyway.