Stadium Authority Meeting – More Questions About Levi’s Stadium Finances
By Robert Haugh
At the second stand-alone Stadium Authority meeting, board members raised many questions and many were unanswered.
It was a brief meeting, adjourning in about an hour. It was like watching an iron man match between two broomsticks. But at least we got to sleep at a reasonable hour.
Curfew
Board Vice Chair Dominic Caserta questioned Stadium Authority Director Rajeev Batra on why a meeting to discuss the curfew wasn’t being held in the Northside, which he says the Board asked for at its last meeting.
Batra nervously answered that planned outreach meetings were cancelled. Batra said the first meeting was “half-baked” and cited attendance of Board members as the reason the second one was cancelled. It was disclosed that Board member Teresa O’Neill has put together an outreach plan that will be presented to the Board for future curfew discussions.
Finances
During a presentation on the financial statements for the Stadium Authority for April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017, we learned Levi’s Stadium depreciated in value to $781 million.
In addition, $24 million was apparently transferred from the Stadium Authority to StadCo for “tenant improvement costs.” No one seemed to know what this was for, except that it apparently related to old construction costs. According to the minimal presentation, the City received $3 million in revenue from the stadium last year.
Board member O’Neill asked questions about SBL revenue. According to acting finance director Angela Kraetsch, some of the premium owner SBLs (a nice $250,000 price tag) were sold on 20-year terms, but “lifetime revenue” has been projected.
The notion of a cost allocation study session was brought up. Some Board members mentioned they’ve been asking for one for over two years. An agenda report that wasn’t available prior to the meeting apparently showed $79,000 in capital expenditures for water treatment and LED lighting at Levi’s Stadium.
Caserta asked about the prospects for future non-NFL events. 49ers VP Jim Mercurio didn’t tell us much, except that there’s been recent bids for “a few major events” and that a Super Bowl bid would likely be proposed within the next 18 months.
Other News
Councilwoman Patricia Mahan was absent from the Stadium Authority meeting.
Both Mahan and Caserta missed the Joint Council and Authorities meeting with the Cultural Commission that was held prior to the Stadium Authority meeting. The joint meeting provided a lot of insight into community and cultural events.
What’s up with the Mayor and City Council?
Curfew penalties with any teeth won’t be put on the City Council agendas or the Stadium Authority agendas ahead of the Coldplay concert.
Northsiders are getting screwed over again unless the Mayor and City Council do something quick s they’ve wasted months.
The charade between Rajeev and Teresa was a joke. A ruse to ensure Northsiders couldn’t properly defend themselves from the Coldplay concert going past the curfew.
When are people in the rest of Santa Clara going to stand up for the Northside?
This meeting and the audit was a waste of time.
Without the Levi’s SMC giving the Stadium Authority all of the data the $80k spent on this was a joke.
It was abundantly clear that the City Staff didn’t know the details and worse yet the City Council was once again out of their depth.
But they were right, there was supposed to be various analyses done that weren’t done. They ask why! But it’s easy to see why. Because of current and past City Managers, senior city staff and much of the City Council is in bed with the 49ers.
Is there an attendance requirement for council members? There should be.