Special Council Meeting: Stadium Noise Monitoring and 49ers Media Claims Monitoring
By Robert Haugh
A special Council Meeting was announced for today at 5 p.m.
The City Staff will present an update on noise monitoring for Levi’s Stadium, in particular the 10 p.m. weeknight event curfew.
The Council will also be given an opportunity to direct the City Manager to “return with an update on the status of noise monitoring for Levi’s Stadium and an implementation schedule to make the information available on the City’s website.” That’s good news. Then, the public will be able to monitor stadium event noise.
There are four noise monitors near the stadium. Preliminary data provided by Wilson, Ihrig & Associates (WIA), a firm hired by the City, reports noise levels were well beyond normal. It makes you wonder why there were only six “official” complaints after the Coldplay concert. We heard from some that this concert was louder than other past concerts.
According to the staff report, new City Manager Deanna Santana was not forwarded memos between the 49ers and former interim city manager Rajeev Batra when she initially took the position. Santana is responding by asking about “lost concert revenues” in a letter to 49er executive Al Guido who told the media that the city lost $600-800,000 in revenue from the Coldplay concert but never provided any proof. Now, the city wants proof.
Also, Guido says that he informed Batra that Ed Sheeran would not play in Santa Clara unless the curfew was changed to 11 p.m.. Board members claim they were unaware a Sheeran concert was even being considered. Maybe Batra didn’t tell anyone. Santana apparently wants to make sure that doesn’t happen on her watch. She’s asked Guido for confirmation that there will be no other weekday concerts, as the team has told the media.
We like Santana’s letter because it forces the team to put their claims in writing. We particularly like the last line because it reminds the 49ers that the City owns the stadium and they’re suppose to manage it and obey the laws of the city.
“Thank you again for touring the Stadium with me and my staff today. It allowed me to learn more about the City’s asset.”
According to the current City Manager’s Blog (http://santaclaraca.gov/Home/Components/News/News/34957/), the city was able to count only a few complaints about noise for the recent Coldplay concert at Levis — however the current mechanism in place for counting does not include every type of complaint. (The City Manager intends to change this.) For example, the City was not able to count “calls or emails that were received directly by the Mayor and Council, any complaints that were posted to social media accounts.”
For the immediate future, until the counting mechanism changes, a surefire way to have your voice counted would be to call or email the City Manager’s office:
City Manager’s Office at (408) 615-2210 or manager@santaclaraca.gov
(This information can also be found at the bottom of the City Manager’s blog.)
Quoted from the blog:
“Noise Complaints received at Levi’s Stadium: The update is to provide the City Council a summary of the actions taken to report complaints relative to the Coldplay concert on October 4. On the morning of Thursday, October 5, a media request was received requesting information on how many email and phone call complaints were received by the City of Santa Clara after 10 pm, Wednesday, regarding the noise at the stadium. At that time, Mayor and Council Offices received three emailed complaints and one phone call; Santa Clara PD and the City Manager’s Office did not receive any calls or emails regarding noise; and two complaints were received through the MySantaClara app (received by Code Enforcement). Unfortunately, the original number reported did not include any calls or emails that were received directly by the Mayor and Council, any complaints that were posted to social media accounts, or any complaints that were received by the City after 9 am (when the request was made). The number also did not include complaints to Stadium Management, who subsequently indicated one phone call was received. Methodology for recording this type of information in the future is currently under review to ensure more accurate and comprehensive data is collected and reported to the Stadium Authority Board and media. “
Ahhhh the honeymoon period!! How long will it last? Who cares – times are good now!!!
Go get um lady! Go get um good! Looks like the Niners may finally have someone to answer to!