By Robert Haugh
At the start of Memorial Day weekend, Santa Clara city staff called a special Santa Clara City Council meeting for today, May 26.
Topics include several that pertain to the upcoming FIFA World Cup games at Levi’s Stadium. Another controversial item is what appears to be another land swap proposal — fire station no. 1 at 777 Benton (City of Santa Clara) for the former Crocker Bank building at 990 Benton (Santa Clara University).
Also buried in the agenda is an item that would adopt annual performance review policies for appointed City employees (such as city attorney and city manager). Just last week, the Council punted City staff’s plan for a land swap of the Civic Center and Agnews properties.
Here’s the agendized items:
- Closed session — Conference with Legal Counsel-Existing Litigation — Shahla Montes vs City of Santa Clara et al, Santa Clara Superior Court, Case no. 22CV398747
- Closed session — Conference with Real Property Negotiators — Properties: 990 Benton Street, Santa Clara, CA 95050 (APN 269-22-072) (acquisition) and 777 Benton Street, Santa Clara, CA 95050 (APN 269-16-080) (disposition). City Negotiators: Jovan D. Grogan, City Manager (and/or designee) and Glen R. Googins, City Attorney (and/or designee) Negotiating Parties: City of Santa Clara and Santa Clara University Under Negotiation: Purchase/Sale of Real Property interests (provisions, price and terms of payment)
- Proclamation of May 2026 as Jewish American Heritage Month
- Consent calendar — Action on a Standard Agreement with the California Highway Patrol for Traffic Management Related Services with a Projected Cost of $1.6 million for FIFA World Cup and Approve the Related Budget Amendment
- Consent calendar — Action on an Agreement with South San Joaquin County Fire Authority for Municipal Hazardous Materials Response Services with a Projected Cost of $150,000 for FIFA World Cup and Approve Related Budget Amendment; Action on a Resolution Delegating Authority to the City Manager to Negotiate and Execute Future Municipal Hazardous Materials Response Services Agreements with Public Safety Agencies for Supplemental HazMat Response Services.
- Consent calendar — Action to Authorize the City Manager to Execute Amendments to Agreements with Moveable, Inc. and Walk Talkin International LLC for Providing Event Planning and Production Services, to increase the Not-to-Exceed Compensation by $100,000, for a Total Not-to-Exceed authorization of $350,000 for Each Agreement
- Action to Authorize the City Manager to Execute an Agreement with Colony Landscape and Maintenance, Inc. for Thatch Removal and Related Services at the Youth Soccer Park and Approve Related Budget Amendments (Deferred from May 19, 2026)
- Update to City Council on Implementation of City Council Policy 056 – Prohibiting Use of City Properties for Civil Immigration Enforcement Purposes and provide feedback on policy implementation (Deferred from May 19, 2026)
- Action on Adoption of a Resolution Designating the FIFA World Cup 2026 Special Event Zone and Special Event Time Period Pursuant to the City’s Special Event Zone Ordinance
- Report on City Vacancies and Recruitment Efforts, Pursuant to Assembly Bill (AB) 2561
- Action on Resolution Adopting Council Policy 057 Establishing Procedures to be Followed in the Event of a Disruption of Telephonic Service or Internet-Based Audio-Visual Platform During a Council Meeting
- Action on Council Policy Establishing an Annual Performance Review Process for Council Appointees
I just finished presenting before the closed session:
Good evening, Mayor Gilmore, Councilmembers, and city staff.
My name is David Kertes, and I am a resident of District 5.
I am here tonight regarding the Conference with Real Property Negotiators for 990 Benton Street and 777 Benton Street. I thought the City Hall relocation to Agnews was already a serious misjudgment — but this proposed land swap takes the situation to an entirely new level of risk and irresponsibility.
Once again, Santa Clara residents are learning about a major proposal after it has already been set in motion. Just like the City Hall move, the community was never asked, never informed, and never given a chance to weigh in. This is becoming a pattern: failure to plan, failure to inform the public, and failure to seek input. Why does this keep happening? What happened to transparency?
We are talking about the potential displacement of Fire Station 1 and the Fire Department Headquarters — the backbone of emergency response for the Old Quad, SCU students, and surrounding neighborhoods. Current response times are three to six minutes. A fire doubles in size every minute. Heart attacks and strokes depend on seconds, not miles.
So I want to know: How many people are you willing to let die or suffer worse outcomes because of longer response times? Because I am not willing to sacrifice even one life. And once a life is lost, there is no negotiation, no land swap, no development deal that can bring back a child, a parent, or a grandparent.
We also have a BART station coming just down the street. What happens when there is an emergency at the end of the line and our primary station has been pushed farther away? Has anyone evaluated that? Has anyone even asked?
Measure I includes $58 million for upgrades to Fire Station 1. Does that bond measure legally allow the city to use those funds to build an entirely new station somewhere else?
Residents deserve a clear answer before any action is taken. Let Santa Clara University expand — but not at the expense of public safety, and not by consuming land that is critical to the well being of District 5 residents and SCU students themselves. And of course, closed session is the easiest way to push a deeply flawed idea forward without public scrutiny. That cannot happen here. Before any vote, the council and the City Manager must bring this proposal into the open and engage residents directly. We need public hearings — not after decisions are made, but before this concept moves any further.
I am asking every councilmember to demand public hearings and full transparency. This land swap proposal should fail — just as the City Hall relocation failed — because it is rushed, risky, and fundamentally misaligned with the safety needs of our community.
Thank You
Here is yet another example of Santa Clara City leadership failure. Failure to plan. Failure to inform the public. Failure to seek input. And possibly failure to do what is in the best interest of the city. The closed session on negotiation with SCU to exchange the property on which sits Fire Station #1 and the Fire Department HQ for the property SCU owns in Downtown on the corner of Lafayette and Benton comes to Council without any prior planning or communication about the implications of this property exchange. Where will the Fire Department go? How will the Old Quad be protected if the Fire Station moves out of the Old Quad? What are the plans for the corner of Lafayette and Benton? Will this be included in the proposed RFP for Blocks A and B? Will this further delay the RFP for Blocks A and B? Why is this coming to Council now? SCU’s desire to acquire the Fire Station property has long been known, so what prompts this deal to come to Council now? SCU also bears responsibility to inform the community of their plans. The Fire Department property is a logical acquisition as they own the remainder of that block but what do they plan to do on this property? On campus housing is sorely needed to reduce the pressure on the neighborhoods—is that the plan? And what are SCU’s growth and expansion plans? And how will SCU mitigate the effect of their growth on the Old Quad? The recent NURC meeting on May 18 would have been an ideal opportunity for SCU to communicate plans and ideas for public discussion but no such communication and discussion took place. Closed session is, of course, the opportunity for the Council to discuss negotiation strategy but the Council also needs to immediately schedule public hearings on this topic and answer all the questions.