By Dr. Tom Shanks

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” — attributed to Carl Bard

With Santa Clara’s election weeks away, City Manager Jovan Grogan and City Attorney Glen Googins faced an allegation that presented an opportunity to build public trust at a time of heightened doubt.

They missed the opportunity. 

Santa Clara News Online, citing an anonymous source, reported that they had met with the 49ers before being hired. 

Both categorically denied it. But their response also questioned the reporter’s motives and the outlet’s credibility. 

Asked whether they would agree to an independent investigation, they said they stood by their statement.

The allegation does not establish that meetings occurred. Similarly, criticizing the reporter does not support that they did not.

But, having denied them so vehemently, the officials need to provide independently verifiable facts, rather than leave residents weighing their word against an anonymous source.

That additional effort is necessary because Santa Clara has a public trust problem. 

After Civil Grand Jury findings that the Council majority does put the interests of the team ahead of the public; that irreconcilable differences get in the way of functional governance; and that the 49ers “outplayed” the City in the contracts, Santa Clara has to use every opportunity to rebuild the public’s “confident” reliance that city government serves only the best interests of the public. 

A city that has built that record can draw on it when allegations arise. Where confidence has weakened, as it has in Santa Clara, officials must work harder to provide evidence and welcome verification.

Mr. Grogan and Mr. Googins inherited damaged trust when they came to Santa Clara. However, over the past three years, their own actions have contributed to the problem. 

For example, they created World Cup nondisclosure agreements, raising questions about what information is withheld. They created overlapping City and Stadium Authority responsibilities that raise questions about whose interests officials represent when those interests diverge.  And they treat a public trust question primarily as an attack, adopting the political perspective of the Council majority, which regularly attacks Santa Clara News Online.  

Mr. Grogan, Mr. Googins, and the people of Santa Clara would have been better served if they looked at the statement they were about to issue and asked:

•  Why is this the right thing to do for the people of Santa Clara? 
• And how will this action build the public’s trust that Santa Clara puts the people’s best interests first?

Did questioning the reporter’s motives help residents establish the facts? Did criticizing the outlet give people stronger reasons to trust the City? Did standing by their denial provide a reasonable way to assess its accuracy?

Residents are not asking for perfection. They are asking for leaders who can recognize a misstep, own it, and show how they have learned from it. Better yet, leaders who understand that public trust must be on everyone’s mind. 

Mr. Grogan and Mr. Googins cannot go back and make a brand new start. They can, however, start paying attention to public trust and help Santa Clara move in a better, more positive direction. 

Dr. Tom Shanks is the former Executive Director of Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. He served as the City of Santa Clara’s ethics adviser from 1998 to 2015.  He recently founded Public Trust Now for the people of Santa Clara (publictrustnow.com)