City leaders deny Levi’s curfew extension
City lawmakers have refused to lift a weeknight curfew at Levi’s Stadium that industry experts said kills the venue’s ability to attract major musical artists — costing Santa Clara millions of dollars in revenue for city services.
“It will be increasingly difficult for us to book events here with the curfew,” said Matt Prieshoff, chief operating officer of Live Nation, a leading concert promoter. “The city diminishes our opportunity to book events here and the artists’ enthusiasm.”
The split decision at a Thursday night meeting to deny a curfew exemption followed heated talks over a controversial audit of Levi’s Stadium finances. The City Council’s two political factions exchanged insults and accusations — right before Police Chief Mike Sellers accused Mayor Lisa Gillmor of using the audit to tarnish his department and to further her political agenda.
The curfew fight isn’t new in Santa Clara. City leaders earlier this year butted heads over the curfew when U2 came to the suburban Silicon Valley city.
San Francisco 49ers officials on Thursday asked the Stadium Authority board members — who are the City Council members — to allow four exemptions per year to the 10 p.m. curfew on weeknights.
“We won’t be able to book concerts — there is no question,” said 49ers President Al Guido. “If the concerts don’t come, it will negatively impact the city. The concerts are forecasted to make $100 million for the city during the term of this lease and they’re throwing that business away.”
Council members asked city staff to do outreach with the stadi-
um’s neighbors to determine if the exemptions should be granted — and what benefits the Niners should cough up in exchange for an extra hour four times a year. The Niners had agreed to give $20,000 to local schools and libraries for each exemption.
Guido also asked city leaders for a one-hour curfew extension for a Coldplay concert in October. The council denied the request on a 4-3 vote. Vice Mayor Dominic Caserta and council members Patty Mahan and Pat Kolstad voted in favor of the extension.
Niners officials said they can’t control when an artist comes to Levi’s. Two concerts landed on weeknights — Beyonce and U2 — and both blew past the 10 p.m. curfew after being denied extensions. Guido said those two concerts netted the city $1.6 million in revenue that could be used for police, fire and libraries.
The team president also presented polling that showed 51 percent of Santa Clarans favor extending the curfew by an hour while 20 percent support eliminating it altogether. The Niners surveyed 407 residents.
But Mayor Lisa Gillmor, who’s publicly feuded with the NFL team, said “promises were broken” and extending the curfew is unfair to neighbors who endure noise and traffic impacts from the concerts. “The city made promises to our north side residents,” Gillmor said Thursday. “The law is there for a reason. We all agreed to it. We told the community this is what would happen, and I’m not ready to change that.”
Most residents Thursday voiced support for lifting the curfew, including Sandra Dailey who runs a cobbler stand at Levi’s Stadium and said small, local businesses rely on the foot traffic from concerts. But another resident, Charles Gibson, argued that living near Levi’s makes it hard to drive home, go to the grocery store or leave his windows open.
City leaders also discussed a Levi’s Stadium audit Thursday, leading Chief Sellers to assail Gillmor’s leadership — saying she lacks “honesty and transparency” and used the audit as a witch-hunt against the Niners.
“There is no corruption, stench or collusion among staff in the Police Department or City Hall, as you have claimed,” Sellers told Gillmor. “These politicallymotivated attacks must stop. The report has shown no misappropriation of funds from any employee of the city. To continue to state otherwise is to promote a false claim to pursue your political agenda.”
The final audit said the Niners owed $114,781 to Santa Clara for public safety costs, but interim city manager Rajeev Batra said city payroll records showed the unpaid costs were $20,000 to $25,000. “We went by the actual time sheets,” he said. “You can’t bill based on estimates. You need the real amounts.”
Fred Brousseau of the auditing firm Harvey M. Rose said he stands by his firm’s numbers. It appears the city hasn’t billed the Niners for those costs. Team officials have said they’ll pay any bills they receive.
Brousseau’s audit also came under fire Thursday for variances between a draft released in May and the final report. The draft said the Niners’ management company owed Santa Clara $424,349 for public safety costs — nearly $310,000 more than the current estimate. He blamed inaccurate records and said some costs were reimbursed.
But Caserta said the differences are troubling, especially if the Niners owe just $25,000 in unpaid staff time — as Batra reported — and the city spent $180,000 for the audit.
“How about I pay you $180,000 to get back $25,000?” Caserta said. “And you want a second audit — are you serious? In what world does that save taxpayers money? Tell me the math there. Please don’t say we’re going to be Trump and say that’s fake math now. We’re more polarized right now than Washington, D.C.”
On a 6-1 vote, with Caserta opposed, the council accepted the audit and agreed to create an “action plan” to enact its recommendations.
City officials spent little time Thursday on a dispute over unpaid parking fees related to a city-owned golf course. Auditors said the Niners owe $718,803 in parking fees, but the team claims it overpaid by a million dollars. The Niners on Thursday filed a claim against Santa Clara, a first step before taking legal action.
Santa Clara leaders also discussed the audit’s finding that $894,228 in public safety costs were paid by “construction fund” monies. Brousseau said it was not properly disclosed, but added that it wasn’t a “misuse” of funds.