Lawsuit targets agreements over Google transit village
Two nonprofit groups call into question San Jose’s ‘clandestine approval’ of the downtown project
SAN JOSE >> Raising questions about secrecy linked to Google’s proposed transit village in downtown San Jose, two nonprofit groups filed a lawsuit against the city on Tuesday challenging the nondisclosure agreements that several local officials, including Mayor Sam Liccardo, signed in connection with the development.
The lawsuit targets the “clandestine approval” of the project by the city. The plaintiffs are First Amendment Coalition and Working Partnerships USA, according to a copy of the complaint filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Google is planning a transit-oriented community where 15,000 to 20,000 of its employees would work in a development expected to
feature office buildings, homes, shops, restaurants, and parks near the Diridon train station and SAP Center. Google’s proposal has sparked renewed interest in downtown San Jose from developers and investors, and stirred concerns from residents who fear they will be pushed out.
Mountain View-based Google was not listed as a defendant in the litigation, and the search giant could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
“Through illegal and invalid ‘non-disclosure agreements’ prepared by Google and signed by City officials, the city and Google have hashed out major details of the project and the related sale to Google of City-owned and other public land,” the lawsuit alleged.
In an interview with this news organization in February, San Jose City Attorney Richard Doyle noted that non-disclosure agreements, even ones involving government officials, have become more common. Doyle said the agreements were primarily related to early stages of the Google and San Jose discussions.
San Jose City Council members are scheduled to vote Dec. 4 on the sale of several government and city-owned properties to Google. The sale of several properties is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
“This Petition seeks to bring sunlight into the process to enable the public to better evaluate the project’s impacts on traffic, affordable housing, displacement and gentrification by obtaining public records shedding light upon what the City and Google did,” according to the litigation.
“We must not be OK with a backroom process,” said Maria Noel Fernandez, a deputy director with Working Partnerships USA, a community group and plaintiff in the lawsuit. “The public deserves to know what is going on behind closed doors. We believe the mayor and City Council have a responsibility to ensure this process is done in an open and transparent way.”
Because the Google project is anticipated to be a game-changer for San Jose, the plaintiffs says transparency is crucial.
“Our organization’s primary motivation is to shed light on this process,” said David Snyder, an attorney and executive director of San Rafael-based First Amendment Coalition, a free-speech group.
The property sales to Google are likely to occur weeks before the first hearing is held on the lawsuit, Snyder estimated.
The non-profits are concerned that city officials could have violated provisions of the Brown Act, a 1953 law that governs open meetings by public agencies.
“The City Council’s Brown Act violations arise out of numerous closed session meetings regarding the potential acquisition by Google of cityowned property in the Diridon Station Area, the development of the properties and adjacent parcels,” the First Amendment Coalition stated in a letter it sent to city officials regarding the litigation.
During an event Tuesday at San Jose City Hall, demonstrators marched through the public plaza and then eventually to the offices of Liccardo and the other council members to deliver the lawsuit in person.
“I disagree that there were Brown Act violations,” Doyle said in an interview with this news organization. “The lawsuit raises questions about the project’s impact on housing, traffic, displacement and gentrification.”
Those matters, Doyle noted, would be dealt with through what’s expected to be an exhaustive development approval process likely to last two to three years.
“All we have here is a land sale,” Doyle said. “The only thing the city is making a decision about is strictly a land sale.”
City officials said Tuesday they had seen a copy of the lawsuit.
“Anyone who has ever stepped into the lobby of any company in Silicon Valley knows that non-disclosure agreements are the norm and not the exception,” said Carl Guardino, president of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. “This is one more unfortunate attempt by those who believe success is measured by tearing others down in order to lift themselves up.”