County yanks $30m in tax funds from 49ers' new stadium; will fund teachers instead

[Newsjock]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

Out of nowhere, Santa Clara County officials have yanked $30 million in tax funds promised for the San Francisco 49ers' new Santa Clara stadium, saying they would rather spend the money on teachers than install "little televisions in the back of stadium seats."

The 49ers and Santa Clara city leaders strongly and passionately object to the move, saying voters had specifically earmarked redevelopment funds to the stadium and that the county has no right to keep it. Lengthy court battles are likely, launching a rare soap opera in a stadium debate that has been mostly peaceful -- and supposedly long over.

... The 49ers and Santa Clara officials will be busy this week reviewing how to respond.

The funding grab came Friday by a new board that oversees property tax from redevelopment zones. It was so unexpected that Santa Clara leaders argued it was done in violation of public notice laws.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/southbayfootball/ci_20926306/county-suddenly-yanks-30-million-tax-funds-from

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I hope they can succeed in funding the teachers.

Somebody's got their priorities straight!

[DisgustipatedinCA]

2. (insert Nelson laughing and pointing in this space)

Good for the SCC officials.

[MrSlayer]

3. A corporate sponsor can easily fill that void.

Or the NFL can, they have so much money it's practically falling out of their asses.

[They_Live]

39. Especially since they are a 501(c)(6) organization

I know. I still can't believe it. Maybe that could be part of this "deficit" thing.

[appleannie1]

4. Hey, finally, someone got their priorities straight. Kids vs billionaires and the kids won.

[Art_from_Ark]

11. Methinks this may be only Round 1

"The 49ers and Santa Clara officials will be busy this week reviewing how to respond..."

[LeftyMom]

5. We're getting little TVs in the back of our seats?

[onethatcares]

19. yes,

it's to watch the game you can't see on the field.

[LeftyMom]

20. It'd be handy for instant replay,

or to check scores and highlights from another game, I'd think.

This is a big improvement over Candlestick, where there's no hot water and the lights only work some of the time.

[Skidmore]

21. Don't people have smart phones that can do the same thing?

If you are going to need a tv while attending a game, why not just stay home?

[LeftyMom]

22. I get no reception at the 'Stick.

Looking at scores and highlights during breaks in the action is perfectly reasonable. My dad used to carry a little portable TV to turn on and check the replay if something looked iffy, but since the digital conversion those don't work.

[loudsue]

38. They can build a cell tower for $400,000, and rent space to all the carriers so

everyone can get reception on their cell phones at that location.

That money should go to teachers. Not a friggin' sports stadium.

[TexasTowelie]

6. Academics before athletics?

Why, I never heard something so preposterous.

in the irony.

[JDPriestly]

13. Hey! Put academics before athletics and our kids might be able

to compete with kids in other countries with regard to academic achievement. We can't have that now, can we? There would be no excuse for privatizing the schools if our kids suddenly started getting higher test scores. Better put TVs on the backs of the sets of the folks who go to the stadium to see the games. After all, watching on TV is so much better than actually being there. (sarcasm.)

[SheilaT]

7. Wow.

For too many years now the many professional sports teams have bamboozled cities into thinking they (the cities) should spend millions of taxpayers dollars on them, rather than letting the sport finance itself.

I just hope this is the first of many such things.

[AllyCat]

10. I think that is called extortion, not bamboozling.

"If you don't give us what we want, there are 4 other cities looking for a major sports team!!!" the little two year olds whine.

They can fund themselves and stop taking welfare from the local folks.

[SheilaT]

30. Yeah, I'd forgotten about the extortion side of it.

There's also a quality of bamboozling, in that local citizenry tends to be convinced that a major league stadium really does bring in more revenue and improve the life of the community.

I have lived in cities with and without major sports franchises, and I tend to prefer those without. It's partly because I have just about zero interest in professional sports, and partly because the local media and attention gets overly focused on the teams. It's obvious that none of the kinds of people most inclined to do damage to this country really understand our obsession with sport. Just wait until the next time the Washington Redskins are in a Superbowl, and you'd be able to march into DC with almost no resistance.

[sakabatou]

8. Besides, Candlestick Park sucks (friggin cold and windy)

[Brother Buzz]

24. The Stick provides grand football weather

It was baseball weather that sucked.

[sakabatou]

25. I never went to see the 49ers anyway

But Pac Bell Park (AT&T Park now) is awesome!

[LiberalAndProud]

9. I hope this stands in court.

The board is making a wise choice for long-term health of Santa Clara county. Let's hope they have the authority to do so.

[kestrel91316]

12. Athletic stadiums for privately owned teams serve NO public good

so they need to be 100% privately funded.

I have always thought using taxpayer funds for this was the worst form of insanity.

[bahrbearian]

40. Billionaire Owners , Millionaire Players, public Financed

[pinto]

14. Great call on a first read. Counties in CA are struggling. And there are priorities...

[bluedigger]

15. Use the stadium as a classroom during the week.

Problem solved.

[villager]

16. And this 49er fan says.... good!

Hope it gets settled quickly... in the teachers' favor.

[Fire Walk With Me]

17. Money for teachers instead of jocks? Is this The Onion?

[aquart]

18. I'm stunned.

Is sudden onset sanity a possible new plague?

[ladjf]

23. The Santa Clara County officials must have gone sane! How unique! nt

[Jake2413]

26. So let me get this straight

The 49ers want to give their what 30,000+ fans that come to games instant replay rather than provide educational funding for teachers to teach the communities children. I say provide cable and let them bring their own portable tv's. And I know how to respond pound salt.

[girl gone mad]

32. Broadcast it over wi-fi.

Everyone has a smartphone.

[FarCenter]

27. NFL stadiums are a risky bet due to upcoming lawsuits on head injuries.

Liabilities for past brain injuries may be very substantial, and the game may have to be changed significantly in order to limit future liabilities.

Can pro football survive without concussions?

[Liberal_in_LA]

28. but sports stadiums are more important than education!

just kidding.

great and surprising news.

[GoneOffShore]

29. Takes guts- Good for them -

The stadium people should have lost that argument when it first came up.

[HappyMe]

31. Oh noes!!11

Teachers win out over wealthy football owners/team.

You go, Santa Clara County!

Fuck their little tvs.

[alittlelark]

33. Yay!! We're in Santa Clara County (Los Altos/Mtn View dist.)

My daughter just graduated, but my son will benefit for a couple of years!

The cuts here have been steep, but most families can afford to pitch in 2-5,000 dollars a year per kid to try to make up the shortfall.

[Initech]

34. Excellent! And what would those TVs show - the Fox Ministry of Propaganda?

[Zanzoobar]

35. "voters had specifically earmarked redevelopment funds to the stadium"

If that is true the county gummit must be undemocratic, and they hate America, too.

[Posteritatis]

42. That's the near-unanimous reaction in the comments. (nt)

[Gregorian]

36. When I heard about that stadium,, in 2010, my first thought was why not schools.

I just couldn't imagine a colosseum that expensive while we are suffering in our education system.

Good riddance. Too bad it was even considered. The whole thing reminds me of the Roman empire. I suppose this offends sports fans. Oh well.

[Daninmo]

37. Great call for the county

They should probably suspend highschool sports too, Our children need a good education more than baseball, football, or whatever afterschool sport.

[MichiganVote]

41. Maybe the NFL should have a bake sale

[Bad_Ronald]

43. Good for them!

It's nauseating that over the past 20 years or so we've allowed so many of these billionaire sport franchise owners to essentially extort public funds to build new stadiums & ballparks. It's nice to see the county officials in Santa Clara actually put the interests of the people they're supposed to serve ahead of those of billionaires. It doesn't happen very often.

If the 49ers want a new stadium, let their ownership, with the help of the mega-rich NFL, finance it.

[Smilo]

44. Common sense does prevail.

Santa Clara County Officials

[uberblonde]

45. We have no problem with governments robbing pension funds from teachers and cops...

So what's the big deal about robbing a bunch of millionaires?

[Iwillnevergiveup]

46. I remember back to a cartoon

suggesting teachers be paid what pro football players make, but here's a nifty article by a Mr. Dale Rogers from last Feb. addressing himself to Fran Tarkenton. A couple of questions he asks him?

"What if for every five hours of game time, pro football players were give one hour of practice and prep time?

"What if pro football players had coaches who had never played the game themselves?"

Here's the link: http://thelivingstonpost.com/16406/

[SunSeeker]

47. K&R