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<\/a><\/p>\nSPONSORED<\/p>\n
Kenn Lee, the city\u2019s finance director, laid out how his office proposed using that money.<\/p>\n Lee\u2019s office suggested adding $13 million to the capital budget reserve, $4.6 million to the city\u2019s pension trust, $1.3 million to its budget stabilization and setting aside $1 million to pay bond project equipment. Finally, $20.35 million was earmarked for civic center relocation.<\/p>\n Council Member Suds Jain said squirreling away for relocating city hall \u201cmakes perfect sense.\u201d<\/p>\n But not everyone agreed.<\/p>\n Mayor Lisa Gillmor challenged whether setting aside money to fund the city hall relocation was prudent. She said some of the excess money could have gone to fund council priorities. Further, she said, using surplus money to relocate city hall without first seeking public input is a bad look.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes it look like we have made decisions before we have made any decisions, and I think the perception is pretty bad on that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Council Member Kevin Park agreed, calling the allocation \u201cpremature.\u201d<\/p>\n The comments echoed those from members of the civic group Reclaiming Our Downtown.<\/p>\n Mary Grizzle, one of the group\u2019s leaders, said the allocation quietly moves the city toward a downtown city hall without a clear council policy direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n Doing so doesn\u2019t lay out what sites are being considered or how it aligns with the downtown master plan, she said, adding that it turns land-use decisions into \u201cbudget mechanics instead of transparent policy discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have seen this move before. Downtown was hyped long ago. Promises were made. Then, the civic heart of the city was removed, and Santa Clara paid for it for decades,\u201d she said. \u201cThis community remembers, and we will not allow it to happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n Another of the group\u2019s leaders, Dan Ondrasek, said the civic center owes its existence to a \u201chistoric betrayal.\u201d<\/p>\n In the late 1950s, he said, millions of dollars were secured to rebuild the downtown, only to get diverted and eventually used to demolish the downtown.<\/p>\n \u201cOur downtown\u2019s destruction was the down payment for our current civic center,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n City Manager Jovan Grogan said nothing in the allocation determines a new location. He said the city will conduct extensive public outreach before making any decisions. The allocated money can also be moved from one reserve to another should the council decide it wants to use it for something else, he added.<\/p>\n But Gillmor didn\u2019t budge, insisting she was concerned about the perception of the council already having made a decision. She favored putting the money in the land sale reserve.<\/p>\n Toward that end, Park suggested tweaking the language but said he was uncomfortable with the money going into the land sale reserve, which has \u201ca lot of questionable uses.\u201d Park suggested removing \u201crelocation\u201d from the fund to illustrate what the money will be used for.<\/p>\n However, Gillmor said the change was not substantive enough, saying it is \u201cthe same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Park sniped back.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are saying perception is everything, and here you are complaining,\u201d Park said to Gillmor.<\/p>\n The budget, along with the allocations, passed in a 5-1 vote, with Gillmor dissenting.<\/p>\n Construction Likely to Disrupt Fireworks at Central Park<\/p>\n The council also approved a contract for work at Central Park.<\/p>\n The $5.66 million contract went to Guerra Construction.\u00a0<\/p>\n Craig Mobeck, the city\u2019s public works director, said some of the improvements are necessitated because of a settlement with a resident.<\/p>\n They include improvements to the pavilion parking, Americans with Disabilities (ADA) accessibility, walkways and lighting. Additionally, they will add a new entrance, access and parking areas, adding 31 new parking stalls, EV charging, landscaping, walkways to the Magical Bridge playground and Veterans memorial.<\/p>\n \u201cI am really concerned that we\u2019re taking away a lot of park space for essentially driveway and walkway when I feel that that area worked really well by itself,\u201d Park said. \u201cI don\u2019t like removing green space. I don\u2019t like removing space for people to put in roads or parking structures.\u201d<\/p>\n Damon Sparacino, the city\u2019s parks and recreation director, told the council that, while the park can still host the city\u2019s July 4 celebration, the construction could necessitate some changes.<\/p>\n The celebration has been held at Mission College the past couple years, but the city plans to hold the jubilee at Central Park next year.<\/p>\n Gillmor suggested conducting a survey to see if residents want the celebration to be held at Mission College or the park, which she called the \u201cheart and soul of our community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Construction will take place between February next year and fall 2027.<\/p>\n The contract passed in a 5-1 vote, with Park dissenting.<\/p>\n Vice Mayor Kelly Cox was absent.<\/p>\n The first regularly scheduled meeting of 2026 is Tuesday, Jan. 13 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1500 Warburton Ave. in Santa Clara.<\/p>\n Members of the public can participate in the City Council meetings on Zoom at\u00a0https:\/\/santaclaraca.zoom.us\/j\/99706759306<\/a>; Meeting ID: 997-0675-9306 or call 1 (669) 900-6833, via the City\u2019s eComment (available during the meeting) or by email to\u00a0PublicComment@santaclaraca.gov<\/a><\/p>\n Contact David Alexander at\u00a0d.todd.alexander@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n Recent Santa Clara City Council Posts: SPONSORED<\/p>\n![\"Sutter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/25-PAMF-007203_MKTG_East_Santa_Clara_2441_Now_Open_SV_Voice_NOV_DAD_FINAL.jpg\"\/)
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NFL to use Soccer Fields During Super Bowl\u00a0<\/a>
Santa Clara Approves Work at Swim Center<\/a>
SVP Contract Sparks Debate About System Expansion<\/a><\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A large chunk of Santa Clara\u2019s year-end budget surplus will go toward relocating city hall. At its last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2914,6036,34529,2915,2916,2917,2918,58146,88,90,89,197,2919,2920,2921,2922,2923],"class_list":{"0":"post-107992","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-albert-gonzalez","9":"tag-bay-area-news","10":"tag-central-park","11":"tag-karen-hardy","12":"tag-kelly-cox","13":"tag-kevin-park","14":"tag-raj-chahal","15":"tag-reclaiming-our-downtown","16":"tag-san-jose","17":"tag-san-jose-headlines","18":"tag-san-jose-news","19":"tag-santa-clara","20":"tag-santa-clara-city-council","21":"tag-santa-clara-mayor-lisa-gillmor","22":"tag-santa-clara-weekly","23":"tag-silicon-valley-voice","24":"tag-suds-jain"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}