Opponents Of Santa Clara 49ers Stadium Win Small Victory
SANTA CLARA (KCBS) – Opponents of a new 49ers stadium in Santa Clara have cleared a hurdle in their efforts to delay or even derail the project.
Santa Clara Plays Fair, the grass roots anti-stadium group, has managed to collect enough valid signatures to send their referendum to the city council.
"They will need to decide if they're going to revoke it, or if they're going to put it on the ballot for the citizens of Santa Clara," said spokesperson Deborah Bress, who added that residents were never told the city would be borrowing $850 million to build the billion dollar arena. "The citizens have been deceived and it's now time for the truth to come out. And we can let people make an informed vote now that it's finally out."
However, Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews said that the city doesn't need to put their financing decisions on the ballot because voters overwhelmingly approved a stadium measure in 2010.
KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:
"We're going to make sure that we vigorously defend the voters that voted for Measure J in June of 2010, and move forward on this project to make sure that it gets completed," said Matthews.
He said that one way or another the issue will likely end up in court. Stadium foes are now getting legal help from the ACLU.
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