Four Santa Clara City Council members have voted to fire the city manager in a closed-door session, two days after she accused the San Francisco 49ers' team president of having an illegal conflict of interest connected to the effort to host World Cup matches at Levi's Stadium, according to reporting from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Anthony Becker, Karen Hardy, Kevin Park and Raj Chahal, all of whom called for the session to discuss firing or disciplining Deanna Santana, voted in favor of a resolution to remove her from office and another to suspend her. Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Councilmember Kathy Watanabe voted against the resolution, while Vice Mayor Sudhanshu Jain was absent.
The six voting councilmembers didn't respond to KCBS Radio's emailed request for comment after Thursday night's vote. A city spokesperson declined to provide comment.
Gillmor told KCBS Radio in an emailed statement on Thursday night that the "council majority has clearly put themselves and the city of Santa Clara in a really precarious situation," calling it "a really sad day in Santa Clara history."
"No City Council has ever gutted City Hall management and put our residents in jeopardy," she wrote of her "four decades" in public office. "No City Council has so obviously put a private interest above the public interest."
The council majority, who, along with Jain, routinely meet with the 49ers and back the team on Levi's Stadium issues, cited a "lack of confidence" in Santana in the actions passed during the meeting. Jed York, the 49ers' CEO, gave nearly $3 million to a political action committee backing Becker, Jain and Park's campaigns in 2020.
Levi's Stadium is one of the sites being considered to host matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, set to take place across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Santana argued during a council meeting on Tuesday night that 49ers President Al Guido has a conflict of interest in trying to bring those matches to Levi's Stadium.
She told the council that he is both president of Forty Niners Stadium Management Company, which books non-NFL events at Levi's, and president of the Bay Area Host Committee, the 49ers-affiliated nonprofit leading the region's effort to host World Cup matches. Santana said that would be the business to negotiate a possible contract with Levi's Stadium.
On Wednesday, Becker, Chahal, Hardy and Park requested a closed-door meeting to discuss firing a city employee, whom Gillmor told the paper was Santana.
Gillmor added that she believes Santana's comments on Guido on Tuesday about a possible conflict of interest are the reason Thursday's meeting was requested.
This is the second time in six months the council has moved to fire a city executive. Santa Clara City Attorney Brian Doyle, who was defending the city in eight stadium related lawsuits, was removed by the council in September.
In a statement to KCBS Radio, Watanabe said Santana "diplomatically addressed" issues that city staff and the council wanted to resolve with Levi's Stadium management.
"When Jed York didn't like losing lawsuits that he filed against the Stadium Authority or being told he had to do things according to municipal law, he found a way to get rid of Deanna and Brian Doyle," Santana wrote in an email to KCBS Radion on Thursday night. "Jed York meddled in our elections to get people elected to do his bidding. And they have. ... Tonight’s actions were not good governance and could have serious impacts on the City's ability to hire a new City Attorney and City Manager."
In a statement to the paper, 49ers spokesperson Raul Chandhok said on Wednesday he was unaware of a meeting to fire Santana. He also dismissed Santana's conflict of interest comments as "allegations raised by Mayor Gillmor and her allies, and this is the same type of rhetoric that has driven business out of Santa Clara."
The Santa Clara City Council, under the city's charter, must give 30 days' notice and state the reasoning behind the firing. Santana can respond in writing, or request a hearing, within the next 15-30 days.
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