Milestones
By Miles H. Barber

Watching the San Francisco 49ers knock off a tough Eastern playoff bound team like the Pittsburg Steelers from the comfort of your couch is an enjoyable experience. Watching the San Francisco 49ers knock off the Steelers in live action at historic Candlestick Park is incredible.

With minutes to go before kickoff, for this nationally televised showdown between two of the top rated teams in the NFL, a transformer blew up and blew out the lights. This was a senior moment for the aging facility. While waiting for the power to be recovered, the idea of getting a hotdog or beer may have been on the minds of 60,000 or so fans. However that was futile since the cash registers wouldn’t work. How did the fans handle it? Like experienced veterans of Candlestick! They, like the team, just rolled with it.

Now, some may have thought this was a power play set up by the 49ers management just to demonstrate how long overdue they are for a new stadium. Closer to the truth is that age eventually catches up with everyone and everything including non-maintained stadiums like Candlestick. The City of San Francisco, who is responsible for maintenance of the stadium, has had a history of doing little or nothing to keep the playing home of the 49ers in show-off shape. It may be a while (if ever) before we see another Monday night game at Candlestick.

This is what the 49ers have known for years. They needed a new venue for home games and Santa Clara has been fortunate enough to have helped make that happen. Now even with all the news coverage, articles, and interviews there are still some folks who don’t get it. So let’s be clear. The stadium is approved, it will be built and there is no financial burden accruing to our city. Last week, we published several letters from well-intentioned but seriously misinformed readers. They have assumed the $850 loan from Goldman Sachs is Santa Clara’s liability and not the $350 million that was originally discussed. Let’s put this in perspective. Let’s say you were going to buy a $100,000 home and in the offer you state you will put 60% down in cash which would be $60,000 of you own money. Subsequently, you are offered a low interest loan for 90% of the mortgage and only need to put 10% cash down. The seller doesn’t really care if the cash is yours or the banks as long as they get their money. If the bank is willing to loan you 90% of the cost of the property at an attractive rate you would jump on it. They will simply look to you as the source of repayment.

With the stadium, we have a similar situation. The note holder for the stadium is ultimately held by the 49ers and that is who Goldman Sachs is looking to for repayment of the loan.

Now, at this point, the naysayers will say "Yes, but....!" And those people will go to their grave believing someday the 49ers may default, the City will be forced to pay, and that Abraham Lincoln was a Democrat.

Thank you City Council for your persistence on this project and for keeping the lights on for all to see the opportunities the stadium brings to Santa Clara.

Miles Barber can be reached at Scweekly2011@yahoo.com