Just days after Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor threatened to take back management of Levi’s Stadium, the San Francisco 49ers have handed over key financial documents to an auditor hired to determine whether taxpayer dollars are being spent on the stadium.
But the Niners, who are entrenched in a political battle with the new mayor, say many of the documents requested by the auditor don’t exist — at least not in the format they want. Team officials said they’ll create some of those documents, a process that will take several days.
Gillmor claims city funds are subsidizing NFL games and other stadium events in violation of Measure J, a voter-approved measure that protects the city’s general fund. She ordered the $200,000 audit to get to the bottom of the stadium’s finances.
The audit is meant to determine whether the city spent public funds to subsidize stadium operations — including staff time of police officers or fire personnel working NFL games, concerts or other stadium events. Earlier this month, the auditors found some city staff time was spent on stadium events without seeking reimbursement from the 49ers or other private entities.
But the NFL team blasted audit firm Harvey M. Rose Associates — selected by Gillmor and her allies — saying the group is fueling the mayor’s political agenda and not acting independently. Gillmor has asked for public updates on the audit every two weeks, spurring a firestorm of public criticism and media attention.
“Your comments to both the (audit) committee and the press prior to completing the audit suggest that you are not acting in the capacity of an independent auditor but rather as a consultant to the mayor, looking to give credence to her unfounded allegations of financial malfeasance on the part of the 49ers, all timed to coincide perfectly with the mayor’s election season goals,” said Scott Sabatino, the team’s chief financial officer, in a memo to the auditors.
Gillmor says the team’s failure to turn over critical documents — capital improvement plans, construction cost studies, shared expense budgets and parking plans — is a breach of the team’s contract. She’s prepared to take back management of Levi’s Stadium.
“These documents, and others, are required by our management agreement,” Gillmor said. “Therefore, the 49ers may have breached our stadium management contract. I will ask the City Council to officially issue a notice that they must cure this breach or the city should consider taking over management of the stadium.”
The issue came to light following a memo from Fred Brousseau, a principal with the auditing firm. It said the auditors requested a slew of budget documents from the NFL team, but the documents “have reportedly not been separately prepared.”
