Santa Clara Stadium Authority recesses into closed session to discuss potential litigation

The Santa Clara Stadium Authority recessed its public meeting into a closed session to discuss anticipated litigation, the presiding mayor said.

The mayor announced there was one item for closed session and asked the city attorney to explain the legal basis. The city attorney said the matter involved the potential initiation of litigation and that “one potential case” had been identified. The attorney cited Government Code section 54956.9(e)(1) as the statutory authority for the closed-session discussion.

The city attorney told the authority that the public agenda would not include details of the case because that is permitted under the Brown Act. “This lack of specifics is purposeful, and we do have it from time to time,” the city attorney said. “It’s really designed to avoid any prejudicial communications or heads up to the stadium authority’s potential adversaries in such matters, and so the details aren’t included on the closed session itself.”

Earlier, the city clerk confirmed a quorum and noted that Council Member Shahal was participating online. The mayor asked whether any members of the public wished to speak on the closed-session item; no one did. The authority recessed the public meeting and said it would return at 7:00 p.m.

No vote or formal public action was taken on the litigation matter in the public session; the authority moved to an executive session for deliberations allowed under state law.