The San Francisco 49ers entered the offseason with several needs, including the defensive line, right tackle and safety.
“Police chief” was nowhere to be found on that list of positions to fill, but the 49ers are now mired in a strange, convoluted drama involving local government and the police chief in the city of Santa Clara, Calif., home to Levi’s Stadium.
SFGate.com reports that critics contend the 49ers are seeking to oust current Santa Clara police chief Pat Nikolai, an elected official. The 49ers are allegedly pursuing that goal by trying to change the city’s charter to allow city council to in effect appoint a new chief.
And the 49ers have the ability to do just that. According to the report, the team has spent millions of dollars in a “hostile takeover” of the Santa Clara city council. The 49ers, more specifically, owner Jed York, now control five of the seven members on the council, a group critics have dubbed the “49ers Five.”
That group has already successfully voted to fire a city manager and city attorney and tried, but failed, to oust Mayor Lisa Gillmor.
Now, according to the report, Nikolai is in the team’s sights. The team denies the allegations it has anything to do with the issue, with a spokesperson telling SFGate, “We value the partnership of the local police. This is an issue for Santa Clara officials and voters to resolve.”
Gillmor begs to differ.
“I’ve been told that that discussion initiated with the 49ers,” Gillmor told SFGate.
Why would a football team care who serves as police chief of their home city? It turns out that Nikolai has asked the county district attorney to open an investigation into the 49ers Five. The SFGate report mentions a number of other points of contention between the team and local government, including the fact that, while the team and city agreed to share half of net revenue from non-football events at Levi’s. Stadium, the team has paid “next to nothing” in recent years.
Nikolai’s job is safe for now, as the issue of whether the police chief should be appointed, rather than elected, would have to be approved by voters. In the meantime, this story could get much stranger.
For some context, Jed York has put so much money into Santa Clara politics that even the NFL is concerned. https://t.co/ns5ZaiTpJt
— Gabe Fernandez, it’s so hold over (@thelatinochild) June 16, 2023
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.