Ethics Code Revision

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2. Ethics Code Revision — Santa Clara adopted its Code of Ethics & Values in 2000 after two years of public consensus building about the core values of a trustworthy government and the ethics standards protecting public trust.  In adopting it, the City rejected the compliance code the City had used since the 1960’s because … Read more

From ‘At Our Best’ to ‘Ask the Least’

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How Santa Clara Is Replacing an Award-Winning Ethics Code with Bare-Minimum Compliance And What the People Can Do About That NOTE: This is a detailed analysis. If you only have two minutes, read “What the Replacement Says” and “What You Can Do Right Now.” If you have ten minutes, the full story will make you … Read more

City Attorney Says Stadium Authority Not in Charter Review

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Founder and Owner PublicTrustNow.Com Previously published on LinkedIn, October 24, 2025 Why That’s Indefensible Recently, the City of Santa Clara approved a major deal: the Santa Clara Stadium Authority (SCSA) voted to accept a roughly $6.4 million reimbursement agreement tied to hosting Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium. Anyone who follows Santa Clara knows that … Read more

What the Stadium Authority’s Policies Reveal About Its Priorities

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An analysis of governance and budget documents that protect creditors and the 49ers—but not the public The Tale of Two Policies The Santa Clara Stadium Authority operates under two board policies: one governing its operations, the other governing its budget. Together, these documents reveal everything you need to know about the Authority’s priorities—and what’s missing … Read more

What’s the Big Deal About Public Trust?

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The current City Code of Ethics & Values is a public trust code: a set of behaviors that prescribe how city government ought to act to earn, build, or rebuild public trust.  Research at the height of the ethics program in 2006-2008 repeatedly showed that trust in the City of Santa Clara rose or fall … Read more