SSV president Don Gagliardi, Earthquakes managing partner Lew Wolff, and Quakes president Michael Crowley.

Council To Vote MaRCH 16 on
Acceptance of Final EIR for Stadium

(March 2, 2010) Mark your calendar — Tuesday, March 16 is an important day for the Bay Area's soccer community. On that day, the San Jose City Council will decide whether or not to approve the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed San Jose Earthquakes stadium at Airport West.

When the San Jose Planning Commission heard comments on the final EIR in February, we saw something we haven't seen in some time: opposition. While the commissioners voted to approve the report, several people spoke against the new facility.

We've come too far to let this opportunity slip away. We cannot rest until every obstacle has been removed and the Bay Area finally has a permanent home for soccer. It's important that we get a huge turnout on March 16, when the San Jose City Council will vote on the document.

We can't afford to get complacent — we need to show the City Council, the local community, and even Lew Wolff that the fans are fully in support of the efforts to build the stadium. That means we need to show up in numbers, wearing Earthquakes blue, so we can pack the City Council chambers to let everyone know that we are Earthquakes fans and, just like our team, we will never give up. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16, at San Jose City Hall.

Please wear your Quakes and soccer gear, and if you have kids who are soccer fans please bring them. Nothing reminds our elected officials of the importance of their decisions more than young people in the audience. Again, the date is Tuesday, March 16 at 7:00 p.m. at San Jose City Hall, 201 E. Santa Clara St.

San Jose's City Hall is at 200 East Santa Clara Street. A map is available here. Free validated parking is available in the underground City Hall garage — enter off of S. 6th Street and bring your parking voucher to the council chambers — the validation machine is there. Parking is also available for a fee at the 4th Street Garage behind City Hall (enter heading south off of S. 4th St., a half block south of Santa Clara St.) and the Third Street Garage (enter heading north off 3rd St. a half block north of Santa Clara Street). (Note that both 3rd and 4th streets are one-way.)

The date and time may be subject to change, and if it does we will advise you as soon as possible. Thank you, as always, to each and every one of you for your critical role with SSV, the unified voice of the thousands-strong San Jose Earthquakes fanbase.

This message was e-mailed directly to SSV members. If you'd like to be kept informed of further developments, please join SSV and we'll add you to our e-mail list.

Previous SSV news items can be found here.

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Photo: JN Santos, International Sports Images

SSV's Founding Members (left to right): Colin McCarthy, Mike Turco, Don Gagliardi, Carol Vartuli-Marin, John Jussen, Jay Hipps, and Tony Huston.

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