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Mountain View officials on Tuesday laid out a set of basic preparations for handling the crush of visitors expected to stream through town for the Super Bowl on Feb. 7, but plenty of factors, particularly about security for the event, remain up in the air.
With as many as 1.7 million people expected to flock to the Bay Area for the game hosted at Levi’s Stadium, the Super Bowl was described as a unique opportunity to showcase Mountain View to the world. However, along with all that attention, city officials warned they faced an uncertain security scenario that would be largely out of their control.
The event would likely bring impacts to the downtown area, but it is unclear exactly what those would be, said City Manager Dan Rich at the Nov. 17 council meeting.
“There’s so many moving parts on this,” he said. “We don’t know the closure of the streets, we don’t know what Caltrain is going to do with their (parking) lot.”
Security measures for the Super Bowl are being controlled by federal law enforcement agencies, and even Mountain View police officials say they aren’t sure what to expect. But public safety planning will likely err on the side of caution in the aftermath of last week’s Paris attacks, which included two suicide bombings at a crowded soccer stadium.
On Tuesday, the FBI coordinated a safety drill to prepare for the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium. Media representatives were initially invited to cover the event, but that offer was later rescinded, reportedly out of concern that security plans could be jeopardized if revealed.
More information will likely be made available in the coming weeks, but many details would need to be kept confidential, said Lt. Kurt Clarke of the Santa Clara Police Department.
“Security will be heightened on the game day,” he said. “As far as specific details on road closures or trains not being able to run we haven’t released any information yet.”
For Mountain View, the area of focus for the game-day is the downtown transit station, where thousands of football fans are expected to converge to take light-rail and Caltrain to the game. City officials anticipate about 10,000 visitors traveling downtown for the game.
Security measures for dealing with that crowd were still being worked out, said Mountain View Police Lt. Mike Fisher.
“You can anticipate a bunch of impacts, the transit center is going to be the hub for people arriving and going to the stadium,” he said “We’re still in discussions with the county, state and federal government.”
As part of its discussion Tuesday night, the City Council approved a series of preliminary measures to get ready for the Super Bowl.
In June, Mountain View police officials signed a regional agreement to provide additional officers for the Super Bowl, but in recent days, local police supervisors indicated they were reconsidering that deal. On Tuesday, police officials asked the City Council to terminate the agreement with the Santa Clara Police Department, saying those extra officers could be needed for local emergencies in Mountain View. Axing the deal also made sense, according to the city staff report, because Mountain View would have been left liable for any worker’s compensation claims stemming from the event.
The City Council also gave approval for using four downtown lots for day-long parking for fans traveling to the Super Bowl. Exactly which lots are still undetermined, but city staff members noted they plan to charge $20 per vehicle for the day double the current game-day rate. The Sunday Farmer’s Market, normally held at the downtown transit station, would either need to be relocated or canceled for the day, staff reported.
The city’s business leaders also asked for the city’s help in using the Super Bowl as a local promotion event. Their plan is to give visitors “passports” which will offer discounts for participating shops and restaurants throughout the city.
Leaders with the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce and Central Business Association asked the city for money to help design banners to hang throughout Mountain View and other marketing materials for the event. They asked the city to provide $7,500 of the $30,000 cost of the promotion.
The city approved all of the requests in a unanimous 5-0 vote, with council members Chris Clark and Ken Rosenberg absent.
The NFL and the cities of Santa Clara and San Francisco should have to pay all costs incurred by the Super Bowl. If the citizens or our city have to do anything they should be reimbursed for any cost as well as damages. We didn’t ask for this ridiculous deal made between those involved in the Levi’s Stadium deal and should not have to be inconvenienced in any way by it. Let’s get real; it is all about making money and Mtn. View is caught in the mess. Let those who bring it pay the price that goes with it. It is just plain scary to think having the Super Bowl near us will turn our area into a very desirable target for terrorists. Thanks to the NFL and the people who are only thinking of ways to make more money our personal security is endangered. I’m going to try to be far away from the zoo that this area will be next February.
So other than transit options the big draw to Mountain View during the Superbowl is … coupons? $30,000 for banners and coupons. And no Farmers Market. Way to put on a show, team MV!
Why not provide city tours where guests can:
– play “guess the rent” and see who in their party is the least below actual price
– slowly follow self-driving cars and marvel at their cautious behavior
– tour the pit at the former San Antonio Shopping Center
Or create a Mountain View Fantasy Developer League App where participants can see how well they do at replacing residents and businesses with office space or expensive housing.
Mountain View:
The city where living out of the back of a truck is ok (as long as you work for Google).
Do people who pay thousands of dollars for a Superbowl ticket really take light rail to get there?
I was struck by the lead sentence “as many as 1.7 million people expected to flock to the Bay Area for the game hosted at Levi’s Stadium”…
Does Levi stadium actually hold 1.7 million people?
If not, why would anyone “flock” to the Bay Area if they have no access to the stadium? Why not just stay home or watch the game from a local pub from a region of the country that doesn’t have the game broadcast blacked out?
@Alex M:
The Super Bowl is a big deal. The stadium itself doesn’t even hold 100,000 people, but many other come into town for the festivities (parties, other events). The actual 3.5 hour football is just a small fraction of time of the weeklong festival that the Super Bowl has become. Even if you don’t have a ticket to the game, there are plenty of things to do during the 8-10 days that run up to the main event.
Every single major hotel’s convention/banquet facilities will likely be sold out for myriad events.
Many people will also combine some of the football related events with non-football tourism activities: the SF Bay Area has plenty of other tourism offerings which is one reason why the region was selected as Super Bowl host.
From a logistical standpoint, all those other events need to be organized, staffed, etc. This is not just a bunch of football fans gathering around to watch the game, there will be people from all over the globe. Journalists, television crews, event planners, etc. Celebrities will be around, but not everyone can go to the game, but they will definitely be attending some of the premier parties.
Remember, this game is not blacked out. It is on live broadcast over-the-air television here in the States and can be found on television networks all over the planet. People can watch this game anywhere, but about 1.7 million want to be where the party is happening.
Just because you don’t have a ticket to the game doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.
“Just because you don’t have a ticket to the game doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.”
I think most of the above posters are physically incapable of having fun…
“City officials warned they faced an uncertain security scenario that would be largely out of their control.”
An amazing statement if it was indeed reported as such. There are plenty of things that can be done. Sloppiness, complacency and bureaucratic largess are just as much an enemy.
Here’s my two cents given my professional experience with assessing security vulnerabilities and conducting threat assessments. I have observed at most big events downtown over many years that MVPD police officers habitually gaggle in small groups socializing while the chief walks around doing the same. At the last Art and Wine Festival a couple of officers were lined up to get popcorn and hardly attentive to the crowd or the security environment. At the recent veterans memorial ceremony 3-4 MVPD officers were again hanging out socializing as were a group of MVFD firefighters. Not once did I see them conducting 360 scans of their positions or communicate with other positions (granted they were all in the same position). That’s not security. That’s 8 first responders not doing their job and concentrating themselves in positions that do not bode well for security or response in the event of an incident. That’s just cashing in on overtime. Why are we paying them for this? Why are they not supervised by their leaders? MVPD officers need to be tactically dispersed and attentive at all times, scanning crowds from positions and distances designed to provide layered and overlapping security and with an ability to react tactically if required. Ongoing communications among positions needs to occur. The chief needs to be off cite providing command and control and to react to any contingency. Bottom line, hire a consultant, re-assess tactics and operational procedures and re-train the department to the new (old?) reality. It’s not rocket science. All the officers I’ve observed on Veterans day were supposedly on the clock to do their job. The question is, why are they not doing their jobs correctly? And If I’m noticing these vulnerabilities then perhaps others are as well. There are a lot of other basic things I could point out, but that would be irresponsible. A new mindset is in order. Otherwise, yes, I would agree that things would get out of their control.
People coming here for the Superbowl aren’t going to want to spend time in Mountain View. They are going to want to go to the City.
1.7 Million people expected. I’m sure MV will see more than we want. They have tax revenue in their pockets, though, so just smile and say “Welcome friend!” 😉
@ Interesting: You do sound like you know what you are talking about, and you have a valid point regarding security. Although I think you were a little hard on the MVPD, an art and wine festival is not like guarding the president. I’m sure the MVPD will step up their vigilance for the week of the superbowl. As it is, they realized they will need to be in MV and not SC. I do appreciate the MVPDs efforts.
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