Between 1948 and 1965, Santa Clara laid the foundation for becoming power-independent, and that was due to the vision of two people: George Sullivan and Don Von Raesfeld, a collaboration with Santa Clara University, and progressive city councils. In 1948, Sullivan, Dean of Engineering at Santa Clara University, proposed a plan for meeting the needs … Read more
Back in the 1950s the City of Santa Clara was growing at an exponential rate. In 1950, its population was 11,702 but by 1960, its population was nearly 60,000, a five-fold increase. Facing these exploding needs, the city council began considering a bond in the summer of 1959. Originally, two bond issues were considered — … Read more
Every Santa Claran can be thankful for the talent, expertise, vision and innovation of former City Manager Don Von Raesfeld. He passed away last week while in church. While Santa Clara was just getting its training wheels, Don Von was thinking and asking, “Why not Santa Clara?” Because of his foresight, he envisioned Santa Clara … Read more
Don Von Raesfeld, arguably the single most influential person on Santa Clara’s road to electric power self-sufficiency, died suddenly this week at St. Clare’s Church during Easter Mass. He was 96. “In my history of Santa Clara, he is Mr. Santa Clara,” said former mayor Gary Gillmor. “He did so much for the city that … Read more
Last week the 49ers celebrated Levi’s Stadium’s first concert, Coldplay, 1001 days after the last concert in 2019 and 10 years to the month after Mayor Lisa Gillmor and 49ers co-owner Jed York drove the first shovels into the Santa Clara ground that would become Levi’s Stadium. If that wasn’t auspicious enough, May was also … Read more