Moving Forward

Mayor Ron Gonzales and San Jose City Council’s approval this week of an incentive plan that will bring the San José Grand Prix to our city is the culmination of two years’ work among the Sports Authority, the Champ Car World Series leadership, Canary Fund Enterprises and the City of San José.

The annual open-wheel auto race will bring more than 100,000 fans downtown for a week of parties, media events and racing as part of the Champ Car World Series. The San José Grand Prix will be produced by Canary Fund Enterprises, an affiliate of the Canary Fund. Founded by former Cisco executive Don Listwin, the fund is the official social cause of Champ Car and raises money and awareness for early cancer detection.

Thank you to the many extraordinary community leaders who made significant contributions to secure the race for San Jose: Tony Ridder of Knight Ridder, Mike Akatiff, John Davis of Air Systems, Ralph Borelli of Borelli Investment Company, Greg Jamison of the San Jose Sharks, Don Kassing of San Jose State University, Art Lund of the Hugh Stuart Trust, Jim Losch of Hallmark Construction, the leadership of Metro A Trust, Dan Duc of Duc Housing Partners, Rich Roth of San Jose Water, Doug Raisch of Raisch Products, Bill Archibald of C.F. Archibald Paving and the board of directors of the San Jose Police Officers Association.

Thanks also to Mayor Gonzales for his leadership in bringing this event to the city, and to downtown Council Member Cindy Chavez for her vision and support. Joe Guerra, the Mayor’s budget and policy director, and Paul Krutko, the city’s economic development director, deserve special praise for guiding the agreement to a successful conclusion.

The Sports Authority’s work could not have been accomplished without the enthusiasm and support of our board chairman, Victor M. Arrañaga Jr., and the extra time and effort from board members Bill Gates and Julie Frambach.

And finally, special thanks to our partners, race promoters Don Listwin and Dale Jantzen of the Canary Fund. Without their interest in the city and the race, there would not be a 2005 San José Grand Prix.

Enjoy this month’s SportsLines and the excitement ahead on the San Jose sports calendar.

Dean Munro
Executive Director

One of the largest and most spectacular sporting events in the city’s history – the San José Grand Prix – is coming downtown July 29-31. The area around HP Pavilion will be turned into the venue for this new annual sports event that will bring automobile racing to the streets of San Jose with cars reaching speeds of 200 mph on Santa Clara Street. The race will be broadcast in approximately 150 countries.

It’s not too early to claim your seats for the race, which will follow a street course centered on HP Pavilion, the site of the main grandstand and pit area.

Following the San José Grand Prix will be the Dew Action Sports Tour scheduled in and around HP Pavilion in September. This event, which is part of the first ever season-long professional action sports series, will bring to the city the country’s best skateboarders, motocross riders and BMX racers. It will be broadcast on NBC.

Each of these events will bring thousands of visitors to our city who will spend millions of dollars here. In addition, local residents will have an opportunity to see the best athletes in the country in auto racing and action sports.

How about some college football? Or perhaps you’re more in the mood for professional soccer, high-speed auto racing or women’s basketball.

Whatever sport you want to see, it’s played here in San Jose and we can put you in the grandstand to see it. Our new tickets page at the Sports Authority web site can be your one-stop path to all the sports excitement in San Jose if you bookmark it or simply click on the TICKETS tab on the navigation bar at the top of www.sjsa.org.

Twelve-year-old Matthias Montez of the After-School All-Stars of San Jose brought home the gold last month from the Pan American Games judo competition in the Dominican Republic.

Competing in the 53-kilogram weight division, Matthias swept to victory over athletes from Puerto Rico and Venezuela in the semifinals and finals. He was a student at Bachrodt Academy downtown before his family recently moved to Manteca.

Funding from the San Jose Sports Authority helped make Matthias’ travel possible. The After-School All-Stars is a program combining homework assistance, life skills guidance and athletic opportunities for youth. Sports Authority executive director Dean Munro is co-chairman emeritus of the program board.

Victor M. Arrañaga Jr., has been chairman of the San Jose Sports Authority board of directors for the past three years.

Arrañaga has been a government and community affairs professional for more than 30 years and currently is the head of state and local government affairs for Applied Materials. Prior to joining Applied Materials he was manager of external affairs at SBC, where he directed government affairs, community relations and corporate philanthropy for San Jose, Monterey and San Benito Counties. While at SBC he also held a variety of management and marketing positions.

In addition to his work with the Sports Authority and as a member of the Sports Facilities Task Force, Arrañaga is a member of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber’s COMPAC board of trustees and the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group’s government relations committee. He has a degree in political science from San Jose State, and he and his wife Cathy have two daughters, Alicia, 9, and Celina, 6.