4/25/25
Mayor Saji George responded via email late last night to the post from Council Member Mark Eldridge:
Dear Sunnyvale Neighbors,
From the start, our community has shared a wide range of ideas through surveys and public hearings—everything from splash pads and walking trails to butterfly gardens and cricket fields. No idea was too small, and every voice counted. We listened first, then brought in professionals to assess what was truly feasible. That’s how responsible planning works: grounded in community input, guided by expert evaluation.
Unfortunately, election season has brought with it misleading claims. A recent Facebook post by a Council member selectively presented facts and links to distort the truth about our park planning efforts. You deserve better truth, not spin.
Even more troubling is the growing involvement of outside interests. Individuals and groups with financial stakes in Sunnyvale are now fueling misinformation. While others focus on politics, I remain focused on service—leading with transparency, integrity, and accountability.
Let’s set the record straight:
As part of our Parks Master Plan—developed through months of public input—residents shared a range of ideas for our parks. Halff &Associates was tasked with evaluating those ideas, including costs and feasibility. After careful review, it was clear that Samuel Farm was not available option. Though maintained by Sunnyvale, the land is owned by the City of Dallas, limiting our ability to move forward.
At the joint 4B and Town Council meeting on February 10, I recommended we focus on Jobson Park—a fully town-owned property and the most practical place to invest in community amenities like baseball, soccer, lacrosse, and multi-use practice fields—not a cricket stadium. The Council and4B Board unanimously supported this recommendation.
On March 24, the Council reaffirmed that direction and initiated design planning for Jobson Park, Vineyard Park, and the school field near the middle school. This is real progress—guided by facts, shaped by your input.
Let’s be clear: pulling fragments from various meetings to construct a misleading story ignores the reality of a normal planning process. We hold discussions. We explore options. We refine plans. Ideas raised in early sessions—including cricket fields—were part of a broader brainstorming phase that also included splash pads, trails, dog parks, and more. Nothing was ever finalized. This is how planning works—openly and deliberately.
We remain committed to telling the full truth, not just the convenient parts. That’s what transparency means.
If you have questions, concerns, or ideas, I want to hear from you. This is your town, and your voice will always matter.
With gratitude,
Saji George
Saji is saying what I think are some sensible points: a wide range of ideas were considered in the parks planning. One of the ideas in that wide range was cricket fields. The Samuell Farm North proposal is not a viable option. Saji isn’t trying to build a cricket stadium at Jobson or Samuell North. If you vote for Saji, you are not voting for cricket fields.
The burden of proof is on the accuser, not the accused.
As I’m getting toward the end of watching all of Mark’s posts, it is looking more and more like a giant nothing-burger. I will be following up with a synopsis of each video he linked, and highlight in detail where it does or doesn’t seem to talk about cricket. Our parks redevelopment isn’t behind schedule because of some scheme to take Jobson over with cricket. It’s probably behind schedule because we are all very busy people and the town’s leadership wanted to give everyone a chance to give their input.
If Paul Cash or his campaign guy wants to reach out and press this case, I have an email now: ben@sunnyvalecricket.com. I’ll review anything Paul wants to say about this. If Paul or Saji post more about this issue, I’ll cover it here on the site as soon as I can (give me some slack, I have a family and a job, and a house I’m constantly repairing).
Looking forward to the future, there are so many things that our town survey showed we do want to bring to our town. We tried a farmer’s market back in 2017, why don’t we start one up again? My wife would love to have a barre exercise studio in town, some more upscale food chains like Chop Shop, maybe near the new grocery store there will be room. There is a long list of “yeses” from the town survey, I hope we can all stop focusing on that one “no” of cricket.
