I don't go to SF anymore. No happy meal toys. Just the latest in your nanny city laws. Next you won't be able to buy a dog?
SF has a horrible image around the world.
America's Cup would give a chance to show the world what you have. Then people like me might return.
Regards,
PDX

Give Ellison the entire waterfront. Maybe then he can stop it from rotting into the bay. "Progressives" have stalled renewal of the waterfront for years, threatening endless lawsuits to "save" the waterfront. From what?

The waterfront is a disaster. There was a great proposal to develop a recreation complex on the piers but that, of course, was torpedoed.

Until SF voters rid themselves of "progressive" obstructionists, the decay will continue.

I always love talking to my wife about these things. She's pretty liberal, but not involved in the minutiae of local politics, so she always has an outside-the-box way of thinking about political issues. When I read her this column, she asked a very interesting question:
"If Larry Ellison is wants to bring this yacht race to San Francisco because he likes yacht racing, then why is the city paying him to do it?"

Um... yeah. Great question. This is basically Larry Ellison's hobby. It's something that he wants to do anyway, because it's fun for him. Why should the city pay for a rich guy's hobby?

But see, that's the difference between the way progressives think, and the way conservative tools of the business elite think.

If I were mayor, and Larry Ellison came to me and said, "I want to bring the America's Cup to San Francisco," I would say, "Great! How much are you willing to pay us to cover our city's costs in police overtime, traffic, litter and cleanup?"

On the other hand, when he came to Mayor Newsom and said "I want to bring the America's Cup to San Francisco," Mayor Newsom said, "Great! How much do you want from the city treasury to help you do it?"

My wife said that Newsom probably added "and how much will you pay me?" But of course it's not that simple. We're no banana republic. Here in America, corruption has been elevated to an art form. No money is exchanged up front, but Newsom knows that as he climbs higher and seeks more power, he will now have another wealthy backer. Help Big Biz, and in return they help you accumulate power through campaign contributions when you run for higher office. And if you lose, there's a nice plush job making millions for coming to a few meetings a year, sitting on some corporate board somewhere, in return for your service.

When someone like Ed Jew does it wrong, they go to jail. That's small stuff, and soooo old school. But do it the Newsom way, play the corporate corruption game by the rules, and you're rewarded with a lifetime of wealth and power and respect.

That's the way the game is played in America... all for the rich and screw the rest of us. Anything good and low-cost that brings joy for hundreds of thousands of people, like B2B, Halloween in the Castro, and Love Parade -they kill it. But some rich guy wants the city to indulge him in his hobby -sure! No Problem!

For a minute there I thought it was an article about Santa Clara and the Niners. Why is it that billionaires who have a staff of millionaires need so much help from government to play their games?