San Francisco Landed America's Cup ... And Now We See Why
Categories: Government, Politics
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| Sailing To A Sweeter Deal |
After much back-and-forth, San Francisco scaled back on its bid, essentially saving city taxpayers scores of millions of dollars. This left yachting billionaire Larry Ellison with no other choice but to abort his threat to take the next America's Cup race to Rhode Island and come back to the Bay.
According to the Examiner, the deal keeps San Francisco from getting any revenues from future condo sales on the site. It also puts the burden on San Francisco to do away with any legal restrictions so that the Ellison-controlled "event authorities" can outright own Seawall Lot 330, as opposed to just leasing it. And now we can see why.
It also gives the America's Cup team more leeway in how they spend their $55 million to improve the piers.
The Board of Supervisors had signed off on a term sheet back in December that allowed Mayor Gavin Newsom to keep negotiating with America's Cup with the caveat that whatever the deal was, it wouldn't mean city taxpayers would have to spend more money.
But that approval didn't do anything to protect the city from losing out on potential income.
And losing out on money is just as bad as spending money.
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