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Seven San Franciscans do our city "proud" by placing on state's list of top tax delinquents

By Joe Eskenazi

Having crashed a party at the home of a dot.com hotshot – two words: indoor pool – at a mansion once owned by members of Londonbeat, only to discover Miller Lite in the fridge, I can tell you this: It’s no great shakes to bank a million dollars anymore.

But to owe a million dollars: Well, that would be something.

And, if Xin Mian Pan is to be believed, it ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. According to the Franchise Tax Board, Pan is the No. 1 tax delinquent in all of San Francisco to the tune of $2.89 million.

His rejoinder: “They [the Franchise Tax Board] made some big mistakes!”

Believe you me, I felt just the same way when they dinged me for a $24 late filing fee.

Pan – the No. 4 tax delinquent in the state – heads the California's public list of tax delinquents, which you can read in full here. In a caveat made all the more humorous by its utter lack of humor, the FTB notes that those on the list can have their names removed if they “Pay the liability in full.”

Boy, if only someone had mentioned that before $2.89 million in unpaid taxes rolled up.

Pan told me that he is a day trader, and claims the FTB “counted what we sold, the profit. But they didn’t add the cost when we bought the stocks.” When asked what stocks he bought that were so valuable that he could owe nearly $3 million in back taxes, he replied that he bought a lot of stocks.

“Of course we dispute it. They made mistakes. I’m figuring out [how much I owe] and my accountant is helping me. We are filing taxes right now,” he said during a brief phone call.

Pan then politely cut off our interview, claiming he was “really busy” (likely in a manner only those owing millions to the government can be).

And yet he has plenty of company in this manner of business. In San Francisco alone, six other men or women make the state’s list of top delinquents:

CLICK "MORE" TO VIEW THE LOCAL LIST!

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Now is the Passover of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of Manischewitz.

By Joe Eskenazi

As you may have read here on The Snitch — and, mind-blowingly, in the Chronicle and Contra Costa Times as well — this year it has been next to impossible for Bay Area Jews to obtain matzah, the oversized, under-tasty unleavened crackers central to the holiday of Passover.

For frantic last-minute shoppers, this was a most unpleasant surprise. But it shouldn’t have been. The Bay Area matzah market has undergone more permutations than Oprah’s weight. This is just the latest matzah crunch.

A dozen years ago, the matzah wind was blowing differently. There was plenty to be had — but no one could afford it. A five-pound box of the crackers could cost as much as $19.99. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles and New York, Jews were happily buying their matzah for two bucks a pound.

"It's the forces of capitalism," explained kosher distributor Robert Sosnick at the time. "You're dealing with a marketplace down there of more than 1 million Jews. You have big chains in heavy Jewish neighborhoods. A million potential consumers is a big drawing card.

"You really don't have a Jewish neighborhood in San Francisco."

In 2001, the Bay Area matzah market was rocked once again — but in a way consumers could enjoy (with horseradish, possibly). Suddenly those $20 boxes of crackers could be obtained for as little as five bucks.

How? That can be answered in one word: Costco.

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Breaking up is hard to do. But breaking up during a mortgage crisis is even harder:

"There is a whole new aspect of divorce that most couples never had to face," explained Janell Weinstein, a partner in the law firm of Federbusch & Weinstein in New Jersey. "Many couples are forced to live under the same roof because they can't afford to move on until their home gets sold. This can go on for months or even years as the real estate market across the United States slows down tremendously."

Awkward! I guess the lesson here is clear: stay together no matter what. (via SFGate)

The dollar got spanked by the Swiss franc for the first time in history this week. It also dipped below 100 yen for the first time in 12 years, while the Euro hit an all time high of $1.5657. Gold is at a record high of about $1000 per ounce. Other things that will soon be worth more than the dollar include pretty rocks and gently worn Nikes. –Andy Wright

CBS 5 reported yesterday that Southwest Airlines had grounded 41 planes because the company had missed "required inspections for structural cracks." The Federal Aviation Administration was aware that Southwest was flying the planes without performing the nessesary inspections but failed to act, with the FAA saying that at least one inspector "looked the other way. "Four percent of Southwest flights were canceled as a result of the error, but officials said it would be business as usual by today. I'm not an engineer but for some reason I would feel better if Southwest took, say, two days to make sure 41 planes were sans "structural cracks." -Andy Wright

Oakland's own Trader Vic's, creator of the Mai Tai, champion of all things Polynesian, has too much STUFF!!, which means that through this Friday, Feb. 29, you have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy "pieces of the history of Trader Vic's" at their nearby Richmond warehouse. What exactly that means is anyone's guess, but you can be sure it will be tiki-licious. But be warned, silly shoppers:

"Please, DO NOT call us asking specific questions because we are overwhelmed trying to get our new warehouse in-order. We are clearing out this merchandise for some much needed added space. We promise you that there are many great finds and this opportunity should not be missed."

(via Boing Boing)

San Francisco Business Journal reported yesterday that SF's New College is officially kaput. The alternative school that offers degrees in Activism and Social Change and Women's Spirituality, among more traditional ones, had its accreditation yanked by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The 36-year-old institution has been on shaky ground since June 2007 when it began scrambling to overcome institutional and financial problems. Efforts to sell off property decreased the schools financial burden, but enrollment plummeted as word of the school's woes got around. Should New College decide to reapply for accreditation they will have to wait a year. As of this time, there is no statement on the school's Web site. Best of luck to students left in the lurch and RIP to the best spot on the Valenica corridor to go pee and get a free drink of water. Update: Here's a longer article from today's Chronicle. (photo from heatkernal) -Andy Wright

Arrrr, mateys, the price o' gold be climbin' ever higher! The Chronicle be reportin' day before this one that it be hittin' an all time high of $958.40 of your useless paper dollars! I actually had every intent of writing this entire post in pirate talk, but, arrrrr, I be findin' it difficult at this wee hour. "If you want a dismal view of the future, talk to a gold dealer," says Burton Blumert, who owned Camino Coin Company in Burlingame. In 2000, an ounce of gold was worth only $280, but the price of gold started climbing in 2001 and didn't stop. Basically, the higher the cost of gold gets, the closer the status of paper money comes to toilet paper. (click 'more')

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Today's Chronicle reports that the Sharper Image, hawker of high-end novelty electronics, has filed for bankruptcy. The company's trouble began in 2002 with the Ionic Breeze air purifier, which was supposed to reduce airborne particles. The purifier should have been named Ironic Breeze (heyyyy-oh!) because what it actually did was spew forth dangerous levels of ozone. The company never recovered from the negative publicity and lawsuits that followed. The 31-year-old company is now $199 million in debt. The debt is largely due to it's legal woes, but also due to the fact that consumers aren't spending as frivolously as they used to. Will no one buy an interactive R2-D2 droid? Perhaps this is a question only the readers of Sky Mall can answer. For more on Sharper Image, check out SF Weekly's article on company founder Richard Thalheimer. –Andy Wright

Gridskipper reports yesterday that San Francisco's food scene and hipsters' proclivity to introduce exclusivity into every aspect of their life has finally produced "Secret Cafes." The cafes are described as "nomadic kitchens with migratory cooks" that "can break free from a constraining menu." One assumes you can break free from health code violations, too. The cafes meet in a variety of venues including lofts and peoples homes and after dinner you might be treated to something "artsy"! Oh, also, there will be coat-checkers and "ego-petting." Score! A sample menu includes several items I would have to Wikipedia before eating: early girl-aubergine-filbert-puree, pimenton, and crooknecks are just a few of the foodstuffs that sound like they were scratched off J.K. Rowlings short list of names for fake shit. Has anybody ever actually been to one of these Secret Cafes? Are they as God awful pretentious as Gridskipper would lead us to believe? At the cost of about $50 a head, I'll be starting my own Secret Café soon. Meet me at an undisclosed location with a twelver of Pacifico and a tolerance for unfiltered social one-upsmanship.-Andy Wright

A group of San Francisco restaurant owners are trying to get out of paying for their employees' health care and they're taking it to the top this week. Uninsured workers can get medical treatment in SF with cash from their business owners who don't pay bennies. The funding mandate comes from a new local law called "Healthy San Francisco." Well, the Golden Gate Restaurant Owners thought about it for a second and then responded, "Ummmm, nah." According to the San Francisco Sentinel, the association sued to challenge the spending mandate and a federal judge sided with them, suspending the payments. But last month the 9th U.S. Circuit called bullshit on the ruling and issued an emergency stay telling San Francisco to go ahead and collect the tab. ... (Click 'More' to Continue Reading Supreme Stiff)

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If you’re sitting at work and looking to spend a couple hours and looking to talk smack on the interwebs, jump into the Worst Company in ’08 thread over at Gawker blog Consumerist. Readers are invited to name the company that has been sucking it up the hardest and after the votes are tallied the dubious honor will be doled out. Past "winners" include the RIAA and Halliburton. Early favorites for this year seem to be Comcast and Best Buy. Will no one throw their hat in the ring for American Apparel? Trashing the chain may garner one a lot of passive-aggressive side-long glances from hipsters, but is anyone else sick of their paternalistic labor practices and porno ads that look like they were cribbed from a teenager’s Myspace page? - Andy Wright

You might've heard that BlackBerrys nationwide malfunctioned on Monday. God forbid, but douchey CEOs were left without email for a whole three hours, during which they undoubtedly were forced to call people on the phone or visit them in person. This isn't the first time users have been burned - in April of 2007 BlackBerry experienced a 10-hour shut down.The spotty track record prompted Palm (the j.v. squad of PDAs) to slam their competitor in a full-page ad today, which closed with the kicker, "And more importantly, no nationwide blackouts." BlackBerry was reported to have uninvited Palm from its birthday party and taken all its toys back. -Andy Wright

An altruistic literary Web site allows me to rekindle a youthful passion (and give away things I don’t own)

By Joe Eskenazi

When I was a child, a favorite activity was to scrawl my phone number on a card lashed to a helium balloon and release the lighter-than-air sphere into the wild blue yonder. I nursed fantasies of receiving a phone call from exotic environs as remote as Lafayette, Orinda, or even Pittsburg.

Yet, if I was lucky enough to receive a call at all, it usually came from a neighbor six houses down who seemed impatient for me to come retrieve the damn balloon.

These days, kids probably don’t even experience that sort of limited joy; releasing balloons with numbers on them sounds a bit al-Qaeda-ish and would probably result in a stern talking-to from the local police sergeant and his little police sergeant bear.

And yet, adults need not give up upon the joy of releasing an object into the wild and waiting to hear back from far-off strangers. Except instead of balloons, you can do it with books.

When BookCrossing.com hit the scene a few years back...

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The fella with the mop earns an average of $12.59 an hour in San Francisco. The fella with the Semitic good looks pulls in $57.62.

Which San Francisco jobs pay the best? Which pay the worst? Do you deserve a raise – or should you be buying us all a round of drinks?

By Joe Eskenazi

In the midst of poring through the state and federal government’s employment numbers and projections for this series (read part I here, part II here), I discovered a most inconvenient truth: One of the two methods the government uses to calculate job growth has an error rate of plus or minus 100,000 jobs (so that 18,000-job gain in December may well have been an 82,000-job loss).

And the other method? It comes with an error rate of plus or minus 400,000 jobs.

So, to put it mildly, when it comes to tabulating our month-by-month job growth (let alone the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ projections up to year 2016) we’re not dealing with “a Swiss f-----g watch,” as the Dude put it in The Big Lebowski.

That being said, the calculations of how much the various professions earn, county by county, in this great state of ours are considerably more accurate; if it doesn’t reach the Dude’s exalted “Swiss f-----g watch” status, it’s at least a "Japanese f-----g watch.”

So, according to the California Employment Development Department’s most up-to-date numbers, these are the 10 highest-paid jobs in the San Francisco metro region (S.F., San Mateo, and Marin counties):

10. Securities, Commodities and Financial Services (hourly mean wage of $61.35)
9. Computer and Information Scientists, Research ($62.95)
8. Psychiatrists ($63.07)
7. Pediatricians, General ($63.55)
6. Financial Managers ($63.66)

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