San Francisco Citizen

Of course, the solution to all of the problems associated with Larry Ellison’s boat race is to have Larry Ellison pay for Larry Ellison’s boat race, don’t you think? I’d say about $40,000,000 would cover it, and thousands of people agree – just check out one of the petitions.

But CW Nevius is cheerleading for Larry full-tilt NO MATTER WHAT – let’s have a look:

“The financial landscape has changed. As reported this week, fundraising efforts have fallen well short of a projected $32 million.”

OH LORD. SO, WHEN DID OUR GREAT RECESSION BEGIN, SHALL WE SAY 2008 OR SO? ALL RIGHT, SO WHEN DID SFGOV / AMERICA’S CUP LACKEY KYRI McCLELLAN LAST COMMIT TO RAISING $40 MILLION FOR SAN FRANCISCO? LATE 2011, RIGHT? (SEE BELOW*) SO HOW DOES THAT WORK? ISN’T THE “FINANCIAL LANDSCAPE” ACTUALLY BETTER NOW IN 2013? I THINK SO. MAYBE PEOPLE WERE LYING? I THINK SO. OR MAYBE NEVIUS IS SAYING THAT THE FINANCIAL LANDSCAPE OF THE CUP ITSELF HAS CHANGED? BUT, CW, THERE WAS NO MONEY TO BEGIN WITH, THERE WAS NO $10 BILLION IN “FINANCIAL IMPACT,” THERE WAS NO “FLEET OF SUPER YACHTS” THAT WAS GOING TO COME IN AND RAIN DOWN MONEY ON US. IT WAS ALL MADE UP.

“…this will still basically be a break-even prospect for the city and a boost for the Bay Area’s economy.”

WELL THAT’S WHAT _YOU_ THINK, THAT’S WHAT YOU SAY. SOME WILL BENEFIT, SOME WILL LOSE. BUT IS IT REALLY SUCH A NOVEL IDEA TO HAVE LARRY ELLISON PAY FOR LARRY ELLISON’S BOAT RACE? DID WE EVEN ASK HIM?

“The anticipated windfall may not materialize, but the money won’t be taken from the general fund.”

WELL THAT’S WHAT _YOU_ THINK, NEVIUS.

“Instead of the mandated $64 an hour (yikes!), some contractors were paying as little as $27 an hour.”

COUNT THESE PEOPLE, THOSE UNSKILLED LABORERS MAKING 700% MORE THAN MARKET WAGES, AMONG THE WINNERS.

“However, Barkley had a good comeback. The Event Authority has arranged to reimburse the workers who were underpaid.”

UH NO, THAT’S _NOT_ A GOOD COMEBACK. WHY WOULD THEY AGREE TO PAY PREVAILING WAGE AND THEN NOT PAY PREVAILING WAGE? MAYBE THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING?

“As deadlines approach, you can expect more sniping at the event – some reasonable, some pure political posturing, and some that is simply absurd.”

UH, SNIPING AT THE POOR DEAL THE CITY HAS STRUCK? SNIPING AT ALL THE CORRUPTION AND LIES THAT WE’RE DISCOVERING? ARE YOU ALLOWING THAT THAT’S REASONABLE THING TO DO, NEVIUS? ACTUALLY, I THINK YOU’D PREFER A WELL-NEGOTIATED AMERICA’S CUP DEAL OVER WHAT WE HAVE BUT YOU’RE  PRETTY MUCH INDIFFERENT. IT’S NOT YOUR MONEY THAT’S BEING WASTED AND YOU, THE SHARP-AS-A-MARBLE, EX-JOCK, EVERYMAN NEWS COLUMNIST/QUASI SPORTSWRITER, PROBABLY LOOK FORWARD TO ANY SPORTING-TYPE EVENT COMING TO TOWN, NO MATTER WHAT THE COST, NO MATTER HOW MUCH CORRUPTION.

“Those who complain that the Cup is taking place in a wealthy neighborhood that doesn’t need the benefit are an example of the latter. It’s a sailboat race. It pretty much has to be near the water.”

OH YOU SO FUNNY, NEVIUS! ACTUALLY, I THINK AVALOS WAS LOOKING FOR THE AC34 PEOPLE TO THROW A BONE TO THE OUTER DISTRICTS. SO THAT’S NOT SO “ABSURD,” IN FACT.

“It all boils down to a single question: Would you rather have this event here or not?”

OOH, THAT’S EASY! LET’S NOT HAVE THIS POORLY-NEGOTIATED EVENT HERE UNLESS LARRY ELLISON WANTS TO PAY FOR IT.

“In fact, Farrell put it very nicely at the end of the hearing.”The bottom line is this is going to be a great event at zero cost to the city,” he said.”

THAT WHAT HE SAYS. WE’LL SEE HOW IT GOES. THE FACT IS THAT DEAL WAS POORLY NEGOTIATED BY OUR SHORT-SIGHTED POLITICIANS. AND WHAT IF IT TURNS OUT TO BE NOT A GREAT EVENT. WHAT THEN?

“We’re talking about (an estimated) $900 million in economic activity and (a potential) 6,500 jobs. A lot of cities would pay a lot for that.”

UH, THE ORIGINAL ESTIMATE WAS 9.9 BILLION. THEN 1.4, THEN .7-SOMETHING AND NOW, APPARENTLY, $.9 BILLION IN “ECONOMIC IMPACT,” WHATEVER THE HELL THAT MEANS. ALL THESE ESTIMATES ARE NOTHING BUT HOCUS-POCUS FROM PEOPLE WHO REALLY, REALLY WANT AC34 TO BE PUT ON IN SF, NO MATTER WHAT THE COST. AND OH, HERE’S A QUERY: WOULD MARK FARRELL BE SUPERVISOR WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF THOMAS COATES? OH NO, LORD NO.  WITHOUT TOM COATES, FARRELL WOULD BE JUST ANOTHER ANONYMOUS WHITE MILLIONAIRE DUDE WHO GREW UP A RICH KID IN THE MARINA. HERE’S THE THING: COATES LIKES BOATS. OH, AND WHAT YOU MEAN IS GIGS, NOT “JOBS,” MR. FARRELL. AND IF A LOT OF CITIES WOULD PAY FOR AC34, WHY NOT LET THEM?

“Then he went for the big finish. ”World-class cities put on world-class events,” he said. “And I think our city is going to shine.”

WORLD-CLASS CORRUPTION, FROM WORLD-CLASS LIARS, YEP.

“Sing it, Mr. Supervisor.”

YOU’RE SUCH A FUCKING BROWN-NOSING, OBSEQUIOUS KISS-ASS LICKSPITTLE TOADIE, YOU KNOW THAT, CW NEVIUS? (OH, AND YOU DIDN’T HAVE FARRELL’S PHONE NUMBER UNTIL TWO WEEKS _AFTER_ HE GOT ELECTED? YEP. HEH. YOU BELIEVED IN HIM _THAT_ MUCH, HUH?)

IN MITIGATION, I DIDN’T SEE THE PHRASE ‘NATURAL AMPHITHEATRE” ANYWHERE IN YOUR ESSAY, NEVIUS, SO THANKS FOR THAT.

IN AGGRAVATION, THE ABHORRENT PHRASE “WORLD-CLASS” APPEARED TWICE. (AND “WIN-WIN,” WELL, YOU DIDN’T SAY IT, BUT YOU WERE THINKING IT SO WE’LL CALL THAT A WASH.)

DIAL-A-CLICHE SCORECARD:

*Here it is, America’s Cup Project Update from September 2011. Now I’ll tell you, the “commitment” that Organizing Committee “CEO” Kyri McClellan (she actually was on both sides of this deal – it’s kind of a scandal) is talking about is “endeavoring” to raise $32 million or $40 million or whatever.  What she actually says is a bit different though. It seems as if she thinks (or thought, back in 2011) that her commitment was to actually raise the promised money as opposed to just trying to raise the promised money.

“I think we are on track to meet the commitments of the host city agreement at the end of this year. We are out in the marketplace raising those funds and we have a great operational model with the event authority on — we provide corporate sponsor introductions and they help facilitate our outreach to philanthropists whether individuals or families and are providing us with the assets that are necessary.

“So when you ask someone for a seven figure gift, we can articulate the benefits that are coming to the city for that, helping us pay for environmental review and pay for the transit and doing it the San Francisco Way. The folks who made early commitments to us before we had our tax exempt status are really proud of the way it is unfolding. as more definition comes to the plan and people have a better understanding of the community benefits, what are the youth opportunities, what are the workforce and job plans and that is unfolding the next three months so we are going out to sell those opportunities for folks to help us facilitate our obligations.

“Generally I say I’m raising $40 million if you count the $32 million specified in the host city agreement. There is a bond provision and other obligations, whether taxes or utilities, garbage. Then I have the operational expenses. So if you roll it all up, a little bit of contingency, I think we are generally comfortable saying we are raising $40 million.”

“Uploaded on Sep 21, 2011