And now we turn to the daily weeping and gnashing of teeth over San Francisco's tortured bid to host the 2013 America's Cup sailing regatta.
The big news out of Gavin Newsom's confab with the Chronicle editorial board yesterday was the mayor's announcement that he'd hold off on being sworn in as Lt. Governor if the Board of Supervisors didn't appoint a successor to his liking. But Newsom also said that the city is working diligently to sweeten the terms of its America's Cup bid to the BMW-Oracle team's liking, and also elaborated a bit on exactly what about the proposed deal is sticking in their craw.
"We've made a half dozen to a dozen amendments in the last 36 to 48 hours to try to further address and clarify why we are seeing the same thing differently," Newsom told The Chronicle editorial board. "I don't know what more we can do."
The amendments don't materially change the deal, Newsom said, but provide additional assurances for race organizers, led by billionaire Oracle CEO Larry Ellison...
When the city shifted public viewing facilities to the northern waterfront and Pier 50 was removed from the equation, race organizers saw their costs go down, but so did their potential to recoup an investment they say will approach $500 million to put on the regatta and pre-Cup races.
Newsom said race organizers are overvaluing Pier 50's development rights, and thus view the current deal as insufficient."
Newsom also said: "Our own analysis is they're delusional about its value..."
The deadline for a decision is Dec 31, and some people, no doubt, will take time that day to not only celebrate the imminent new year, but also to rejoice in the fact that they will no longer have to read about this story, at least for a little while. This user comment sums up nicely, perhaps, how some locals feel about the whole thing:
So who gives a s***. This overblown carnival of obscenely expensive ugly boats trying to race around in a small, shallow, and overcrowded bay at the cost of upheaving the entire waterfront to please one egotistical billlionaire who is only interested in waving his (ED NOTE: NOUN DELETED TILL KQED SWITCHES TO FREEFORM RADIO FORMAT) at the world and gaining control of the waterfront to turn it into a giant computer town…..let Newport have him. In fact PAY THEM TO TAKE HIM !!