Michael Denny for Mayor Media Release
San Francisco, January 26, 2004
For immediate Release
Contact: (415) 986-7677 x123
Petty Political Posturing by City Hall costs SF jobs
Continuing a tradition of supreme disregard for the jobs and welfare of
working Americans, some San Francisco's Supervisors and their political
allies at City Hall have been vilifying Bechtel Corporation, which has
been headquartered in San Francisco for decades. Recent media coverage
has encouraged the grandstanding.
Following a path already taken by many other employers, Bechtel
announced yesterday that it is relocating half the high-paying jobs at
its San Francisco headquarters to the Washington DC area. They follow a
well-trod trail of other San Francisco institutions such as Chevron,
PacBell, and BankAmerica, which have chosen to vote with their feet, and
departed the anti-business local political environment. While the City
and Bechtel are soft-pedaling the significance of the move, this is
another body blow to workers in the City who must scramble for fewer
private sector jobs. Over the last 3 years, over 30% of City jobs have
been lost, leading to a commercial vacancy rate still over 20%.
"When will City Hall put the interests of workers and businesses ahead
of petty political posturing?" Denny demanded
With a drop in City government revenues resulting from the business
downturn and the self-inflicted hostile environment for business, the
City has set up a "Revenue Advisory Panel", charged with coming up with
new and increased fees and taxes to impose on property owners and the
fewer remaining businesses. They need the money to pay for the only
sector to have increased staffing levels over the last 5 years --
government and the organizations in the nonprofit sector, many staffed
by political insiders and campaign workers.
San Francisco has a City budget of about $ 5 billion per year, which is
$ 6,500 per man, woman and child in the City. This is almost twice the
next-highest per capita cost for a City-county combination in the United
States, which includes such notoriously high-cost cities like Honolulu
and Denver.
"City Hall politicians can't improve our economic environment but they
sure can destroy it." said Denny. "It's time for San Franciscans to
start taking personal responsibility and stop sending their bills to our
businesses. Why should businesses be taxed for providing jobs and
services to our community? Our businesses shouldn't have to, can't and
will not pay."
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