By Time Redmond : 48hills – excerpt
But thanking a billionaire who got rich from illegal conversion of apartments to hotel rooms? Sure.
Mayor Daniel Lurie appeared at the Board of Supes today for the first time since the election and congratulated himself on winning more power without ever saying what he was going to do about the most pressing issues facing the city.
Lurie took his opening five minutes to talk about how he now has a mandate for contracting reform, which is fine, but not at the top of most vulnerable people’s list of priorities. Then he effusively thanked Brian Chesky, a founder of Airbnb, for donating $100 million to improve city parks.
That’s lovely, but it’s also less than one-tenth of one percent of Chesky’s net worth…
Back to Lurie: The mayor never once mentioned affordability or the rise in family homelessness. He acted as if some bureaucratic changes are going to make life better for all of us.
Then he showed us a master class in not answering a simple question.
Lurie, in effect: We’re doing what we’re doing, which is what the Giants want to pay for. Rebuilding the club house in the park, he said, is not a priority and “will require a separate funding source.”
Brian Chesky’s money apparently won’t go to Crocker Amazon.
A city run by billionaires, funded by billionaire philanthropy that has many strings attached, is not going to fix San Francisco’s deepest problems.
But gee, the press seems to love it… (more)