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San Francisco Approves $79.6 Business Tax Settlement
Fear Republican Dominated Apellate Court
With shades of a Republican appellate court formed in litigation tea leaves, seven members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors today approved a reduced Business Tax settlement offer totaling $79.6 million.
Three members voted against the offer, Matt Gonzalez, Gerardo Sandoval, and Chris Daly, urging colleagues instead to fight the case in court. Supervisor Gavin Newsom was excused from voting due to his business holding, with Tom Ammiano, Sophie Maxwell, Jake McGoldrick, Leland Yee, Tony Hall, Mark Leno, and Aaron Peskin voting to approve the offer.
Proposed by Board President Tom Ammiano after negotiations with plaintiffs' lead attorney, the offer is a reduction from the total payout previously considered of $88 million.
Both figures include interest on the amount plaintiffs would receive, as well as issuance and finance costs of judgments bonds. Judgment bonds would permit the city to borrow the money to pay the settlement, repaying the loan over time.
The actual amount plaintiffs will be offered is $58.6 million, down from the $64.5 million previously considered. Payout through judgment bonds would be scheduled for August, with interest projected to have increased the approved $58.6 million offer to $62.8 million, compared to the previous offer financing projection to $69 million.
Ammiano declared his mistrust of the Appellate Court's ability to fulfill their oath, having been appointed by former Republican Governor Pete Wilson, as reason to back the settlement.
Gonzalez countered that, despite that court's reputation, it had surprisingly rendered a judgment favorably to the city in the past, and its reputation alone shouldn't deter the city from fighting the case.
His argument didn't persuade a majority of colleagues, with Aaron Peskin reiterating that neither the California nor U.S. Supreme Courts are obliged to review an unfavorable Appelate Court ruling.
Under methodic questioning by Mark Leno, the city attorney's office rendered a bleak vision of the cost of fighting the case, and losing.
The question remains legally unanswered which number of years plaintiffs may claim they were injured by the Business Tax, as statute of limitations set by city codes has been challenged as being in violation of state codes.
Should the city fight the case, lose, but only be required to pay claims for the years city codes require, the city attorney's office estimates by the total payout at $128 million.
Should the city be required to pay claims through 2000, the estimate rises to
$270 million, and jumps to more than $500 million if the year 2001 is approved for claim payout.
Settlement opponents earlier alleged such figures are merely hypothesis.
Proponents of the settlement pointed to low-income San Franciscans standing to suffer most from loss of services such a payout would cause.
Three members voted against the offer, Matt Gonzalez, Gerardo Sandoval, and Chris Daly, urging colleagues instead to fight the case in court. Supervisor Gavin Newsom was excused from voting due to his business holding, with Tom Ammiano, Sophie Maxwell, Jake McGoldrick, Leland Yee, Tony Hall, Mark Leno, and Aaron Peskin voting to approve the offer.
Proposed by Board President Tom Ammiano after negotiations with plaintiffs' lead attorney, the offer is a reduction from the total payout previously considered of $88 million.
Both figures include interest on the amount plaintiffs would receive, as well as issuance and finance costs of judgments bonds. Judgment bonds would permit the city to borrow the money to pay the settlement, repaying the loan over time.
The actual amount plaintiffs will be offered is $58.6 million, down from the $64.5 million previously considered. Payout through judgment bonds would be scheduled for August, with interest projected to have increased the approved $58.6 million offer to $62.8 million, compared to the previous offer financing projection to $69 million.
Ammiano declared his mistrust of the Appellate Court's ability to fulfill their oath, having been appointed by former Republican Governor Pete Wilson, as reason to back the settlement.
Gonzalez countered that, despite that court's reputation, it had surprisingly rendered a judgment favorably to the city in the past, and its reputation alone shouldn't deter the city from fighting the case.
His argument didn't persuade a majority of colleagues, with Aaron Peskin reiterating that neither the California nor U.S. Supreme Courts are obliged to review an unfavorable Appelate Court ruling.
Under methodic questioning by Mark Leno, the city attorney's office rendered a bleak vision of the cost of fighting the case, and losing.
The question remains legally unanswered which number of years plaintiffs may claim they were injured by the Business Tax, as statute of limitations set by city codes has been challenged as being in violation of state codes.
Should the city fight the case, lose, but only be required to pay claims for the years city codes require, the city attorney's office estimates by the total payout at $128 million.
Should the city be required to pay claims through 2000, the estimate rises to
$270 million, and jumps to more than $500 million if the year 2001 is approved for claim payout.
Settlement opponents earlier alleged such figures are merely hypothesis.
Proponents of the settlement pointed to low-income San Franciscans standing to suffer most from loss of services such a payout would cause.
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Tom Ammiano has not changed; he has always been a good Democrat, and that is why he jumped into the mayor's race in 1999 as a write-in candidate. He wanted to save the Democratic Party's dominance from the Reds, whose candidate Lucrecia Bermudez, was doing very well. Among many other things, Tom Ammiano supported both stadium swindles and has never wavered on the baseball swindle. On the football, at the last minute in the campaign when the 49ers would not give discount tickets to poor children, he opposed the stadium; then after the election, he came out for it stating that he supported Willie Brown's position to give no more than the big giveaway of our tax dollars already planned and the latest is, for the last supervisors' race, he opposed the football stadium. He also supported keeping the cross on Mt. Davidson, in violation of a good church/state separation ruling, and which proposition involved privatizing a piece of public land. The Bay Guardian was the only newspaper to oppose keeping the cross on Mt. Davidson. Thousands of us concurred with the Bay Guardian's position with our votes. He has also supported Machine candidates, like Susan Leal for Treasurer, when he had choices of other Democrats who were not Machine candidates.
The whole purpose of the Democratic Party is to keep the Reds out of office, and that is why they play to the Left to get elected, and show their true reactionary colors once elected. Tom Ammiano's chances of being elected mayor now are very slim as his political base is outraged at this latest sellout, and it will not be the last sellout. It is long overdue that his political base, the workingclass, stop voting for the Democrats, if the workingclass is to have any future at all. It is clear that no Democrat can be considered viable.
Any member of Peace & Freedom Party would have opposed the Chao commendation and the business tax settlement, thus proving that it is the socialists who are viable. If you want to be part of a viable party, a party that represents the workingclass and never compromises or plays opportunist games, considering joining the socialist Peace & Freedom Party. Just check "Other" on your voter registration form and write in Peace & Freedom Party. For more information, see http://www.peaceandfreedom.org.