Shouting profanities, welcome delegation greets visitors

"It's kind of part and parcel of the game"

-Sup. Tom Ammiano explains "shutting-down" conferences

Today Supervisor Tom Ammiano is advancing an ill-thought resolution commending protesters for attempting to shut down a conference in San Francisco.

San Francisco is a tourist city with visitors contributing $343,298,015 in taxes, supporting 60,436 jobs with a total payroll $1,507,306,181 in 2002. Yet Tom Ammiano is supporting extreme tactics to intimidate these tourists because he disagrees with them.

In 2000, 17.3 million visitors spent $7.62 billion. Yet Supervisor Tom Ammiano seems to think…no ‘think’ isn’t the right word when a city leader supports harassing visitors.

Out of site, out of mind

San Francisco is a special place, especially because of our progressive political values. Sharing those values with 17 million people a year is San Francisco’s gift to the world and progressive political dialogue. This City forged the way for labor, civil rights, free speech, and gay rights, and this spring, gay marriage.

Yet Ammiano is too busy preaching to the choir to share some of San Francisco with the people who need it most. No matter what the cause, we shouldn’t scare people away from San Francisco. When people claim to do this in the name of progressive politics, their folly is a strategic blunder that would deserve a hearty laugh if it weren’t so counter-productive.

The very people who need to come to San Francisco, the people who the world needs to come to San Francisco, are the very people who Supervisor Ammiano disagrees with. Box them out and their minds will forever remain boxed in.

Doing the right thing

San Francisco leads with progress, not protest. When progress ceases to advance, San Francisco is just another City and the great minds begin to question whether it is worth the exorbitant costs.

Applying technology and engineering to the life sciences is progress and is the future. Politicians can’t change that, they can only force progress elsewhere.

If biotechnology goes elsewhere, a few things are certain. First of all, the jobs won’t have domestic partner benefits and all of the benefits that come from a progressive city. Next, the employees won’t have the burden of living in a progressive city and having their values challenged every time they pick up a paper or turn on the news. And finally, San Francisco won’t have luxury of hosting the brainpower driving the next big thing.

Nation Reminded of SF Anti-business Reputation

The news of Ammiano's hospitality is spreading fast: Akron, Ohio, Biloxi, Mississippi, Boston, Massachusetts, Casa Grande, Arizona, Columbia, South Carolina, Columbus, Georgia, Court TV, Duluth, Minnesota, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Flornese, Alabama, Fresno, California, Grand Forks, North Dakota, Lakeland, Florida, Lexington, Kentucky, Macon, Georgia, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, New York, New York, Ocala, Florida, Reno, Nevada, Reuters, Salon, San Diego, California, San Luis Obispo, California, Sarasota, Florida, Seattle, Washington, State College, Pennsylvania, St. Paul, Minnesota, Tallahassee, Florida, Toronto, Canada, United Kingdom, USA Today, Washington, D.C., Witchita, Kansas, Worchester, Massachusetts.

San Francisco can do better. We need to.

- Bob Brigham
Bob Brigham Politics: Bay to the Beltway
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