The circus tent taxpayers bought Oracle.
San Francisco Chronicle – A scheduling snafu involving the big annual Oracle party and the TV show “Trauma” has wound up costing San Francisco taxpayers $270,000.
The mega mix-up revolves around the party that Oracle tosses for 22,000 select clients.
For years, Oracle has rented out a big chunk of the eastern side of the island for its party, including an old airplane hangar.
That was the plan for this year’s Oct. 14 bash as well.
However, the city rented out the hangar to NBC’s “Trauma,” which, while filming in the city, has provided a number of people with jobs – including the mayor’s actress wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
Oracle – one of the biggest conventions of the year – found itself out in the cold.
Now, to keep everyone happy, the city is putting up a football-field-size tent on Treasure Island for the Oracle party. Cost: about $270,000.
Newsom didn’t try to explain away the mix-up or defend the ensuing costs.
How’s that?
The city is in an ongoing budget crisis and no explanation from the man-child mayor?
Network World is on the ball with a thoughtful analysis of the Newsom administration’s ineptitude, facilities mismanagement and callous response to the scandal.
Now times are tough in the high-tech industry, but Oracle last year made a profit of $5.6 billion on revenue of $23.2 billion. Not bad. They’re willing to spend $7.4 billion to buy Sun. And, of course, Oracle head honcho Larry Ellison is among the most ostentatiously rich people on the planet; Forbes has him pegged at No. 4, worth a sweet $22.5 billion.
Meanwhile, San Francisco’s municipal finances have been anything but rosy given the destitute state of that state.
Under the circumstances, couldn’t the company — or Ellison himself — have picked up the tab for that tent instead of sticking it to the already traumatized taxpayers of San Francisco?
If not, the least the mayor’s office could have done is apologize for the costly screw-up.
Don’t hold your breath.
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