

A silicon valley vision for San Francisco - dirktheman
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/us/ron-conway-tech-investor-turns-focus-to-hometown.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

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rdl
There are things I dislike about Ron Conway's politics (the gun thing), but in
general I support his goals in SF.

What I do dislike in SF are two things: shifting the payroll tax to a gross
receipts tax is unfair to non-tech businesses with lower margins. A simple
surcharge to the state income tax would be much more suitable, for both
businesses and residents.

Two, as far as I can tell, either Ron Conway nor Ed Lee have seriously
addressed the lack of affordable housing in SF. Not "affordable housing" --
housing for people with political connections and long-term waitlists, for
below market rate rents -- but genuinely making housing affordable based on
demand, by de-politicizing zoning and permitting in the city.

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bifrost
BMR rents/sales here are ridiculous. I've read some of the requirements for
the sales and I don't see how these units ever get sold legitimately. BMR
rents are also a similarly byzantine process.

As it is now SF (like the state itself) is business unfriendly and I hope that
changes. My favorite example is SF's property tax depreciation schedule and
the 12 year cycle for servers. I can't think of a server that is even designed
to function that long anymore, the standard is 3 years. This is how out of
touch San Francisco is, and it needs to change.

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bifrost
I am glad someone is finally taking on the ridiculousness of San Francisco
politics. I was born here, and I've watched things just get more and more
ridiculous. There's a reason this city was voted one of the worst run in the
US, just watch a board of supervisors meeting and you'll get a good sense of
whats wrong.

I think Ron is in the wrong about a few things (1A vs 2A), but frankly Ron is
and will be a boon to San Francisco politics and the economy.

