Torture

A lot of people imagined that San Francisco’s season of torture ended with Edgar Renteria’s home run into the stands at Arlington, sealing the fate of the Texas Rangers and riding Tim Lincecum’s pitching to the first World Series win since the Giants moved west in 1958.

No way.

The torture continues until we have an agreement to race America’s Cup 34 on San Francisco Bay.

Which rhymes with, delay.

Our dates have moved again, but for reason.

For a time, it appeared that the Board of Supervisors would have an up-or-down vote—with the chances looking good—on December 7. That was to follow a hearing before the Port Commission on November 30 (Pier 1, 0930, still on), with a hearing and public comment before the Supes’ subcommittee on Budget and Finance on December 1. Now the waters have been muddied by dueling financial-analysis documents, feeding the efforts of the opposition, and a decision was made to push the dates back. Think December 8 for Budget and Finance and probably December 14 for a vote (no public comment) of the full Board of Supervisors.

This is uncomfortably close to BMW Oracle’s stated deadline of December 30, to announce a venue for AC 34, and it leaves would-be players still desperate for the information that becomes the ammunition of a sponsorship proposal. But, the best read is that the delay was the choice of Cup-friendly Supervisors who want more time to clarify the financial arguments, while the deal making continues to be, ahh, fluid and spirited.

San Francisco politics. As one of my backgrounders advised, it’s a sport, and we’ve moved to the contact phase. How does that song go?

Don’t . . . stop . . . belieeeeving.

And it’s all happening amidst the wildest scrum I’ve ever seen at City Hall. Mayor Gavin Newsom leaves office a year early in January, to become Lieutenant Governor, and today the eleven-member Board of Supervisors voted on how to choose the next, one-year occupant of Room 200. As soon as December 7 they’ll start a voting process (rhymes with “peace process” and might have similarities) and the first nominee (doesn’t have to be a Supe) to receive six votes is the next Mayor of San Francisco. May the Force be with Him, Her, or It.