Treasure Island Tenure
During August 2004, Mayor Gavin Newsom asked Tony Hall to assume the post of Administrator at Treasure Island. The Mayor publicly stated that this choice was made due to his record of accomplishments in the area of public facilities and special projects.
Mr. Hall was conducting on-going meetings with the developer regarding plans and contract compliance issues, as well as parallel interaction with the United States Navy principals responsible for re-conveyance of the property to San Francisco. The Navy had become skeptical with respect to the sincerity of the City and the ability of the developer to put forth a concrete redevelopment plan after more than seven years. The Mayor’s Office insisted upon a renewal of the contract for the developer despite the fact that the developer had not met the terms of their contract, including substantial payment shortfalls for specific developmental milestones, as well as a series of discarded timetable extensions spanning years. They also insisted that other “partners” be allowed to join the development team without going through the public bidding process as mandated by the City Charter.
In October 2005, the Treasure Island Development Authority, each member of which was an appointee of the Mayor, voted to require the resignation of Tony Hall from the project “without cause.”
To this day Tony Hall continues to warn of the real dangers of development on Treasure Island, calling it a “seismically unsafe toxic landfill” on top of the San Andreas fault.
Since departing Treasure Island, Tony Hall has maintained an active blog on issues related to civic life in San Francisco, and is a regular columnist for the Westside Observer.
In 2007, Tony Hall began a campaign for San Francisco Mayor but eventually declined to challenge then-mayor Gavin Newsom.
In 2010, Tony Hall announced the formation of an exploratory committee for San Francisco Mayor. He made his run official in March 2011.
Read more about this topic: Tony Hall (supervisor)
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