Listening to @dickc toasting to 2013. Proud of Twitter! #celebrate pic.twitter.com/kZdDx57a67
— Jessica Verrilli (@jess) December 20, 2013
As if there wasn't already growing feeling that the Mayor was secretly in the pocket of the Valley's biggest tech names, San Francisco City Hall was lit up Twitter blue last night as the company literally took over for their holiday party. There's certainly nothing tone deaf about a company that received millions in tax breaks buying out the city's center of power for a one-off night of champagne drinking.
Inside Gotham City's city hall lit with the bird signal. #celebrate pic.twitter.com/dOJKmyvWUw
— Tony Wang (@TonyW) December 20, 2013
Here's CEO Dick Costolo's speech, condensed into a six-second snippet of the company's own design:
On the bright side, City Hall probably (hopefully) picked up some funds that it could put towards filling in the $55 million it missed out on with those mid-Market tax breaks. On the other hand, if you're one of the many who have been fretting about the tech industry take over, now would be a good time to hibernate until 2014.
Update: To clarify, we are well aware that city hall is openly available for rentals. The question here isn't whether or not private companies like Twitter can rent out the public space, but whether they should, given the current climate around town.
[H/T @mat]