Guest Editorial: BMW, The Smartest Guys in the RoomSupervisor Chris Dalybyline‚ Jan. 19‚ 2007We all were outraged to learn how Enron bilked billions from California ratepayers by creating an artificial energy crisis in our state. The demise of the energy giant didn’t recoup our losses, but it was a distinct point of state pride. News of its shady “mark to market” accounting practices provided a bit of icing, bringing down accounting giant Arthur Andersen. In San Francisco the “smartest guys in the room” are at the firm of Barnes, Mosher, Whitehurst, and Lauter (BMW). Watch out, BMW is now looking to launch their own “Mark to market” strategy with the candidacy of Mark Leno for the State Senate. BMW is probably best known for their role in successfully challenging San Francisco’s stringent soft money regulations and then managing the record-shattering $3.2 million soft money operation to re-elect Mayor Willie Brown in 1999. In what may have been the most negative campaign the City had ever seen, the upstart effort of progressive Tom Ammiano was crushed. |