Mayor reverses his Yelp review
By: Mike Aldax
December 3, 2008
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| A spokesman for Mayor Gavin Newsom said his office had not declared Wednesday, Dec. 3 as Yelp Day. Yelp officials were caught by surprise by the news. (Courtesy Art) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Sorry, Yelp, Wednesday is not your day after all.
San Francisco-based Web site yelp.com was shocked Tuesday to learn that Mayor Gavin Newsom will not declare Wednesday as Yelp Day in The City, as was expected by company officials.
The popular site, which allows users to post reviews of local businesses and services, received the honor last year on Dec. 5 and said it recently received word from Newsom’s office that the proclamation would be awarded again for Wednesday, when the site will hold its popular holiday party.
Not so, Newsom’s office said Tuesday.
“No proclamation has been issued by the Mayor’s Office,” Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard said via e-mail.
The late news came as a shock to Yelp chief spokeswoman Stephanie Ichinose, who said she has been working with the mayor’s people for a while on this year’s proclamation and said she received confirmation it would happen from a liaison with the mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services.
“I am a little shell-shocked by this,” Ichinose told The Examiner. “I even have the confirmation e-mail. We were really super-excited about it.”
Ballard said the proclamation won’t be issued because last year “the mayor strengthened his policy regarding potentially controversial proclamations.” The stricter policy means the proclamation would have had to be cleared by the mayor’s chief of staff, who never laid eyes on it.
“I’m very surprised,” Ichinose said.
