Batkid celebration's cost to S.F: $105,000

Miles Scott, dressed as Batkid, second from left, raises his arm next to Batman at a rally outside of City Hall with Mayor Ed Lee, left, and his father Nick and brother Clayton, at right, in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 15, 2013. Scott was called into service on Friday morning by San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr to help fight crime, as San Francisco turned into Gotham City as city officials helped fulfill the 5-year-old leukemia patient's wish to be "Batkid," The Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation says. He was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 18 months old, finished treatment in June and is now in remission, KGO-TV reported. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) less Miles Scott, dressed as Batkid, second from left, raises his arm next to Batman at a rally outside of City Hall with Mayor Ed Lee, left, and his father Nick and brother Clayton, at right, in San Francisco, ... more Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press Image 1 of / 58 Caption Close Batkid celebration's cost to S.F: $105,000 1 / 58 Back to Gallery

The bill for San Francisco's Batkid day is coming in at $105,000 - with the big-ticket item being the Civic Center celebration that co-starred Mayor Ed Lee.

The original script had Lee taking a break from his duties simply to present Batkid with a chocolate key to the city. Make-A-Wish Foundation, the organization that arranged the big day for 5-year-old leukemia patient Miles Scott, figured on a few hundred volunteers showing up.

But by the time the event rolled around Friday, the crowd estimate had swelled to 14,500 and the simple presentation had grown into a full-blown production, complete with big-screen TVs and professional, high-tech staging.

The city will pay for the tab using money charged to conventions that use Moscone Center. It's the same pot of cash that funds the $150,000 Fourth of July fireworks show.

As far as the city's extra costs go for Batkid day, that was pretty much it.

"The cops you saw were all on regular duty," said Police Chief Greg Suhr. "All we did was move them around from one part of the city to another, like we do with any number of events during the year."

It was the same story for the Department of Public Works employees who handled the cleanup.

By the way, Make-A-Wish organizers were so overwhelmed Friday that, at one point, their website crashed after clocking 1,000 hits per second.

Batkid and his family are also said to be a bit overwhelmed, as they weigh TV talk-show offers from David Letterman, Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres - plus some feelers from Hollywood.

Off the rails: BART board directors appear poised to reject their own contract offer to unions Thursday - a move that will send the eight-month, strike-ridden negotiating process into uncharted territory.

"There is no way I can support the contract the way it is," said Tom Blalock, whose district covers southern Alameda County.

"I can't vote for a contract that goes over $67 million," said Director Joel Keller, whose district covers eastern Contra Costa County.

At issue: a "mistake" in which BART tentatively agreed to give workers as much as six weeks a year of paid family leave.

Officials from BART and its two biggest unions met Monday to go over the cost of the leave benefit - which, depending on which side you talk to, could cost anywhere from $1.45 million to $11 million a year. In the worst-case scenario, that would push the total cost of the four-year deal for BART to more than $100 million.

Whatever the cost, it appears that a number of BART directors - especially from the more conservative areas in the East Bay - aren't ready to vote for the deal or give more to workers in return for dropping the leave provision from the contract.

If directors reject the pact, it means everyone heads back to the bargaining table. Eventually, it also means going back to BART workers to ratify any new deal.

And that has union leaders nervous.

"It's always unpredictable when it goes to a vote," said Roxanne Sanchez, president of Service Employee International Union Local 1021, which represents BART mechanics, clerical workers and custodians.

For starters, workers weren't all that happy with contract provisions calling for them to kick in more for their health and pensi0n benefits.

"We spent a lot of time explaining the last contract, and after this I'm not sure we have the goodwill and cooperation of the workers anymore," Sanchez said. "They are really angry and upset."

The problem is compounded for the other major BART union, Amalgamated Transit Workers Local 1055, representing train operators and station agents, because it is in the midst of leadership elections.

"I'm still tying to wrap my head around some kind of solution before Thursday's vote," Sanchez said.

Obama fatigue: Ticket sales for President Obama's big fundraiser Monday at the SFJazz Center are so sluggish, organizers are cutting the price of some tickets in half.

The cheap seats for the Democratic National Committee luncheon - the ones that were going for $1,000 - have been reduced to $500, according to an e-mail to potential donors sent out Monday by Ella Arnold of Buell Private Political Management in San Francisco.

Those who already paid $1,000 will be upgraded to the VIP seats, "which includes rope line access!" the e-mail said.

We're told organizers are even making deals on some of the $15,000 tickets to the smaller reception with the president, with prices dropping to as low as $10,000.

Robert Mailer Anderson, the socialite and author who is co-hosting the event, says that as far as he knows, ticket sales are "going well" - and that the price cut may be partly the result of having added extra seats up high on the Jazz Center balcony.

Whatever the case, if Obama isn't wowing folks around here like he used to, it may also have something to do with this being the president's ninth fundraising trip to the Bay Area in the past 2 1/2 years - and that, nearly a year into his second term, Obama is approaching lame-duck status.