Temperatures may be sweltering in San Francisco this week, but the heat appears to be temporarily off the mayor and other city officials when it comes to footing the bill for next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit of global leaders.
APEC officials and a spokesperson for Mayor London Breed confirmed on Friday that the city surpassed its $20 million fundraising goal for the weeklong geopolitical summit, which will be hosting President Joe Biden, more than a dozen heads of heads of state, tens of thousands of foreign delegates, hundreds of foreign press members and as many as 1,200 CEOs attending an accompanying business conference.
The city will be under the international microscope from Nov. 12-18 as it hosts important meetings and panels, and local officials see the summit—as well as no shortage of corresponding parties and dinners—as an opportunity to rebrand San Francisco’s image beyond the headlines and viral videos that have cast the city in a negative light in recent years.
Graton Casino & Resort—located an hour and half north of the city in Rohnert Park—committed to a massive $4,625,000 sponsorship last week to help push the city above its fundraising goal. The money will go toward a series of events, including a City Hall dinner for the foreign press and an outdoor concert by Chase Center. The casino, which is owned and operated by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, has become a major player in California and Democratic politics in recent years after spending tens of millions on political campaigns.
Breed told Bloomberg, which was first to report the donation, that the casino will get “top” billing among all sponsors after giving more than twice the amount of the second-highest donor, crypto company Ripple, and almost five times as much as Apple, Kaiser Permanente,…
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