Former SF Mayor Willie Brown's role in Bayview-Hunter's Point development

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On Tuesday's 3p.m. show, "Getting Answers," reporter Matt Smith spoke about a new story highlighting former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown's role in the development of Hunters Point.

"Well, we found some information about a very large payment that was made to affirm that consists of him and two other people," said Smith, when asked how does his report contend about former Mayor Brown and his firm, Shipyard Advisors.

"And our story was about how this company that he's part of received more than a million dollars, seemingly for purposes of helping put a conclusion to a radioactive waste cleanup that's been going on for quite a long time with the idea that eventually, they'll be able to build thousands of houses there."

Kristen Sze asked Smith, "So you know, a lot of political leaders in retirement become lobbyists. And as such, they receive money for making connections to expedite projects, for example. Where and all this is there's something apparently improper?"

"Well, we weren't able to find any lobbying registration by him, his two associates, nor the company. So there's the issue of what seems to be lobbying because the company paid for facilitating communications with government agencies. And an expert told us that is lobbying," he said.

"Then there's the simple fact that the Willie Brown Hunters Point case is a little bit special because he was central to the putting together of a deal with the Navy, which owns the land because it used to be a shipyard and San Francisco."

According to The San Francisco Standard, public records show that Five Point Holdings, the company with the rights to develop the shipyard, paid more than $1.3 million during 2020 to Shipyard Advisors that consisted of Brown and two partners.

We reached out to Former Mayor Willie Brown for a comment. We have not yet heard back.

You can watch the full interview above

See the San Francisco Standard's other original reporting here.