Gyms flee Gold’s over antigay funds
Suddenly, there are significantly fewer Gold’s Gyms in the Bay Area. But you won’t hear any complaints from one their chief patrons, the local LGBT community.
As it promised two years ago, four of the privately owned outlets in the Bay Area have formally split from their parent, Gold’s Gym International, over a $2 million contribution to a right-wing organization that backed a number of anti-gay-rights candidates in the 2010 congressional elections.
The divorce was finalized last week, when the contract with Gold’s Gym International expired after 22 years, and the four locations — two in San Francisco, one each in Oakland and Corte Madera — changed their name to Fitness SF.
Three other Gold’s Gyms, in Mountain View, Santa Clara and San Jose, are separate franchises and retain the Gold’s Gym name.
The issue came to light with an online petition, begun by Change.org, a San Francisco social advocacy nonprofit, protesting financial contributions made by Gold Gym International’s owner Robert Rowling to American Crossroads, the political organization founded by Republican strategist Karl Rove.
“Our member base made us aware of this, and we decided on a course of action,” Don Dickerson, the outlets’ director of development, said at the time.
Rowling, a Texas billionaire who also owns the Omnihotel chain, denied his contributions had anything to do with gay rights, and said the split with the Bay Area gyms concerned “unrelated matters.”
Apart from the name change, it’s pretty much business as usual for the 22,000 members of Fitness SF, including membership prices, which I’m told are guaranteed for at least the next two years. Worth the price: One of San Francisco’s shining stars in the solar field is on the chopping block.
Recurrent Energy, which has development projects throughout North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, is being sold by Sharp, the Japanese electronics conglomerate that acquired the company in 2010 for $305 million. Reported asking price: $321 million.
Recurrent did not comment directly on the sale, pending an official announcement from Sharp, but CEO Arno Harris said the business “is strong, profitable and growing.” Harris pointed to 2.75 gigawatts of projects under contract or in the pipeline, $2 billion in committed financing, and “ample capital to execute on all existing projects.”
Indeed, the problem appears to rest with Sharp, which is deeply in debt and in the process of a restructuring that includes the elimination of 11,000 jobs, the closing of several overseas assembly plants, and approximately $5 billion in loans from Japanese banks, according to Japanese reports.
Among Recurrent Energy’s local projects are the five-megawatt Sunset Reservoir solar installation in San Francisco, a 20-year power purchase agreement and related projects with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, and similar projects with Southern California Edison.
“We have every confidence, based on our industry-leading position in North America and our strong profitability, that Recurrent Energy will retain the interest of financial sponsors, whether Sharp, a new sponsor, or a combination of the two,” Harris said. Special delivery: Bay Area victims of mortgage misdeeds should start checking their mailboxes this week.
Claim forms are being sent to 432,584 foreclosed homeowners in California who lost their homes between January 2008 and December 2011 and may be covered by the $26 billion settlement reached with the nation’s major banks in April.
Payment checks are expected to be mailed the middle of next year, according to the California attorney general’s office, which was part of the nationwide settlement. Those receiving claim forms had mortgages serviced by Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citi and Ally/GMAC.
If you’re one of the 432,584, you should be getting a package containing a claim form, a letter from the California Department of Justice, and answers to various questions by mid-October. Deadline for filing a claim is Jan. 18, 2013. You can also file a claim online at www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com.
If think you’re eligible but do not receive a notice, perhaps because you’ve moved, contact the settlement’s national administrator office toll-free at (866) 430-8358, or e-mail with an updated address to administrator@nationalmortgagesettlement.com.
More information at www. independentforeclosurereview. com. Plot thickens: Got a call from the former executive vice president of Siebel Systems, which, we noted in Tuesday’s column, owes close to $1.4 million in back taxes to the state, according to the Board of Equalization.
Patricia House is now vice chairwoman and chief marketing officer at C3 Energy and a board member of First Virtual Group, both of which are chaired by Siebel Systems founder Thomas Siebel.
Referring to the company’s sale to Oracle in 2006, House said that she and Siebel “have nothing to do with Siebel Systems anymore. It’s fully owned by Oracle. All Siebel Systems operations were consolidated soon after the acquisition at Redwood Shores” — Oracle’s headquarters.” She said she had no knowledge of any tax issue.
Siebel Systems was headquartered at 2207 Bridgepointe Parkway in San Mateo, the address that the Board of Equalization lists as having a tax lien placed on it. Oracle took over the lease on the property, a 450,000-square-foot glass complex, when it bought Siebel Systems.
Oracle’s lease expired in August. Sony Computer Entertainment America signed a long-term lease on the complex in September and is due to move in early next year.
Asked about the Board of Equalization listing last week, an Oracle spokeswoman declined to comment.