Palo Alto CM Tanaka on Tesla leaving California for Texas: "Terrible news for Palo Alto and Silicon Valley"

Just a week ago, Palo Alto CM Greg Tananka bemoaned how the business-unfriendly policies of local governments are chasing away high-revenue companies.. As if right on cue, last week Tesla announced it was decamping its headquarters from the shady redwoods of Palo Alto for the yellow roses of Texas. Tananka's full comment and LA Times story below.

Tanaka comment:

"The loss of Tesla is terrible news for Palo Alto and Silicon Valley. The flame of innovation is very easy to extinguish and the pending Palo Alto Business Tax is throwing water on a still-recovering economy. We cannot take innovation for granted like Detroit did during the 1950s and Florence did during the Renaissance."

LA Times: 

Musk moved to Austin himself late last year and has sold several homes in Los Angeles. He said recently that he plans to cash in on many of his Tesla stock options soon. Taxes are much lower in Texas, both for businesses and individuals.

Database software giant Oracle last year announced a headquarters move from Silicon Valley to Texas. Oracle founder Larry Ellison sits on Tesla’s board of directors.

Earlier this year, Los Angeles engineering giant Aecom, whose name is emblazoned on one of the city’s skyscrapers, said it is moving its headquarters to Dallas-Fort Worth.

Musk last year expressed deep disenchantment with the Golden State. During a standoff with authorities over his plans to reopen operations in Fremont amid stay-at-home orders aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19, he tweeted, “Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately.”

Read the whole thing here.

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Photo taken by Thomas Hawk.