SF Mayor Signs Opt-in Ordinance

We just learned that San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has signed into law the San Francisco opt-in ordinance. Lee’s signature was anticipated since the ordinance passed the city’s Board of Supervisors by an overwhelming margin. The Yellow Pages industry has vowed to take the city to court to challenge the ordinance’s legality.

Here is a statement from Local Search Association (formerly Yellow Pages Association) President Neg Norton, issued a short time after the signing.

“From day one, we committed to addressing the city’s waste reduction goals, but neither the Supervisors nor the Mayor would let us be part of the process,” said Neg Norton, president, Local Search Association.  “What’s most frustrating is that, behind closed doors, many in the city government admit that the arguments and statistics used to support this ban were questionable at best, but for political reasons, did not feel they could oppose it. This leaves us little choice but to pursue legal remedies to this harmful ordinance.”

In other developments, the U.S. Ninth Circuit denied the industry’s motion for preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order relating to the City of Seattle’s opt-out ordinance.

While not happy that the motion was denied, the industry took some encouragement from the Court’s willingness to schedule oral arguments on the appeal for July.

Click here to review our coverage of the opt-in, opt-out issue.