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San Francisco Mayor Forms High Tech Advisory Board

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) _ San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has signed up some of the city's top technology companies to join his new Technology Advisory Council with the goal of growing San Francisco's high tech industry.

KCBS' Barbara Taylor Reports:

Yelp, Twitter and Zynga are just three of the technology companies that have agreed to sit down with the mayor about how city policies impact the technology sector. Supervisor Mark Farrell will be part of the council as well.

"Obviously the whole stock option debate is the reason we got together now, but that's just the first step," said Farrell. "For me it's about a long-term dialogue with this group about what it's going to take to be competitive."

San Francisco is the only city that taxes stock options which dramatically increases overhead for some tech companies that locate here. Mayor Ed Lee wants to see reform in that area, but also just wants to learn more about an industry that is rapidly growing and evolving.

"I think that having them as one solid group advising us about the technology evolvement and how it relates to our city will be exciting. I look forward to that," said Lee.

Supervisor Farrell is preparing legislation to give tax relief to companies that offer stock options, with the overall goal of keeping technology companies in San Francisco and growing their work forces.

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