Editorial: San Francisco Examiner

Mayor Gavin Newsom made bureaucratic reform in San Francisco city government a signature element of his 2003 election campaign and first term in office, so it should come as no surprise to anyone at City Hall that he would ask all senior staff, city department heads and commissioners to tender their resignations today. The City's chief executive was within his rights to make the bold request and sends the welcome message that his expected re-election in November over token opposition doesn't necessarily translate into business as usual come January. Read more »

By Adam Martin
San Francisco Examiner

The blast of a shotgun split the foggy air next to Lake Merced on Wednesday afternoon, demanding the attention of onlookers, including Mayor Gavin Newsom. Within five seconds, a computer system calculated the location of the shot to within feet inside the roughly 500-square-yard parking lot of the San Francisco Police Department’s training facility on the shore of the lake. Sensors picked up the shot, triangulated the location and marked it on an aerial photo of the lot on a computer screen. Read more »

The Bush Administration has turned its back on the most vulnerable Americans. Since 2001 more than one billion dollars has been cut from the federal public housing budget in order to pay for President Bush's War in Iraq. This year only 76 percent of the actual need of housing authorities nationwide will be met. San Francisco has been one of the cities hardest hit by this chronic underfunding. The President's shortsighted policies has put the future of public housing in San Francisco and the nation at risk. While the federal government has a moral responsibility to provide more money for public housing, San Francisco has taken an unprecedented step to restore public housing in our city. With the overwhelming support of the Board of Supervisors, Mayor Newsom is launching Hope SF, the nation's most innovative plan to revitalize public housing.

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San Francisco Examiner
Editorial Originally Published July 23, 2007

It was welcome news for San Francisco that the Board of Supervisors passed Mayor Gavin Newsom’s election-year budget last Tuesday without indulging in destructive stonewalling. The $6.1 billion budget is the largest in city history, but it appears to be supported by sufficient revenues and also preserves a record-breaking $117 million supplementary reserve fund. Especially important is that this 2007-08 budget shifts more funding into curing long-neglected infrastructure and life-quality problems that directly impact the daily existence of ordinary San Franciscans. Public Works will receive the most money ever allocated for fixing potholed streets. Beleaguered Muni riders can expect some improvement in service with 150 more drivers and 86 new hybrid buses.

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San Francisco Chronicle
Editorial Originally Published July 10, 2007

The long, winding and sadly, whinging road toward bringing free citywide wireless to San Francisco may finally be approaching the finish line this week. We'd like to applaud Supervisor Aaron Peskin for being one of the few board members to show some actual leadership. He has countered the mayor's agreement with providers Google and EarthLink with a compromise that deserves support from all parties.

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This week, Mayor Newsom and our partners in the community began implementing San Francisco's universal health care program. This is acting locally. For many years now, American policy makers on every level of government have lamented, protested and proposed policy to solve this problem with nothing to show for it. Spend any time with Gavin Newsom and you will hear him say, "everyone complains about the problem, and blames someone else. We're going to do something about it." Read more »

San Francisco Examiner
Editorial Originally Published June 22, 2007

San Francisco citizens should not be expected to condone a supervisor expressing disagreement with the mayor’s budget by insinuating at a City Hall hearing that the mayor is a cocaine user. Such behavior — or rather misbehavior — is not political debate; it is slander that the Board of Supervisors should officially censure. Supervisor Chris Daly charged Tuesday that Mayor Gavin Newsom was hypocritical in proposing cuts for substance abuse programs while undergoing alcohol treatment and while he “artfully dodges every question about allegations in his own cocaine use.” The next day Newsom called a news conference where he flatly denied ever using cocaine and called Daly’s allegations “sleazy ... a whole new low” and “the cheapest of cheap shots."

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San Francisco Chronicle
Editorial Originally Published June 21, 2007

Supervisor Chris Daly has never recognized the boundaries of civility in politics. There's not enough space on this page to recount all the tantrums, boorish outbursts and political shenanigans that make the word "progressive" a joke when applied to him. His November election-night party -- with him and supporters chortling on stage as his wife led profane chants against his adversaries -- was a classic show of gracelessness in victory. He has been known to respond to the public's e-mail inquiries with stinging insults.

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San Francisco Chronicle
Originally Published June 8, 2007

THIRTY-SEVEN million dollars is not much in the context of a $6.06 billion budget, but it can go a long way, if targeted wisely and effectively. But there is nothing wise or efficient about Supervisor Chris Daly's bald political ploy to strip $37 million from Mayor Gavin Newsom's budget priorities and shift most of it into affordable housing. Now let's be clear: We know that San Francisco does need housing. Newsom's budget also acknowledges the shortage, pumping $217 million into housing programs.

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