By David Smith
San Francisco Examiner

Headed into his second term as mayor, Gavin Newsom said he would renew efforts to combat homelessness, specifically street behavior, conceding that efforts during his first term “haven’t had the impact on street behavior that I would have liked.”  Newsom, first elected in 2003 on a platform built upon the issue of homelessness, has started various efforts in The City to try and remove homeless people from the streets, including Care Not Cash, a program that reduces cash amounts given to homeless people on welfare in exchange for housing or shelter, and Project Homeless Connect, a program that brings health and human services for the homeless under one roof during day-long events every other month. Read more »

By Robert Selna
San Francisco Chronicle

Mayor Gavin Newsom and city criminal justice officials announced on Thursday the location of a new court the mayor has been promising to more quickly judge low-level street crimes in the Tenderloin and steer offenders into community service and rehabilitative programs. At a press conference inside the new courtroom at Polk and Turk street - just north of Civic Center Plaza - Newsom said the newly-named Community Justice Center will open in July after a five-month trial run at the Hall of Justice, where the city's other criminal courts are housed.

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Election Day is tomorrow. And we need you to vote so that we can continue to make San Francisco a model of innovation, a city that the rest of the country looks to for new ideas. If you have an absentee ballot at home, please return it in person to the Dept. of Election's City Hall office (1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 48) or you can drop it off at your polling place on Election Day by 8PM. Tomorrow, we are going to be working all day long as we walk every district, talk to voters and ask them to vote. If you can join us at our campaign headquarters tomorrow at any time we could use your support. We'll be there from 5AM until 8PM. Also, if you need a ride to the polls tomorrow please give Aaron Goldsmith a call at 351-0359. We will be available throughout the day to drive you to the polls.  
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Editorial: San Francisco Examiner

Newsom has spent the last four years crafting nonideological and pragmatic solutions to The City’s myriad problems. He made his first big splash, both locally and nationally, by backing gay marriage, a stance that positively cemented his standing with many San Franciscans. But he’s shown a refreshing ability to buck San Francisco’s prevailing liberal winds and pursue more moderate agendas. His support of development both downtown and in existing neighborhoods and new industries such as biotech have been refreshing, as has his budgetary support for more police on the streets and nuts-and-bolts priorities such as parks and well-kept roads rather than ill-defined social causes prized by the left. Read more »

By Heather Knight
San Francisco Chronicle

Fewer than seven months since its inception, San Francisco's 311 call center, where live operators answer city-related, nonemergency calls 24 hours a day, marked its 1 millionth phone call on Tuesday. Mayor Gavin Newsom answered that call from a man reporting upturned newspaper racks at Geary and Kearny streets. Newsom told the man that he would make sure the problem was promptly fixed. The call center, located at Market and South Van Ness and modeled on similar centers in New York, Chicago and Baltimore, receives 6,000 to 7,000 calls every day. Most calls are related to Muni, but other popular subjects for callers are potholes, graffiti and garbage.

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By Bonnie Eslinger
San Francisco Examiner

New statistics obtained from San Francisco’s 311 hotline are starting to home in on residents’ everyday concerns, with graffiti, illegal dumping and questions about “when’s the next Muni bus coming?” high on the list. In mid-February, city officials started to route calls for the Department of Public Works and Muni through San Francisco’s new multimillion-dollar call center. Nonemergency calls for other city departments will be integrated into the system during the next two years. Read more »

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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Please join Mayor Gavin Newsom as well as representatives from labor, local political clubs and enthusiastic supporters like yourself at our campaign HQ this Saturday, July 21st at 10:30AM. We will be hitting the streets of San Francisco with the Mayor, collecting signatures and talking to other San Franciscans. (If you can't make on Saturday you can download the signature forms at anytime. Just click on Aaron's blog and follow the instructions). Your signature is a mark of support for our efforts to make free WiFi a reality, improve MUNI, create a Community Justice Center and more – including passing a budget that prioritizes the basics of daily life like filling potholes, cleaning up our parks and policing our streets.

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In the face of overwhelming support for Mayor Newsom's budget, Supervisor Chris Daly cancelled his rally and took the extraordinary step of cancelling the Budget and Finance Committee hearing.  But that didn't stop hundreds of people from descending on City Hall on Wednesday afternoon to fight for the city of San Francisco.  We won the first battle for a smart budget that addresses the needs of all San Franciscans and against the politics of self-interest. But the fight is far from over. Read more »