December 6, 2006
Who's Got Questions?

As you know, this correspondent is unabashedly in favor of this election season's Proposition I Question Time -- because we're in favor of anything that makes local politics entertaining! (We can discuss offline whether or not we thought it was a good idea when it was originally proposed, but given that it's out there now -- we're solidly pro!) We gotta have something to write about -- it's like how political cartoonists all voted for Clinton because he was "fun to draw." Plus -- it'll be a good way to force Gavin to give us some information about what he's been doing.
Well, Gavin's announced (.pdf) that, despite the fact that 56% of the voters said they thought it'd be a good idea for him to suck it up and show up for a Question Time session or two, he's not going to do it.
He and mayoral minder Peter Ragone are taking the position that it's all orchestrated "political theater," and says they're just trying to avoid "partisan politics." Oh, like nothing Newsom does is political theater. And Gavin never engages in partisan politics.
So here's our first question for Gavin Newsom for Question Time -- Why not?
Picture of Gavin Newsom in front of an origami Christmas tree for the Rainbow Wish Fund, by rock star SFist Jim. More of our question time musings after the jump!
Newsom suggests instead that he'll do "neighborhood meetings" where supervisors are invited to attend. But he already does neighborhood meetings (though we've noticed District 6 does not seem to have made it onto his schedule yet), and those aren't really forums appropriate for the whole city to attend, as opposed to meetings before the Board of Supes. Board meetings are also broadcast on TV for people who can't make it but want to attend (and have cable).
Well, Peskin called Newsom "immature" for refusing to show up. But really, it seems to us more like Newsom's being short-sighted. Because -- really, showing up for Question Time seems to be a win-win for him. Either Gavin shows up, does well, and everyone loves him -- or Gavin shows up, Chris Daly asks a bunch of mean questions, and everyone loves Gavin even more ("he was picked on by that thug!").
So the only bad scenarios are either that Gavin doesn't know enough about city policy to respond in any kind of meaningful way, or that he melts down like Jessica Simpson. "Oh, Aaron, you just make me so nervous!"
C'mon, Gavin! And here's our second question for Question Time -- What do you have to lose?


It's clear that Gavin's supernatural powers are being blocked by the Supervisors' skepticism, just like this question time.
Alas, I forgot that this site strips out links. Here's the url: http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/07/28/johnny-carson-busts-uri-geller-video/
just FYI -- if you want to include links in your comment, just put the url address inside quotes after the "a href=" tag -- so a href="http://www.sfist.com" (inside brackets) would give you a workable link to the SFist homepage.
56% of San Francisco voters did not ask Gavin to organize some neighborhood meetings. They asked him to engage the Board of Supervisors on a consistent basis.
So, will the supervisors come to the neighborhood meetings, or will they be Bushian vetted/scripted meetings?
That would be funny if all the supervisors did show up and ask him questions.
Classic!!! The voters ask Newsom to work with the Board. His response: no way, but i will invite the supes along as I campaign next year.
Its not surprising that Newsom doesnt care what SF Voters think, given that he gets more than half his money from Southern California.
Call (554-6141) or email (gavin.newsom@sfgov.org) Newsom!! Tell him we want to see him work with the Board of Supervisors!
In a letter to the Board of Supervisors, Newsom said dialogues inside City Hall too often amount to "political theater"
Well Duh.
Hello Mr Mayor you are a politician. Let get the show upon stage in the proper theater. Like the one with all that gold upon it's dome called CITY HALL.
Well, Newsom didn't go to Board meetings when he was a Supervisor & it was his job! You are nuts if you think he attend go as Mayor.
It's rare that grammatical mistakes make a point, but I've cut and pasted this bytebatim from a statement issued by the mayor. Perhaps "question time" should be replaced by "proofreading time":
I know some people have given in to split infinitives, but surely someone could have skimmed this before it went out. Those little squiggly underlines in Word do mean something.
Unfortunately there is no irony-checker, or else the phrase "political theater" would have shown up in blinking red.
KWillets - I inevitably blanch while reading a criticism of the sort you made. I had to google "split infinitive".
Why couldn't he just say, "This looks like a game at which I would lose. So I'm changing the rules." Is that too clear a summary of his position?
It boils down to "The voters are tired of me governing by press release. Here's a press release on how I'll address that."
what about chris daly's and his green ties? Everytime I see him he has a green tie on