I Saw Gavin Newsom
It's the triumphant return of the column where you send us your stories and/or pictures of run-ins with perennial man-about-town Mayor Gavin Newsom! Yay!
It seems like the trick for getting something into this column is to hang out at Tosca's -- check out the following story we got passed along. Thanks, gentle reader!
Last night our friend Sheila held a going-away party for her own self, in honor of her imminent departure for a new job in Chicago. The Evite said Tosca Cafe and when I arrived, never having been there, I was amazed at the crush to get in, and through, to where our little group was. Someone pointed out that the Mayor had just been there (not my mayor, of course, I don't live in The City) so I figured that it was the remnants of some scene sweeping through.
It turns out we were in the middle of someone else's work party. As awkward as anything on The Office, maybe not, but we were in it, not watching it.
About 30 minutes into our collective mingle (off in the back corner of this packed-in crowd), it turns out that the Mayor is indeed still in the house, as he takes up a microphone and asks for quiet. He then reads, in an ironic voice, a lengthy proclamation commending the work of Steve somebody. This was followed by Willie Brown giving a speech, then another dude, and then this Steve guy. We could do nothing but keep quiet (as frequent shushing demanded of all us) and wait it out.
The party-crashing continues after the jump! Along with another picture of Gav.
The speeches were filled with in-jokes that rocked the room but left us feeling badly phase-shifted. Something like "And let it not be said that our city residents don't appreciate.....THE ROLE OF....THE PLUMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" followed by uproariousness.
All we can report is that this Steve person has a Boston accent, was beloved through several administrations, has a Japanese-sounding last name that gave him cred in San Francisco as long as no one saw that he was definitely not Asian at all. And he's leaving his job, and SF.
[ed note: We're guessing that this must have been the party for former mayoral chief of staff Steve Kawa!]
Beyond that, we are still befuddled. But we did get a couple of pictures of Sheila and the Mayor, who learned that this was Sheila's farewell event as well.
Best of luck to you in your new cities, Steve and Sheila! We're sorry to hear you're leaving the Bay Area.
