November 13, 2007
Horrors: Newsom's Hawaiian Weekend Getaway
“I was shocked,” said Board of Supervisors Prez Aaron Peskin after being asked about Gavin Newsom's whereabouts this past weekend. Same here. Word is that Gavin was in Hawaii this past weekend, kicking in the sand and surf. Has senioritis kicked in already, Mayor? Not that you could've mopped up the oil singlehandedly, but still, you should have been here. We're a sensitive lot, us SF babies.
Meanwhile Bevan was our acting mayor, and according to Richard Cole at San Francisco Daily (who are refreshingly online-free, thus no link), "[o]ther politicians jumped into the cleanup effort. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein browbeat federal officials into action, while Assemblyman Mark Leno cleaned beaches and State Sen. Carole Migden set up a senate hearing into the disaster."
That's...pretty remarkable. Sure, he has nothing to worry about seeing as how he's our mayor for another four years, existing in a supreme state of untouchableness. But it's these kind of seemingly innocuous things that don't get guys elected to higher offices; it's moments like this that won't get someone elected President. (We can see the smear campaign now, a commercial juxtaposing tear-stained, oily seagulls with that of a frolicking, shirtless Mayor cruising around in an [gasp!] SUV. Actually, we would vote for him if we saw something like that.)
Anyway, Newsom was back at work on Monday...chatting it up with Oracle folk.
(SF Daily's article after the jump.)
BY RICHARD COLE
San Francisco Daily Staff Writer
While San Franciscans fought to save their beaches, wildlife and livelihoods from an advancing black tide of oil, Mayor Gavin Newsom jetted off to Hawaii on a four-day vacation.
“I was shocked,” Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said yesterday.
He and acting Mayor Bevan Dufty were left to fight federal inertia in the face of the widening environmental disaster.
“I was all the more shocked because I didn’t know anything about it until Bevan called me Thursday night,” Peskin said. “The mayor didn’t have the courtesy to tell anyone else.”
Peskin emphasized that by the time Newsom left Thursday, the mayor already knew the true size of the 58,000-gallon spill.
Other politicians jumped into the cleanup effort. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein browbeat federal officials into action, while Assemblyman Mark Leno cleaned beaches and State Sen. Carole Migden set up a senate hearing into the disaster.
Supervisor Sean Elsbernd helped run the city’s emergency services center.
Dufty, who unexpectedly found himself heading the city during the crisis, was more forgiving of Newsom’s Hawaiian vacation.
“There is a large and able city family, and if you lead the city, you have to have confidence in them,” Dufty said. “I don’t see it as an issue.”
Supervisor Jake McGoldrick called Newsom’s vacation “unfortunate,” but said his critics shouldn’t try to make political hay of the mayor’s absence.
Peskin said it would have been politically helpful to have the mayor in place during the first days of the cleanup.
“The federal government came in too little, too late,” said the board president. “We could have used the mayor’s gravitas, and his supposed close connection with our senior senator and the House speaker.”
Peskin noted that the city’s emergency personnel weren’t initially allowed to enter the federal command center, and in effect had to force their way to the table.
“Federal maritime law has basically allowed the representative of the shipping company to participate as a partner while the affected cities and counties were relegated to the sidelines,” Peskin said.
Newsom arrived back in San Francisco on Sunday night and yesterday met early with Coast Guard officials.
The city still has much to do, said Peskin, who will be introducing legislation to adopt funds to pay for its emergency efforts – money he hopes the city will eventually recoup from the ship owner.
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Sorry to crash the anti-Newsom party again, but is there really much of anything the mayor could have done about this in SF that he couldn't do over a phone line? As much as you'd like to picture Newsom frolicking around on a beach the whole time, there is such a thing as a "working vacation". And it's not like the rest of the city government was sitting around on their asses.
At least the mayor seems to care, unlike another, higher-ranking U.S. leader in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian tsunami.
Um, why is this post-worthy information?
um, like just because.
...but nice try.
I'm surprised Peskin didn't also tell the media he considered Newsom a "flight risk".
There was an election?
j/k
: (
FINALLY!!! I've been shocked by the lack of attention this story has received. The fact that the mayor has been a total no-show on this is ridiculous.
We are all missing the important point: where are the shirtless pictures?
I know this is remarkable, but veteran's day is a holiday for municipalities and lotsa other government and bank types. Newsom is okay to take a weekend off. Hell, we have that retard of a President taking months at a time off to go fishing while kids are dying in Afghanistan and Iraq for his friends' oil and other investments. One weekend ... a holiday weekend for Newsom where he should've taken Monday off ... and folks are blowin' nuts about it? Puhleeze... there's a reason Newsom has had 70%+ approval from voters since the beginning of time (and it is the opposite reason that Chris Daly has about 18% approval from voters Citywide). We like him ... and he gets shit done in a reasonable fashion.
Very Very sad. The city of San Francisco puts their trust in Mayor Gavin Newsom, despite all his raunchy behavior and then he ditches them in a crisis and runs off with his blonde hollywood D list actress, who is trying to further her career by dating him.
Why does he get mixed up with wicked women who have no interest in his welfare. A good woman would tell him to stay and not venture off on a wild vacation and leave a city and it's wildlife drenched in thick rotting oil. Can we do a recount? This guy needs to get to work and stop drinking beers after his rehab!
No one has made this comment:
The Gavster could have put his floppy non slicked back hair in the Bay and soaked up the entire spill with his magical hairdo!
By what I have seen so far, we are lucky that one of those supertankers that are full of oil hasn't spilled their cargo. If one were to, we would loose the whole bay and then some. If we can't react quickly enough to contain a 58k gallon spill there is no way there is a plan to contain a 580k gallon one.
Anyone who defends the Mayor's absence during this debacle simply doesn't get it. He should've been here, bottom line.
What is most shocking to me is that Newsom didn't even inform Dufty that he was leaving, one of his assistants did, and well after the scope of the spill was understood. Furthermore, Newsom informed no one else of his departure. Must've been too busy packing his banana hammocks and hair gel to bother picking up the phone. Nice to know the Mayor cares about our City when it REALLY counts. I want my vote back.
this was just peskin at his best, trying to deflect the fact that he's about to be exposed for bullying every city dept head every since he took over as president of the board. he learned from the best bully in town, i figure, daly.
I need to update everyone on the events of the oil spill and how it happened:
Gavin was showing his girlfriend his new boat, then the waters in the bay started to get a little rough and the Mayor got his hair wet.
the stress from the election campaign was such a drain on him. he needed a vacation. come on.
i know if were running for an office with only token opposition and 75% approval ratings, i'd need a vacation afterwards
Two things from the Matier & Ross article:
1)
Besides, he added, he hadn't had a weekend off in a year.
.... what about his ski trip to Switzerland in January???
2)
"I was gone all of two days, and it turned out to be one of the worst weekends of my life."
... what was so bad about the weekend? Is him and Jennifer over? Aww, poor baby.
Sounds like he's following the George W. Bush playbook, except instead of clearing brush while the country burns, Newsom's in Hawaii, frolicking in the surf.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. He's just an empty-headed, clueless suit. Like Bush, without the bombs and craziness.
It's bad enough with DiFi et al uselessly blowing hot air about the spill. We don't need Gavin all over the tv too.
And what exactly was he going to do if he was here at the weekend?
So, if Newsom skipped his vacation and stuck around to have photos in the press of him disposing of hazardous materials, would he be a media whore and the worst mayor ever for grandstanding, a la Rudy Guiliani and 9/11 style, at this time? I recognize that a portion of San Franciscans just hate Newsom and want to tear down anything the man tries to do for the City, but I do wish y'all would step away from the passions and think about what you're saying. Petulance.
I see - so anyone criticizing St. Newsom is petulant? Well, I guess its only fair - I think of most Newsom supporters as slavish, greedy ballwashers, so I guess we're even.
As for Peskin being a bully - good for him. I realize out here in namby-pamby land that its a crime to hurt someone's feelings, but out there in the rest of the country, big city politics are expected to be rough-and-tumble and the best - and most effective - local politicos are the ones who aren't afraid to knock heads. Peskin is just filling an oh-so-obvious leadership vaccuum at City Hall.
It disturbs me that I think that picture is kinda hot.
I sure hope he isn't eloping with the Fembot.
nope, no eloping. He is still in love with Kimberly "the mouth" gilfoyle.