January 18, 2008
Gavin Plays Extreme Makeover
Remember how the city is supposedly facing yet more budget problems? Well, that hasn't stopped the Gavster from doing some spending. Budgets shmudgets.
First there were raises given to staff members who were also given spiffy new job titles. Total cost of all this is will be around $500,000 over the next 18 months, money that will be taken from other departments. Like non-important things such as Muni. And all this after plans for hiring freezes and layoffs. Newsom's press flak, Nathan Ballard, says that all of this is necessary as the people being brought in and paid are all super-special and that not only will it help the city but it will still be within budget.
Then there's news today that Gavin's going to do a little redecorating as he's going to build an office for his well-compensated staff members and put them into what everyone calls a "bullpen." This means taking all the staffers and putting them in one room with what we can guess is either cubicles or just a bunch of tables. The idea, which comes from NY's Mayor Bloomberg, is to have everyone sit together in one room, which will supposedly make it easier for everyone to trade ideas, put their heads together, and talk about "Battlestar Galactica" when it starts up again in March. Gavin also wants to buy a bunch of plasma screens for the bullpen to make it easier for everyone to watch "Battlestar Galactica" Total cost of all this? $139,700
Now, as expected, this has drawn a bit of heat from the Board of Supes who point out that spending money on possibly non-essential things is not the bestest of ideas. In response, Gavin told the Board and all the department heads, whatever, "I drink your milkshake. I drink it up!"
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Hrmmm...I was 20 minutes late to work today because of the never on time N-Judah. Can we say "recall"?
The Mayor and the Board of Supervisors (exceptions of Supervisors Elsbernd and Chu) need to learn how to be more responsible with public funds. While affordable housing is imporant, the budget set aside method that the Supervisors supported on January 8th - auto-pilot budgeting, if you will - for the next 15 years via the November "Affordable Housing" proposition is irresponsible and bad government. Ballot box budgeting is BAD GOVERNMENT. Public safety should always be priority #1 - and with a recession possibly kicing in, people are going to have to be even more vigilant about protecting their person and property.
thank god we have the money to spend on more big pay for more top executives in the mayor's office. we gave a big paycheck and big pay raise to the guy who runs muni, and look how well that worked out for everyone.
yes, gavin, more big pay for your friends, pick muni's pocket for more of your 150k/year staffers, so they can buy new cars or something, maybe some carbon indulgences too so they can commute to work to the bullpen and have big plasma tvs.
and of course, whether anything gets better or not is irrelevant - they'll all get paid no matter what. I bet everyone who actually works for a living would love a job like this, insteadof the kind of job that requires you to do work to get paid, and get you fired if you slack off.
The money should spent on more crimefighting in SF. Don't cha think? How can this guy ignore all these shootings and be fixing up his office? Hope it wasn't another suggestion from Seibel (like his many vacation getaways)! Clean up the streets Mayor Nuisance our lives depend on it!!!!!!!!!
The money should spent on more crime fighting in SF. Don't cha think? How can this guy ignore all these shootings and be fixing up his office? Hope it wasn't another suggestion from Ms.Seibel (like his many vacation getaways)! Clean up the streets Mayor Newsonce our lives depend on it!!!!!!!!!
The money should spent on more crime fighting in SF. Don't cha think? How can this guy ignore all these shootings and be fixing up his office? Hope it wasn't another suggestion from Ms.Seibel (like his many vacation getaways)! Clean up the streets Mayor Newsonce our lives depend on it!!!!!!!!!
Daniel Plainview the house is on fire!
What gets my goat is that the Mayor is gold-plating his office but can't be bothered to show up to help draw attention to the fiscal crisis faced by the School District. There has been very little press on what Arnold's cuts will do to public schools in California. I, for one, do not envy the folks on the School Board who are looking at a $40 million dollar hole at a time when funding education should be our highest priority.
Gav, will you use some of your influence to get rid of Prop 13? For some reason, I suspect your priorities are elsewhere...
I'll go along with the kicking everyone out of their offices and making them suffer in a so-called "bullpen" environment as long as Newsom ALSO gives up HIS office and sits in it as well.
I'm sure these highly paid professionals went to City Hall with the idea of being turned into cubicle-dwellers.
Grrr...I should have voted someone else for my 3rd choice instead of The Gav...the sad thing is he'll use all these "accomplishments" to convince people to vote him for whatever his next office is and everyone will eat it up.
Obviously the Giants negotiations are heating up if Gavin ("Nuisance"..genius!) is going this far to be able to work more baseball analogies into his sentences.
Glad to know that the mayor who is SO concerned about why working families are leaving SF in droves is taking care of his own while the rest of us are counting every penny.
All this touting of the "new direction" his administration is taking and we still have Heather Fong? WTF?
I have always liked Newsom, pretty much despite myself, but I am really starting to lose patience with him. How many more people have to get shot and freaking attacked by tigers before we get some actual changes to the city government?
Sorry, I'm just cranky.
Oh and another thing, isn't there a hiring freeze in the city right now? That he imposed himself?
Oh, never mind. I guess that's just for the regular paying jobs, and not the inner circle royalty.
Nice.
I remember when I was a younger version of myself and the worst offense in the city was some seedy guy exposing himself on the back of Muni. Now Muni runs over it's San Franciscans daily and bullets are being spewed on every other street corner for no reason, but sheer ignorance and insanity. Mr. Newsonce thinks by riding a cable car on Sundays and walking down 5th and Market on weekdays, drinking a beer at Balboa on weeknights that he is putting himself out there for the people.
He does not deserve to upgrade his office until he upgrades San Francisco and brings back a sense of security to it's faithful residents.
He needs to hire a Quality staff not Quantity in cubicles to try and cover his big butt. :)