In a moment of, "Wha-? How does that work?" the mayor's office announced the "elimination" of 301 city government positions that resulted in no employees being fired. No, this isn't a miracle of all miracles: what's happening is that unoccupied city government positions will just be permanently unfilled. Of those whose positions actually were occupied, these workers would be "absorbed" into other vacant jobs. (Yeowch. Sounds painful.) The single largest source of savings, approximately......

Curbed SF tipped us off that our Greeny "McDreamy" McGreen mayor, Gavin Newsom, was at the Ferry Building today handing out aluminum water bottles in an effort to "Take Back the Tap." Take Back the Tap is an initiative trying to get more San Franciscans to drink tap water. They are also trying to convince San Francisco restaurants to serve tap water by passing out “A How-To Guide for the San Francisco Restaurant Switch to......

The battle to keep the Olympic torch from hitting the streets of San Francisco is looking grim. Yesterday outside City Hall, around 40 people rallying for a free Tibet/damning the Olympic flame were allegedly "snubbed" by Mayor Gavin Newsom. Ouch. According to KCBS: Nearly three dozen protestors stood outside City Hall Monday, hoping to enlist the mayor's support in pressuring Beijing to stop the military crackdown on dissidents in Tibet. But Newsom entered the......

Much to our surprise, the motion that almost allowed our fair Mayor Gavin Newsom to eschew his monthly cameos Board of Supervisor meeting was tabled. That is to say, it was killed. Dead. According to Sweet Melissa recounts today's nail-biting Board of Supes meeting thusly: Supervisor Daly spoke twice against the motion, at one point reading off a list of donors to the Let's Really Work Together coalition which opposed Prop E. Supervisor Mirkarimi......

You know how Mayor Gavin Newsom is supposed to make a special guest appearance at the Board of Supervisors meeting? At least once a month? To listen to their complaints, demonstrate that he's taking an active interest in neighborhood politics, powder the Supes' tender bottoms, and such? Well, it looks like he might not have to anymore, even though you, the voter, said you wanted him there. Over at Sweet Melissa, we came across......

We enjoy the following review -- although we're only using part of it for it devolves into anti-Hillary rhetoric, San Francisco's latest form of socially-acceptable sexism -- because a) it turns out that Yelp has an entire category dedicated to Gavin Newsom's hair, and b) it's pro-Gavin Newsom locks. (If you want to see some actual janky-ass hair, walk down Valencia Street or sit on a bench at Zeitgeist on any given day. Because:......

It looks like Mayor Gavin Newsom will take a stab at running for Governor of California in 2010. In addition to the gaggle of Democratic hopefuls looking to succeed Gov. Schwarzenegger after his reign comes to an end -- which include former governor Jerry Brown, former state controller Steve Westley, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, just to name a few -- San Francisco's very own mayor wants the title as well. And seeing......

535 San Francisco Unified School District teachers will receive layoff notices this morning due to state cuts in education funding. Today's pink slip handouts stem from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget '09, which will see San Francisco schools losing around $40 million. According to CBS 5, Mayor Newsom is doing what he can, even if it's a Band-Aid solution to a longterm problem. Mayor Gavin Newsom has said he plans to ask the Board of......

Due to budget problems, the Muni Powers That Be have decided on a possible solution, that being raising the Muni Fast Pass from $45 to $60 bucks. Suck on it, Muni riders....

Ha ha. Our mayor is better than yours. Why? Because Gavin Newsom wrote a thoughtful post for the Daily Kos regarding today's state Supreme Court gay marriage percolation. Cool, right? Sure, we're confused, jealous, and sad that he didn't turn to SFist first. But while we go hit the bottle to squelch this ego blow, we urge you to read his words of inspiration and shocking clarity: Separate Is Not Equal by Gavin Newsom......

Check out the anti-gay truck motoring around town today. Isn't it adorable? Fortunately for it, it lacks any "anti-oak tree" or "pro-Marine recruitment" signage, which would've really pissed off locals Bay Area do-gooders. Surprisingly, these anti-gay marriage folks are probably going to win regarding the state's decision as to who is and who isn't a human being allowed to marry. Why is this debate still going on? It's a waste of time, money, energy,......

fter months of studies, surveys, and community meetings, Gavin and Muni honchos finally unveiled new plans to solve everyone's issues with Muni. The proposed changes? Adding service to popular lines, decreasing service in less popular lines, and possibly eliminating service to those loser lines nobody likes and sit by themselves at lunchtime. Also in the proposed changes will be things like new bus-only lanes, rerouting some lines, going after lazy drivers, adding Express buses to other lines and adding a new first class service for frequent riders consisting of champagne cocktails and reclining seats. ...

When asked for the real reason why Susan Leal was forced out as head of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom, Susan Leal said: "When people say you're not part of the team, it means they want you to be part of the fan club."......

While not all of us are fortunate enough to zip around in swank Aston Martins, or have sleek Tesla waiting for us on the horizon, the "bus of the future" is the next best thing. Well, almost. Yesterday, if you recall, we reported on the Connected Bus' dramatic at the Federal Building. On the green machine, according to Mayor Gavin Newsom, you can "[y]ou can download music, you can play video games. It's a......

Nancy Pelosi dedicates a campus and opines on the presidential race....

Oh, for the love of God. Really? Okay, we'll bite. Ahem: while some of us were going through a chemically-induced bender over the last few days, because that's why God invented the three-day weekend, celebrity couple Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel were flying high as well. According to SF Sentinel (via Spaceref.com): Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G(R)), the first and only FAA-approved provider of commercial weightless flights, welcomed San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and fiance......

According to the fine folks over at The Sword (NSFW), the GayVNs (NSFW) will be held here on Saturday -- you know, those homosexual pornography achievement awards, which led to Mayor Gavin Newsom getting all Berkeley City Council on us after he declared Feb. 23 to be Colt Studio Day last year? -- coinciding with that hairy-large-gay-appreciation festival thing happening. Anyway, last year the GayVNs had comedienne and social critic Kathy Griffin hosting the......

After Carole Migden won the endorsement of the Harvey Milk Club, things were looking grim for Assemblyman Mark Leno. But today Gavin Newsom shined his megawatt charm over in Leno's direction today, endorsing his bid for a state Senate seat. According to the B.A.R., " Newsom [is] expected to publicly endorse Leno Wednesday night at the Herbst Theatre during a special screening of Pursuit of Equality..." Leno is trying to dethrone state Senator Carole......

California's First Lady makes yet another visit to S.F...

The battle over Gavin's new staffing plans went up a notch in lieu of a report by Board of Supervisors Budget Analyst Harvey Rose that will be released today saying that Gavin is spending $959,903 in raises and taking that money out of departmental funds. The report was done at the behest of Jake McGoldrick after the first initial reports came out about Gavin going around City Hall and making it rain....

Do you have your copy yet?...

According to the Sentinel: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will lead an Embarcadero rally today in support of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. The even will be held on the second floor of the Ferry Building, located at 1 Embarcadero, at 5:00 p.m. Members of the media must arrive for setup by 4:45 p.m. Rumor has it that Mayor Gavin Newsom will be joined by a "special guest star": former President Bill Clinton. But......

Bashing Gavin's plans to pay for his staff members (and lobbyists) from the MTA budget isn't just something us local folks can do. It's something everyone can do! Like a U.S. Senator. A Republican Senator. From Oklahoma. Wha?...

The Usual Suspects passed us the following note in homeroom recently: Word is that a high-level staffer is departing the Mayor's office. But since none of the Real Media have confirmed anything, we won't name names, because we're too chicken to do so. But stay tuned - we'll post links as soon as some reporters and editors agree it's worth running with... But who, you ask? Well, according to San Francisco Sentinel (An aside:......

Choppy footage: San Francisco Police Department via the Chron And speaking of cameras... While Chicago has seen crime rates plummet to their lowest numbers in over four decades due to the windy city's Big Brother program, San Francisco's attempt at panopticon-ish camera security is failing. Ever since the 68 city-funded cameras started rolling, our city's surveillance program has resulted in a single arrest. That was over 19 months ago. Why the lag, you ask?......

Remember how the city is supposedly facing yet more budget problems? Well, that hasn't stopped the Gavster from doing some spending. Budgets shmudgets....

As of noon today, the District 4 seat formerly occupied by Ed Jew is now empty, and the Sunset has no representation on the Board of Supervisors. Quick, everyone, now's the time to put a toxic waste dump on 26th and Wawona! (We just like saying the word "Wawona" is all.) Former acting District 4 supervisor Carmen Chu is still trying to decide if she wants the seat through November or not, and while......

Yeah, we could hardly believe the headline ourselves. Do people have no shame? We missed this one, but yesterday Mayor Gavin Newsom's town car was vandalized by a parolee. Outside Newsom's Russian Hill apartment, Gregory Burgos, 41, was sauntering down the road, saw le Gav's shiny black car along with the two officers inside it (assigned to protect the Mayor), pulled out a sharp object of sorts, and scraped it along the side of......

Here's what we got from a quick email from SFist Jim, at the Herrera press conference (thanks, Jim! Mmmm-whhhahhh!): --Resignation is irrevocable --Ed cannot hold office in SF for 5 years. (Is Burlingame city council still up for grabs, though?) --No admission of guilt by Ed (so will this come in for the city criminal trial?) --In exchange, the city drops the civil suit and Gavin Newsom's investigation. --Ed was not present at the press......

Oh Lord. Is this for real? From the SFist inbox this morning we received alarming news that Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel, like, totally hate Africans, or something like that. After the New Year's Eve announcement that the two were to enter holy matrimony, one concerned reader called "Mayor Newsom's Communication Office," wondering if the "rock he bought for his fiancee was not a blood diamond." After talking to an "incompetent" Newsom staff member......