I tried to see your point of view, but I have to have things my way.

Now you are a short timer. A king without a castle. A lame duck.

So it’s time to say goodbye. Stranger. It’s been nice. I’ll never look behind me.

Please try not to screw up San Francisco too much in the new year.

I love you Gavin Newsom, and I dedicate this song to you:

It was an early morning yesterday
I was up before the dawn
And I really have enjoyed my stay
But I must be moving on

Like a king without a castle
Like a queen without a throne
I’m an early morning lover
And I must be moving on

Now I believe in what you say
Is the undisputed truth
But I have to have things my own way
To keep me in my youth

Like a ship without an anchor
Like a slave without a chain
Just the thought of those sweet ladies
Sends a shiver through my veins

And I will go on shining
Shining like brand new
I’ll never look behind me
My troubles will be few

(Goodbye stranger it’s been nice)
(Hope you find your paradise)
(Tried to see your point of view)
(Hope your dreams will all come true)

(Goodbye Ruby, Goodbye Kim)
(Will we ever meet again)
(Feel no sorrow, feel no shame)
(Come tomorrow, feel no pain)

Sweet devotion, (Goodbye Ruby)
It’s not for me (Goodbye Kim)
Just give me motion, (Will we ever)
and set me free (meet again)

Land in the ocean, (Feel no sorrow)
far away (feel no shame)
It’s the life I’ve chosen (Come tomorrow)
every day (feel no pain)

So Goodbye Ruby, (Goodbye Ruby)
Goodbye Kim (Goodbye Kim)
Will we ever (Will we ever)
meet again (meet again)

Now some they do and some they don’t
And some you just can’t tell
And some they will and some they won’t
With some it’s just as well

You can laugh at my behavior
That’ll never bother me
Say the devil is my savior
But I don’t pay no heed

And I will go on shining
Shining like brand new
I’ll never look behind me
My troubles will be few

(Goodbye stranger it’s been nice)
(Hope you find your paradise)
(Tried to see your point of view)
(Hope your dreams will all come true)

(Goodbye Ruby, Goodbye Kim)
(Will we ever meet again)
(Feel no sorrow, feel no shame)
(Come tomorrow, feel no pain)
Sweet devotion, (Goodbye Ruby)
it’s not for me (Goodbye Kim)

Just give me motion, (Will we ever)
And set me free (meet again)
Land in the ocean, (Feel no sorrow)
Far away (feel no shame)
It’s the life I’ve chosen, (Come tomorrow)
Every day (feel no pain)

Now I’m leaving, (Goodbye Ruby)
Got to go, (Goodbye Kim)
Hit the road (Will we ever)
I’ll say it once again, (meet again)
oh yes I’m leaving (Feel no sorrow)
Got to go, (feel no shame)
Got to go. (come tomorrow)

I’m sorry I must tell you (feel no pain)
But Goodbye Ruby, (Goodbye Ruby)
Goodbye Kim (Goodbye Kim)
Will we ever (Will we ever)
Meet again (meet again)

Oh I’m leavin’
I’ve got to go

"If you guys asked nicer questions, I would show up for work."

CBS 5 – Reporter Joe Vazquez tries to pin down the man-child mayor to ask him about his new disappearing act, but the mayor just walks away.

Now where I have I seen this before?

The answer is 42.

DaniWeb — Remember Terry Childs?

He was the network administrator for the city of San Francisco who — claiming he was protecting the city government’s computer system from incompetent coworkers — changed the system’s passwords and then for more than a week refused to give them to anyone, even after being arrested.

Childs eventually did give the passwords to Gavin Newsom, and was charged with four felony counts.

Well, it’s more than a year later, and Childs is still in jail, without yet having been convicted of anything.

Due process is serving Childs well. But what about San Francisco?

Is the city’s IT system safer than it was one year ago?

The city spends $200 million a year on IT, and still has little to show for it.

Based on Gavin Newsom’s latest PR stunt, he’s more interested in the promise of peripheral user applications like Twitter to run his administration than improving the actual technological infrastructure of the government.

And you know, for once I agree with Gavin.

“Technology Nightmare” just isn’t a sexy headline. Unless it’s Halloween in San Francisco.

Whereas “San Francisco showcases free applications” is a super sexy press release headline. Hey, I want to win that prize money!

The truth is this: the Terry Childs incident should never have happened at an enterprise the size of the City & County of San Francisco.

It happened on Gavin’s watch, hasn’t been addressed, and is a perfect illustration of how the mayor with the gelled hair would rather focus on shiny new things, that actually fixing old and broken infrastructure while improving the lives of taxpayers.

No wonder the man-child mayor is so unpopular at home.

More flash than fashion sense?

Los Angeles Times – The LA Times just printed a Gavin Newsom profile piece that ain’t no fluff.

Angelinos now know the Newsom that San Francisco knows – an absentee mayor lacking substance who governs by press releases.

“Once he’s said it and it’s printed in the newspapers, it’s done in his mind,” said Jim Ross, a political consultant who ran Newsom’s 2003 campaign for mayor. “Then it’s on to the next big announcement.”

Would-be allies say they rarely hear from the mayor. Department heads complain about a lack of guidance. Newsom perpetually wars with the 11-member Board of Supervisors, raising the question of how he would deal with Sacramento’s querulous 120-member Legislature.

Homelessness remains a problem; the city’s official tally shows that more than 6,500 people lack permanent shelter, a slight rise over the last four years after a big decline. Portions of Market Street, the city’s grand boulevard, reek of urine. Muni, the city’s public transit system, is a constant source of complaint. Bayview-Hunter’s Point, the historically poor, black neighborhood, appears as isolated and desperate as ever. Affordable housing is, for many, an oxymoron.

And some of Newsom’s biggest backers – in civic groups and policy circles, among political activists and campaign donors – have in the last few years become some of the mayor’s sharpest critics.

In a series of interviews, they expressed disappointment and accused Newsom, in words oft-repeated, of focusing more on self-aggrandizement and personal publicity than solving the city’s problems.

Of course the man-child mayor denied all of these criticisms in the Times’ story, because afterall, Gavin Newsom lives on Fantasy Island.

Deleted, not forgotten.

Late yesterday while drinking a burning hot café macchiato, I opened up the San Francisco Chronicle.

On page A11, Phil Bronstein tore Mayor Gavin Newsom a new one in his most excellent Opinon piece entitled, “Where is our next generation of leaders?”

Gavin Newsom is our shining hope? Really? Beyond his own self-generated image of brilliant wonkiness and charm, where’s the list of Gavin’s young contemporaries who might actually fill out those size 14 public service shoes in interesting and effective ways with help from the pros?

I couldn’t wait to get home, get the story link from SFGATE, and post a story right here in this very spot. Because in the very same piece, Bronstein went on to compare Newsom with Twitter co-founder, Biz Stone:

In Twitter, Stone has created a profound new platform that inspires people, unlike Newsom, whose own platform is like cotton candy and who leases space on Twitter to spin it.

But I could not link to this awesome quote. Why?

Because the San Francisco Chronicle deleted the story from their website, SFGATE.

Don’t believe me?  Here is the Google search result:

Now you see it, now you don't.

This cool blog posted part of the story before it was deleted. So I’m not going crazy. It was online and public, and then it vanished.

I guess Gavin Newsom’s PR machine will go any length to bury a story they don’t like — it’s no secret that Newsom’s shills regularly berate Chronicle reporters and editors.

I guess that sinking ship called the San Francisco Chronicle has no integrity left.

Sigh.

The cover-up is always worse than the crime.

Why?

Two peas, one pod.

Calbuzz is calling out Gavin Newsom’s hometown newspaper.

Why?

Because the San Francisco Chronicle rarely, if ever, fact checks the mayor’s claims.

Calbuzz writers have been waiting and waiting and waiting for the mayor’s hometown newspaper to help California’s voters — and the state’s press corps — make an informed judgment of how Newsom’s extravagant claims stack up against the true facts.

From universal health insurance to financial aid for schools, from balanced budgets to economic development and job creation, from homelessness to immigration, to hear him tell it, there’s seemingly no area of public policy where the Superman Mayor has not made San Francisco a veritable paradise on earth.

And over at Streetsblog SF, Chris Carlsson isn’t waiting, but makes a similar observation about Newsom.

Newsom is a vacuous politician with no rudder or internal gyroscope grounded in any values other than what will get him on to the next stop of his political ambition.

Have you noticed a consistent theme here? Gavin Newsom is full of “bold” pronouncements and extravagant claims, but falls short on delivery.

Our current Governor is already known for his own extravagant claims.

Can California really afford to replace Arnold’s platform shoes with Gavin’s hair gel?

I think not.

Drinking his own kool-aid out of a traveler.

Fast Company asks me if I would hire this pretty face to run the world’s eigth-largest economy.

I don’t need a multiple choice answer question to help me — no.

Do not hire Gavin Newsom.

Gavin Newsom is a fast and loose Mayor — fast to leave San Francisco — and loose with hair gel.

Even San Francisco’s own department managers thinks he’s a lousy executive and wouldn’t hire him.

A pretty face does not solve budget problems. Saying words like “audacious” and “revolution” might win speech contests, but words don’t fix anything.

Or saying how much your administration has accomplished because well, you graded yourself and you gave yourself, guess what, an “A” for performance.

We use statistics and measurements, and organize our department meetings around real-time information,” he explains, something he calls his “accountability matrix,” which he says he stole from New York’s Mike Bloomberg.

At least Gavin openly tells us who he stole this idea from.

But if you are considering hiring Gavin, please use this handy-dandy hiring checklist:

Test a Prospective Employee’s Skills: Gavin Newsom’s mayoral skills aren’t so good.
Avoid Hiring Out of Desperation: California’s desperate, but not Gavin desperate.
Watch Out for Infatuation: Hair gel is worth a thousand words.
Avoid Baggage that Gets in the Way: There’s a lot of baggage.
Evaluate Employee and Associate Recommendations: Not recommended.
Perform Extensive Background & Reference Checks: What other shoe might fall?

"You asked to look inside my empty suit?"

The New York Times asks: Who Can Possibly Govern California?

I know the answer: Gavin Newsom can’t govern California.

He isn’t even interested in governing San Francisco as Mayor, so what makes people think he can govern the largest state in the union?

Gavin says one of his favorite books is Kevin Starr’s Coast of Dreams: California on the Edge, 1990-2003.

Since he can’t separate reality from fiction as he reinvents his public service record, Newsom might be the perfect main character in the next Kevin Starr book installment called Hair of Dreams: California on Fantasy Island, 2010-beyond.

(Gavin Newsom) is something of a political thrill-seeker — a trait that extended to his personal life a few years ago when he had a potentially career-killing affair with the wife of a campaign manager and close friend (now former campaign manager and former extremely close friend).  Newsom sees the job of governor as a potentially exhilarating high-wire act.

I don’t think we need a political thrill-seeker governing California through a major crisis.

But if being away from the job, exercising little leadership or taking credit from other people is the best way to handle things in a crisis, then Gavin Newsom is certainly the man for the job! ]]> http://iloveyougavinnewsom.com/2009/07/gavin-newsom-cant-govern-california/feed/ 1 http://iloveyougavinnewsom.com/2009/06/gavin-newsom-lives-on-fantasy-island/ http://iloveyougavinnewsom.com/2009/06/gavin-newsom-lives-on-fantasy-island/#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:25:57 +0000 coon http://iloveyougavinnewsom.com/?p=1309

SFGATE — Phil Bronstein asks:  How many flashy, technicolor buzzwords does it take to blind a voter?

I would like to see our Mayor doing some good Luddite governance here for a change: help fix the schools, follow voter mandates, keep the football team, figure out, together with someone other than his image managers, how to have maintenance levels of both public safety and social services with a lot less money.

Or how about this: actually show up for work and be physically available to your constituents and other officials, rather than megaphoning via social networks.

Realistically, though, how can we expect the Mayor to spend less time on shiny objects and more on the gritty reality of his responsibilities?

After all, University of SF political science professor Corey Cook said in the Guardian piece that Gavin was “sort of an island.” Except instead of water he’s surrounded by glib and dismissive political consultants.

San Francisco, the Mayor said yesterday in San Jose, is a model for the state, though he studiously avoided getting into the messy detail of how to fix California’s boatload of budget problems, never mind rioting in San Francisco over his proposed cuts here.

Maybe Gavin’s island looks OK from the outside. So did Gilligan’s Island. But everyone still wanted to escape, because to those stuck there, longing for real life instead of fantasy– it was a shipwreck.