Newsom’s gleeful purge

Pub date September 13, 2007
SectionPolitics Blog

Mayor bio photo.jpg
When Ken Garcia and Robert Haaland agree that Mayor Gavin Newsom screwed up, it must really be true. I’m talking about the mayor’s strange decision to ask for the resignations of every top official and appointee in his administration, which the Chronicle reports has made Newsom quite happy, although he’s about the only one feeling any joy over this.
Haaland correctly says the decision is disrespectful of workers and demonstrates a hostility toward government. And as I reported, it’s a power grab prohibited by the City Charter. But mostly, it’s just weirdly megalomaniacal, and one more sign that our young mayor is far more concerned with his own political ambitions than with simply being a decent human being who makes an honest effort to do right by this city, its employees, and its residents.