Mayoralty of Gavin Newsom - Staff Hiring

Staff Hiring

Newsom started his second term with a clean slate after asking for and receiving open letters of resignation from city commissioners and department heads prior to his 2007 reelection. He replaced 3 of 7 members of the Municipal Transportation Agency. Newsom also dismissed Public Utilities Commission General Manager Susan Leal. With projected city budget revenue shortfalls, Newsom froze city hiring, eliminated 1,700 city jobs, and ordered all agencies to cut their budget by 8%. Newsom was criticized by some members of the Board of Supervisors when he hired new policy directors that included a director of climate protection initiatives, a homeless policy director, and former U.S. attorney Kevin Ryan, who was dismissed by the Bush administration, as his new criminal justice director to address San Francisco's rising homicide rates. The Board of Supervisors Budget Analyst conducted a report on the mayor's staffing salaries that concluded that over one million dollars in salaries were paid out of city department budgets. Newsom defended these hires by claiming his office would come in under budget and that using MTA and other department funds to pay for the mayor's policy directors is common practice. The additional cost to the city was $500,000 over the next 18 months. A February 2008 opinion poll showed Newsom's approval rating at 67%.