16
2004
SF Mayor Gavin Newsom’s doing the right thing – sort of – by calling for a City Attorney investigation of the DPW9, the welfare-to-work guys who say they were told to work and vote for the mayor and DA Kamala Harris as they campaigned for office.
The DPW9 have a credible story which is why Newsom might want to think about taking this little probe to the next level: maybe ask California Attorney General Bill Lockyer or even, gasp, the U.S. Attorney’s office to have a look at the whole problem. It ain’t like we haven’t heard this before.
City Attorney Dennis Herrara’s office is filled with Newsom backers – some even worked on his campaign – as well as Harris supporters. So well, uh, well, uh, a split-the-baby decision like the one Herrara issued earlier this year isn’t going to do much for his credibility or erase the queasy feeling people have about those absentee ballots.
Besides, there’s not a lot to be lost here with a more outside investigation. The voter wrangling belongs pretty squarely to Newsom’s successor, Mayor Willie Brown. He was mayor when those ballots were cast. So if there’s harm to be done, like a lot of other Newsom reforms, it’ll splash backwards. And thorough investigation would – once again – thwart the voices on the Left who claims Newsom’s nothing more than Willie Lite and reassure the “reformers” out there that the new mayor means business. There’s a lot of be won here and only a little to be lost.