Subject: Nathan Ballard

• Halloween Interrupted: City to Blame

  August 8, 2007

• Hot Bureaucracy on Bureaucracy Action … Day 5

  December 3, 2007

• Tiger attack claims life of public hearing

  January 22, 2008

• 'Where's Gavin?' Web Site Hasn't Gotten Any Snaps of Mayor on Muni Yet. But It Does Have ... This.

  Courtesy wheresgavin.comNice -- but no prize-winnerIn mid-May we wrote about the Where's Gavin? Web site -- which offered San Franciscans a chance to win a free Muni fast pass (value going up, up, up later this summer!) if they managed to snap a photo of Mayor Gavin Newsom actually riding on a Muni bus, trolley, or light rail vehicle. The mysterious folks behind the site -- they are keeping their identities a secret at this point (perhaps they're worried about Nathan Ballard showing up at their

  June 1, 2009

• Fong Retires with "Dignity"? Nope: Try "Perjury."

  Every time I think the Mayor's office couldn't take 100 homicides any less seriously, he one-ups himself with a stunt like this. By Benjamin Wachs There's lies, damn lies, and then there's the stunt that Gavin Newsom and Heather Fong just pulled. Silent Fong's supporters are going on about how SF's top cop is retiring on her own terms, with dignity - but the problem has always been that her dignity came at the expense of law enforcement in San Francisco...and nothing could illustrate that bett

  December 24, 2008

• Déjà Vu? Newsom's Big Announcement: He Wants to Cut Payroll Taxes -- Which David Chiu Proposed Two Weeks Ago

  Is this what is necessary for Gavin Newsom to deign to speak to David Chiu? Or would a phone call suffice?The "economic forum" Gavin Newsom needed to attend rather than accompany the mayors of San Jose, San Diego, and Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. to stump for federal funds turned out to be this morning's San Francisco Business Times' annual breakfast.The mayor made nice on the $95-a-head, business-friendly crowd -- that's no surprise. He also, according to a breaking blurb in the Examiner, pr

  February 11, 2009

• Introducing a New Recurring Feature: Correcting the Mayor's Corrections Page

  This week, as part of its ongoing effort to avoid any give-and-take with an entity it does not control, the mayor's office unveiled a "corrections page" of media stories on Gavin Newsom's city Web site. On this page, Nathan Ballard, the mayor's spokesman, promises "When the media publishes inaccurate information or gets the story wrong, the Mayor's Communication Director sets the record straight here." It warrants mentioning that telling a story straight actually contravenes the job requirements

  February 12, 2009

• Public Defender Says Stint at Community Justice Center Is No Stunt -- Pledges to Return Every Day

  Jeff Adachi says see you at the CJCIt would raise eyebrows around the city if the fire chief grabbed a hose and doused a burning building, the planning director checked in for work behind the permitting counter, or the head of the Department of Public Works hosed human effluvia off city streets. And, no doubt, the good folks in the mayor's office noticed when Public Defender Jeff Adachi showed up earlier this week at the fledgling Community Justice Center to personally handle cases. The PD repea

  March 12, 2009

• Public Defender Still Showing Up Every Day at Community Justice Center, 'Keeping Streets Safe From Perfume'

  Jeff Adachi claims he's doing the work of three menJeff Adachi is walking through the Polk Street doors of the city's new Community Justice Center every day. The folks he's supposed to represent? Not as often. For the last two weeks -- in what is, depending upon whom you believe, either a theatrical thumbing of his nose at Mayor Gavin Newsom, a staffing necessity, or, perhaps a little of both -- San Francisco's public defender has been personally handling cases at the new CJC, a pet project of t

  March 20, 2009

• Foie Gras Follies: San Francisco's Symbolic Resolution, Ignoring Lesson from Chicago

  March 30, 2009

• Congrats to World's Media Outlets for a Perfect Month (According to Mayor's Flack)

  Earlier this year, in part of what SF Weekly has labeled an "ongoing effort to avoid any give-and-take with an entity it does not control," Mayor Gavin Newsom's official city Web site unveiled a "corrections page" -- where the mayor's top spokesman, Nathan Ballard, would "set the record straight." If you're thinking it's unusual for a paid spokesman to deign to "set the record straight" then you're not alone. And if you don't find that strange, please reach in your pocket and check for your wall

  April 2, 2009

• We Called 511 Instead of 311 For Muni Advice -- And Didn't End Up In Zanzibar

  It turns out numerous city departments want to "take" Muni as well -- for millions of dollarsWillie Sutton is the man who is now less famous than his quote for posterity that he robbed banks "'Cause that's where the money is." Makes sense. And, as we learned at Supervisor Bevan Dufty's timely inquisition yesterday, other city departments billing the Municipal Transportation Agency to the tune of $80 million in "work orders" for services they may -- or may not -- render have the same rationale as

  April 9, 2009

• Gavin Newsom's out-of-town businesses with SF addresses

  September 17, 2008

• Mirkarimi Jumps on the Marijuana Express -- and Our Bowl Runneth Over

  Try San Francisco-brand medical marijuana!Coming on the heels of Tom Ammiano's marijuana legalization bill in the Assembly, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi's Tuesday proposal that San Francisco jump into the medical pot dispensary game was a bonanza for media types and marijuana nay-sayers: Everyone got to trot out their tired puns two times for the price of one. While Ammiano's proposal has been back-burnered -- and that is not a pun -- it remains to be seen what lies ahead for Mirkarimi's plan. But

  April 15, 2009

• SF Supervisor Aaron Peskin's Message to Newsom: Quit Attacking Me!

  March 5, 2008

• Cesar Chavez Area Stabbings and Shootings Contribute to Failed Fanatics Sports Bar and Grill: The Derf Butler Story

  November 7, 2007

• Quality of Hype

  Aggressive panhandlers are not getting the gentle, loving care they so need from the city

  June 27, 2007

• Muni-Me

  Gavin Newsom may be the city's top official, but he's not its highest paid--not even in his own office

  April 11, 2007

• Flight Capital

  September 12, 2001

• Letters

  October 9, 1996

• Bus-ted: David Chiu Triggers Supes-Mayor Showdown Over Muni Budget

  Supervisor David Chiu gives Muni budget the whammy...Whatever David Chiu needs in life -- a faster bike, a more stylish helmet -- he doesn't require assertiveness training. The rookie supervisor and president of the board last month audaciously engineered a motion that would allow the supes to shoot down the Municpal Transportation Authority's budget. Yesterday, he audaciously carried it off -- and he notes that, yes, he has lined up the seven votes required to send MTA's budget back to the bus

  May 7, 2009

• During budget talks, the mayor is on the job - technically

  May 20, 2009

• SEIU's New Pact With City Looks Remarkably Like Old Pact -- But Won't Save Jobs of 288 Workers Dismissed Today

  For the SEIU Local 1021, it may be time to paraphrase The Who: Meet the new wage concessions package, same as the old wage concessions package. Specific details for the deal weren't immediately available -- the bargain was only cut in the wee hours this morning -- but the major pillars of the agreement appear to be virtually identical to the wage concession package the SEIU rank and file shockingly voted down last week.The big difference is, after today, there will be 288 fewer workers to vote o

  May 22, 2009

• Posterized: Public Defender Takes Budget Battle To the Streets

  In this space we've detailed the increasingly strident and -- at times -- surreal game of "budget chicken" between Public Defender Jeff Adachi and the mayor and his allies. Mayor Gavin Newsom is set to submit a budget on June 1, and Newsom Spokesman Nathan Ballard has repeatedly said that if Adachi doesn't comply with the mayor's edict that all departments trim 25 percent off their budgets, it will simply be done for him on the first of June. Adachi has all along stated such a move would be penn

  May 21, 2009

• Mayor's Spokesguy Says Newsom NOT a Co-Sponsor of Proposal to Screw Newspapers

  Will HarperGavin likes the cameras and the cameras like him. As for print media, that's not so simple.Last week Matt Smith wrote about a bloc of lefty supervisors proposing a budget-reform charter amendment that would, among other things, eliminate the requirement that the city advertise public notices in local newspapers like the Chronicle. After the story appeared, an aide to Board President David Chiu -- one of the aforementioned lefty supervisors -- pointed out that Mayor Gavin Newsom was a

  July 1, 2009

• What the Hell Was John Getzow, Serial Evictee and 'Tenant From Hell,' Doing Hosting a Healthcare Symposium at Glide Memorial Church?

  Last week we reported on how "Dr." John Getzow -- a serial evictee profiled in an SF Weekly cover story -- successfully stiffed the eighth San Francisco landlord to sue him for nonpayment of rent. We speculated we'd see Getzow's name come up again before too long -- and we were right. But we were surprised at where he turned up -- hosting a panel discussion on health care last week held at Glide Memorial Church and featuring a high-ranking city official he'd personally convinced to attend. That'

  July 6, 2009

• The Daly Show

  August 29, 2007

• Republican Committee Accuses Nancy Pelosi of Cutting Sweetheart Deals for Her 'Nephew,' Gavin Newsom -- Who Is Surprised to Discover He's Pelosi's Nephew

  No use hiding it, Nancy! We know your secret!​A blustery Friday release from the National Republican Congressional Committee accused Rep. Nancy Pelosi of playing hardball politics to wrest Treasure Island away from the Navy. No surprise there -- that's not the first we've heard of that. But the Republicans' rationale did strike us as odd: The committee accuses Pelosi of directing federal funds to her hometown to benefit her nephew -- her "nephew" being Mayor Gavin Newsom. Say what? The release

  August 3, 2009

• Transit Train Wreck Turned Aside: Winners and Losers in Tentative BART Settlement

  http://world.nycsubway.orgGuess who's still here?​If you rode BART to work this morning and came to the horrible realization that not only was your seat cold, but wet, too -- congratulations! You're still a winner. You can still go get a new pair of pants at Ross or Old Navy and get to work in less time than it would have taken to drive your car into the city and find parking. Obviously commuters are the biggest winners in this averted strike. Like Joni Mitchell warbled, "You don't know what y

  August 17, 2009

• Mayoral Fantasy Football Challenge May Yet Be Won By Anonymous Yahoo Cubicle Jockey

  Justin PageRon 'Mad Stork' Dellums​In less than three hours time, a stingy baker's dozen of American mayors -- that'd be 11 -- begin an odyssey toward what could be the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat ... to an unnamed office worker. Yes, it's the Yahoo Fantasy Football Mayoral showdown we wrote about yesterday. And 11 mayors is a fitting count as that's the number of players on the gridiron. But it doesn't work for a fantasy football league -- which requires an even number of teams s

  August 20, 2009

• Newsom! Dellums! Fantasy Football Draft! Not So Bad!

  Justin PageGavin Newsom's fantasy team went a little Niners heavy...​The draft for the Yahoo Mayoral Face-off is in the books and local boys Gavin Newsom and Ron Dellums have crafted rosters that resemble the mayors themselves -- flawed, but interesting. The Fantasy Football challenge pits 11 mayors -- and one Yahoo cubicle jockey -- in a contest to determine who will win $30,000 for a charity in his or her home city. Neither hometown mayor likely took the lead role in drafting his team; Newso

  August 20, 2009

• Mayor's Choice to Replace Wealthy Supporters on Arts Commission -- His Own Employee

  Nan Park ImagesAh, but is it art? ​In San Francisco, the term "Arts Commission" is misleading. This is not merely a roomful of wealthy dowagers deciding where to place a bust of Adolph Sutro. A small percentage of funds expended on development projects in the city, by law, are sent the commission's way -- and that translates into millions of dollars a year. The city owns nearly 3,300 works of art valued at roughly $86 million. The Arts Commission is a big deal. So it was a commensurate big dea

  August 28, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: In S.F. Math, 2 2 Does Not Equal Four, But Sexual Harrassment = $90,670.20

    Here is the exact moment when covering San Francisco government goes from sad to pathetic: It's when you come home after a nice vacation, dust off your lap-top to catch up on what you've missed, and realize that San Francisco has no idea how many working fire engines it has.I'm pretty sure that if we were a real city, with a functioning government, this kind of thing wouldn't happen.I would, in fact, like to use this as a defense against all those who claim that my coverage of San Fran

  September 14, 2009

• Newsom quotes the giant within

  October 14, 2009

• Transblazer

  October 21, 2009