Mayoralty of Gavin Newsom facts for kids
Gavin Newsom became the Mayor of San Francisco in 2003. He was a member of the Democratic Party. At the time, he was San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years. He took over from Mayor Willie Brown.
As mayor, Newsom worked on big building projects. These included areas like Hunters Point and Treasure Island. In 2007, he signed the Health Choices Plan. This plan aimed to give healthcare to all San Francisco residents. San Francisco also joined the Kyoto Protocol under his leadership. This agreement helps fight climate change.
In 2004, Newsom made national news. He allowed the city to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. This was a big step for marriage equality. Even though the California Supreme Court later stopped these marriages, Newsom's action brought a lot of attention to the issue. It also increased support for him in San Francisco.
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Helping People in San Francisco
Support for Homeless Residents
Newsom started a program called Care Not Cash. It began on July 1, 2004. This program helped homeless people find permanent homes. By October 2007, about 2,000 people had moved into stable housing.
Other programs also helped end homelessness. The San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team (SF HOT) helped people get health and housing services. Project Homeless Connect (PHC) held events. These events brought many services together in one place. This made it easier for homeless people to get help. Newsom once said that "homelessness has replaced the Golden Gate Bridge and the cable car as one of the city's most defining symbols." He wanted to highlight how important this issue was.
Improving Housing and Schools
Newsom worked to make public housing better. He used a plan called SF HOPE. He focused city money on areas like Bayview-Hunters Point. He often visited these areas to check on city programs. He even took some children from Hunters Point to a San Francisco 49ers game.
The Bayview-Hunters Point project included over 8,500 new homes. It also added 350 acres (1.4 km2) of open space. Since Newsom became mayor, the city spent nearly $500 million on affordable housing. This housing helped almost 20 percent of San Francisco's families. He also planned 6,000 new homes on Treasure Island.
Newsom also helped schools. He got $77 million to improve some schools that were struggling. He also worked to put more police officers in schools. In 2008, he used $30.6 million from the city's savings. This helped the San Francisco Unified School District when state funding dropped.
Boosting San Francisco's Economy
During Newsom's first term, San Francisco's economy grew. More tourists visited, and hotels were busier. The number of people without jobs went down by 2.5%. Many new companies opened in the city. This included 35 new biotech firms. Newsom supported tax breaks for biotech and clean industries. This helped bring more businesses to San Francisco.
In 2005, he started the Working Families Tax Credit. This gave families in San Francisco an extra $300 on average. Newsom also tried to connect with businesses. In 2004, he met with 100 company leaders in 100 days. He wanted to make San Francisco a better place for businesses.
Even with job growth, San Francisco had fewer jobs overall since 2000. The cost of living was also rising. This made it hard for blue collar workers to live in the city. Newsom worked on affordable housing to help with this. He also said new tech companies would bring some blue-collar jobs.
In 2004, Newsom supported hotel workers during a strike. He joined union members on a picket line. He said the city would not hold events at hotels that did not agree to a contract. This support for workers angered some businesses.
To help balance the city's budget in 2004, Newsom made some tough choices. He laid off hundreds of city workers. He also cut some city services. He combined six city departments. This saved the city $78 million.
Newsom also tried to bring free wireless Internet to the city. He worked for 18 months on a city-wide Wi-Fi zone. This plan did not work out. But Newsom said he would keep trying for universal Wi-Fi.
Protecting the Environment
San Francisco joined the Kyoto Protocol under Newsom. This was part of the city's Climate Action Plan. Newsom helped create green building standards. He also worked to improve open spaces. He got $8 million to improve city streets. His efforts led to planting over 17,500 new trees.
Newsom approved a plan to change city buses and vehicles to biodiesel. In 2008, he asked car makers to build plug-in hybrid cars. He said San Francisco would buy them if they were made. He also supported a ban on bottled water bought by the city government. He asked businesses to stop selling bottled water. He approved laws to make San Francisco's taxis use low-emission vehicles.
Immigration Policies
In 2007, Newsom said he would try to stop federal immigration raids. He wanted to make sure the city did not help with these raids. He said that even legal immigrants were scared. He believed other cities that wanted raids should be the focus.
Newsom supported city identification cards for immigrants without documents. This would help them get city services and open bank accounts. In 2008, San Francisco spent money to tell people it was a sanctuary city. This was part of the ID card program. In July 2008, Newsom changed a policy. The city would now work with the federal government if undocumented immigrants committed other crimes. But San Francisco still remained a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants.
Public Safety Efforts
Newsom started his term by appointing new leaders. He named San Francisco's first female police chief, Heather Fong. He also appointed the first female fire chief, Joanne Hayes-White.
He worked to lower crime rates. Crimes like aggravated assault and burglary decreased. Newsom is part of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition. This group supports gun control. They want to change a law called the Tiahrt Amendment. Newsom also does not support the death penalty.
In 2008, Newsom and Police Chief Fong changed the route for the Olympic torch run. This was to keep people safe. Thousands of people were protesting for and against China and the 2008 Summer Olympics.
City Government and Transportation
Newsom worked to make city government fairer. He reduced political favors that were common before. He launched a 311 hotline. This service provides 24-hour help for San Franciscans about city services.
In 2005, voters rejected a plan to give more control over Muni to the Board of Supervisors. During Newsom's time, Muni's on-time performance improved by 5%. Muni is San Francisco's public transportation system. Newsom once said he was a "Mayor who rides Muni."
He started the "Transit Effectiveness Project." This project looked at ways to make Muni run better. It suggested changing bus routes to focus on the busiest areas. It also looked at hiring more drivers and supervisors. Newsom said, "Without dramatic changes we will not see dramatic improvements." He also supported the Chinatown Subway plan. This is a big project to build a new subway line.
Images for kids
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Newsom at the 2007 San Francisco Annual Pistahan Days
