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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Gavin Newsom bad news for California dog owners?

Gavin Newsom pushed for a change to state law after an incident in California where a dog killed a boy (Nicholas Faibish). Even though San Francisco had previously experienced problems with irresponsible dog owners (Dianne Whipples death from Presa Canario dogs), San Francisco didn't do much to address the problem of bad owners. Instead, San Francisco waited until the tragic Faibish incident to do something—and that something had more to do with political damage-control than public safety.

After the 2005 death of Faibish, San Francisco asked then-state senator Jackie Speier to draft a law that would allow counties to restrict any breed of dog it chose. Those restrictions could include muzzles in public, hefty insurance policies (to the point where no one would be able to own the selected breed), mandatory sterilization, and much more. After staunch opposition by dog lovers to the proposed law, the bill got watered down more and more. Now, California is left with much weaker version of what the original law proposed.

What affair did Newsom have with the wife of his chief of staff, and why does that matter?

You can read the gist of what happened via the SF Chronicle (we don't like the Chronicle, but this DID happen in San Francisco!) Basically, Newsom had sex with a woman who worked in his office while she was married to one of his aides. Why is this important? It shows a lack of both personal and professional ethics. Personal, because the aide happened to be a good friend of Newsom's, and it's just unethical, plain and simple to sleep with another person's spouse—much less the spouse of a friend. It shows a lack of professional ethics because Newsom, as a person in authority, should not have engaged in a sexual relationship with someone who he had hiring and firing authority over—it puts him smack into the middle of a conflict of interest with the woman and can lead to allegations of sexual harassment. In fact, sexual harassment allegations can occur from people who Newsom was not sleeping with, but who perceived that they were not getting promotions or other work-benefits because Newsom was preferentially bestowing those upon the woman in the office with whom he was having sex. (See http://usfweb2.usf.edu/eoa/sex.asp)

What other things has Newsom done in his career that indicate he would be a poor choice as California's governor?

Newsom has led San Francisco to become a city struggling even more than its neighbors with crime, homelessness, and budget deficits. It's notorious "sanctuary" policy led to the death of Tony Bologna when gang member Edwin Ramos, illegally in this country, was arrested in San Francisco multiple times for violent crimes but continuously released without being reported to federal authorities. San Francisco's sanctuary policy, at the time, prohibited "city officials from cooperating with federal crackdowns on illegal immigrants" (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/23/MNR812GPPE.DTL). On June 22, 2008, Edwin Ramos shot and killed Tony Bologna and the man's two sons in their homes. After the murders, Newsom changed San Francisco's policy. Newsom has demonstrated poor leadership and a greater concern for protecting criminals than protecting law-abiding men, women, and, in this case, even children.

Who does CHAKO endorse for Governor?

CHAKO is not making an endorsement for Governor. We leave it to you to decide, except that we are firmly OPPOSING Newsom as Governor of California.