S.F. mayor bumps Ivins, Iraq and The Game

Dave Danforth -

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Just once is enough when a high official has an affair. And so it was that just one story out of San Francisco became all the talk among many journalists and readers last week, shoving Iraq, Super Bowl hype, and the passing of columnist Molly Ivins into the background.

Mayor Gavin Newsom, who's had high ratings in his first three years in office, slipped up in 2005. On Thursday, he publicly confessed. He'd had an affair with the wife of his key deputy and political strategist.

What would prompt the popular official to make such a public apology?

The story mixes elegance and pathos. Newsom, 37, had always been much watched, whether for his divorce, his under-age girlfriends, or the deft maneuvering that's garnered him high points entering a re-election campaign. Dubbed the "boy mayor," he won early acclaim in 2004 when he rendered gay marriages a non-issue in his city.

There were other issues. Newsom was blamed when football's 49ers announced plans to bolt town for a home field closer to San Jose, 45 miles south. He flubbed plans to overhaul the department notorious for writing parking tickets, and watched while the entrenched Taxi Commission voted to fire his handpicked head.

There were also whispered issues -- like the "meat market" that Fog City Journal blogger Daniela Kirshenbaum would allege surrounded City Hall's Room 200.

By all accounts, the affair technically didn't amount to much. It involved a few episodes with Ruby Rippey-Tourk, 34, back in late 2005 when Newsom was preoccupied with a divorce.

Even if the relationship had included just one private episode, it was notable for the "what was he thinking?" question. There was the betrayal of Rippey-Tourk's husband, Alex, 35, who helped Newsom get elected in 2003. But there was also a ticking clock feel to it. According to San Francisco Chronicle political columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, the betting wasn't whether things would splatter publicly, but when and how.

The Tourks had always been a fashionable couple around City Hall. Alex, dapper and affable, had worked under ex-mayor Willie Brown before leaving and then coming back to help Newsom win office. His wife joined the administration as an appointments secretary, seen as a sort of chief shepherd of an unpredictable bunch of city commissions.

Whatever happened in 2005, the whispers subsided for a time. But they resumed when Rippey-Tourk left the administration early last year for alcohol and drug abuse treatment. Some suspected a move to distance her from prying eyes.

Then Alex Tourk suddenly left last week for "personal reasons." Nobody believed it. Tourke's high profile and an upcoming campaign would torture an already open secret among Newsom aides.

According to Matier and Ross, Tourk never knew of the affair until last week, when his wife broke the news to him. Friends who didn't want him hurt kept it from him. Even Newsom was hesitant, worried that the news might endanger his close associate and campaign manager's marriage, even if it would inevitably explode.

Tourk angrily confronted the mayor, and then quit Wednesday. His lawyer arranged a deal: Newsom's re-election piggy bank would bankroll the politically talented Tourke until he could find another job.

Now it was up to Newsom to decide how the news would come out -- in a splash or in dribbles. The issue was forced when the Chronicle, perhaps by arrangement, perhaps helped by Newsom aides wanting the scandal behind them, wrote it up Thursday. Newsom then went public. In a 103-second statement lacking both mention of an "affair" and with whom, Newsom told San Franciscans "everything you've heard and read is true." He apologized to Tourk and conceded he had "let the people of San Francisco down." He sought counsel from a couple of hometown heavies, like U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Then Newsom clammed up, taking no questions and limiting his public appearances.

Most reactions were personally critical of Newsom but politically accommodating. Resignation would be his "personal" decision (he wouldn't). Most agreed that his performance as mayor was not at issue. The Chronicle even ran a piece pointing out that San Francisco has always forgiven mayoral dalliances. Willie Brown, the prior eight-year chief, had always been surrounded by personal and financial rumors. But voters appeared to prefer, over all else, a broad dash of personality.

There are still rumors about women and alcohol in Newsom's world. And there's talk of a "workplace issue" among younger administration employees. Bloggers suggested Newsom's credibility was now at issue in areas ranging from pressuring commission heads on pro-business measures to the Taxi Commission fiasco.
Reporters recalled nasty scrapes with Newsom aides, including a libel suit threat, when they'd earlier inquired about the affair.

A story like this doesn't carry much weight in the scheme things, but it blots out everything else like a fierce storm. "Newsworthy," after all, has always involved a negotiable mix of importance and fascination. Pure buzz counts for a lot.

Long-time TV journalist Dan Noyes summed it up. He told the Fog City blog site, "I've been a journalist for 25 years and it's never personal. It's just a story."

The Usual Suspect is a founder of the Aspen Daily News and appears here each Sunday. Counsel, console or berate him at ddanforth@aol.com. Your notes will be kept private unless you ask that we print them.

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