Newsom: No Jaye, No Problem. Mayor Says He's Going to Be Just Fine Without Former Svengali.

Gavin Newsom says he's got everything covered

​This morning., Gavin Newsom's favorite group of notebook, tape-recorder, and camera-wielding inquisitors packed into his tepid chambers for a press conference regarding a proposed United Nations Global Warming Center at the Hunter's Point Shipyard. Great idea, it seemed, but when all the cheer-leading was over, and Newsom made himself available to the media, he received not a single question related to the day's appearance.

One TV news reporter immediately took charge, and asked Newsom about the recent turnover in his office. "It's normal," he insisted, that budget director Nani Coloretti and Climate Change Initiative Director Wade Crowfoot, both announced this week they'd be leaving their jobs. "It's just that people are paying more attention," Newsom said.

Then, apparently as counter-example of how some staff members appear to be deserting him, Newsom brought up Paige Barry Arata. "It's pretty ironic," Newsom said. "We're bringing back someone whose been with me for six years." No one asked about why she was leaving her position in Newsom's gubernatorial campaign as a top fundraiser.

They were too eager to know: "What happened with Eric Jaye?"

Prickling, Newsom instructed the reporter to obtain a copy of his official statement. Then added, "we're moving forward without a beat. Without a hiccup." He went on to describe his visits to Fresno, Newport Beach, San Bernadino, and L.A. all in the past 72 hours, which proved little other than how busy he's been, then reassured the reporters several times that "the campaign strategy remains the same. There's just one less person that's involved."

In effect, Newsom was responding to the widespread speculation that with Garry South -- a bulldog strategist from L.A. known for running feisty campaigns -- at the helm, Jaye's emphasis on keeping things positive is likely to shift. (In addition, South, who still uses an America Online email account, likely won't value Twittering quite like Jaye did).

"I love reading some of this," Newsom said with a sarastic grin. "It's just truly magnificent fiction that some are writing. But I'm not going to play into it. And we're moving on." 

But the subject still wouldn't die.

"You can't deny that Eric Jaye has had an influence on your policies here at home," a man with a tape recorder called out.

"Yes and no," Newsom said quickly.

"Is he still going to be an advisor to you on new ideas?" the man asked.

Newsom smiled, and pointed out what the reporters were all allegedly gathered for. A new idea about a United Nations global warming center in Hunter's Point. "The critique of me is that I come up with so many new ideas, people sometimes get a little bit blurry-eyed." Then he talked about policy, accountability, and a lot of other vague things that were not at all related to anything regarding his departed strategist.

Eric Jaye had been by Newsom's side since his days as a Supervisor.

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