California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was not at all surprised that voters in San Francisco recalled Progressive District Attorney Cheza Budin last week, and he condemned the national attention he drew.
“It was so predictable, so predictable, especially after recalling the school board,” Newsham said in an interview with Fox 11 Los Angeles on Friday. “Nothing in that was surprising.”
What was unexpected was the attention it garnered, Newsham said, especially the view that it was an “arbiter of something further away.”
“I thought the understanding was a little astounding,” he said.
But the governor, who was mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011, said he understood why Buden was resolutely removed from office on Tuesday.
“I think the problem in San Francisco, in particular, is that people want the streets cleaned, period. Point. That’s enough, “Newsom told Alex Michaelson, host of the political podcast and TV show The Problem. “They want the streets cleaned. They want a sense of order from the chaos they experience on the streets. “
He said that while many factors have contributed to the city’s condition, including mental health problems and outdoor drug use, crime is one of the most visible components.
“And the DA tag was what it meant to have some commitment to accountability and responsibility,” said Newsom, who was in Los Angeles to attend climate events at the Hemisphere Summit of the United States. .
Budin, a former public defender, was narrowly elected in 2019, promising to seek accountability from police officers and corporations. But proponents of the withdrawal said Buden had failed to protect the city’s wider population due to inexperience and fixed ideology, and that in an effort to blame fewer detainees and emphasize more deviation, he sided with the perpetrators instead of the victims. .
Under Buden, prosecutors were not allowed to seek bail, prosecute juveniles as adults, or seek longer sentences for gang membership.
While Newsom acknowledged that some of these policies have contributed to the problems facing San Francisco, he stressed that many Republican-led regions face similar problems.
“It’s right to focus on where we need to improve – not necessarily unique and distinctive,” he said.
Newsum, who deftly tackled his own challenge to recall last year, ran in last week’s primary election to face Republican Sen. Brian Dahl in the November election. He said he did not have a party on election night because he knew how quickly political tides could turn.
“November is a lifetime away,” he said.
Newsham added that he was disappointed with “what is happening to the Democratic Party” at the national level, with urgent issues such as arms control and reproductive rights hanging in the balance. He stopped blaming President Biden.
“It is not his job to organize the Democratic Party at all levels,” Newsham said. “It is the responsibility of the Democratic Party.”
He also declined to criticize San Francisco House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
“I don’t want to take a cheap picture,” Newsham said.
Reiterating his reaction to the recent news that the Supreme Court was ready to overturn abortion rights, he said, “Where the hell are we as a country to capture the story, to capture the imagination of the American people?”
Aydin Waziri (he / she) is a freelance writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com
Add Comment