MICHELE NORRIS, host:
And another scandal tops the news, this time in San Francisco. There is one big news story right now.
Unidentified Man: There is a major development tonight involving San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Just days after Newsom admitted to having an affair with a wife of his former campaign manager, we are learning tonight the mayor has told City Hall colleagues that he will undergo counseling for alcohol abuse.
NORRIS: That was from TV station KTVU. Mayor Gavin Newsom's private crisis has become a very public story, and as NPR's Richard Gonzales reports, it's still unclear what impact it's having on one of California's brightest political stars.
RICHARD GONZALES: Weeks before the scandal broke, there were murmurs about Gavin Newsom's drinking. A few weeks ago, he showed up to visit a wounded police officer, reportedly with alcohol on his breath. And there were sightings at restaurants around town, often with a variety of beautiful female friends, where many claimed the mayor appeared a little tipsy.
It all came to a head when the 39-year-old Newsom issued a terse statement saying, "I take full responsibility for my personal mistakes, and my problems with alcohol are not an excuse for my personal lapses in judgment."
But some of Newsom's political colleagues were not so understanding. San Francisco County Supervisor Jake McGoldrick is the first public official to call for Newsom's resignation.
Mr. JAKE McGOLDRICK (Board of Supervisors, San Francisco): His problems with substance abuse are certainly problems that he should deal with, but not use them as an excuse to try to make it seem as though he's the victim.
GONZALES: Just last week, Newsom stood in a City Hall office looking like a contrite choirboy confessing his sins not to a priest, but to a congregation of cameras. Taking no questions, Newsom confirmed a San Francisco Chronicle report that he had had sex with a female staffer who happened to be the wife of his former deputy chief of staff and campaign manager.
Mr. GAVIN NEWSOM (Mayor of San Francisco): I have hurt someone I care deeply about, Alex Tourk, his friends and family, and that is something that I have to live with and something that I am deeply sorry for. I am also sorry that I have let the people of San Francisco down. They expect a lot of their mayor, and my personal lapse of judgment aside, I am committed to restoring their trust.
GONZALES: Newsom had been riding high in the polls and was often mentioned as a future senator or governor. No other politician seemed eager to challenge his bid for reelection as mayor. Whether the public still trusts him is still an open question. At a San Francisco Starbucks, local residents leaned toward forgiving the mayor and moving on. Samuel Jones works at the counter.
Mr. SAMUEL JONES: You know, I certainly understand that he's human. He's no more, you know - he's of the flesh, so - and he apologized, and you know, let's get back to work, you know.
GONZALES: A customer, Molly Mercer, agreed.
Ms. MOLLY MERCER: You have to weigh what the bad he has done against the good that he has done for the city. I don't know if this is necessarily going to affect his professional life. It sounds like it will because he has to go to counseling.
GONZALES: San Franciscans have a history of turning a blind eye when past mayors were tainted with scandal. Newsom's predecessor, Willie Brown, was married when he fathered a child with one of his fundraising aides. No one seemed to care. But the question within political circles is whether the newly chastened Newsom has the stomach for the job.
Just a few months ago, Newsom created a stir by publicly expressing his ambivalence about running for reelection. At the time, the recently divorced mayor was reportedly escorting a young model not yet old enough to legally drink. Frustrated with the media attention on his private life, he told San Francisco's KPIX Television he was not convinced he would run again.
Mr. NEWSOM: This is it. You only get one chance in this thing called life, and I know that's sort of maudlin and absurd. It's a fact, and you know what? You can make a profound difference in people's lives without having a title in front of your name.
GONZALES: Still, he appeared to shrug off those doubts as his reelection campaign geared up. Corey Cook, who teaches politics at the University of San Francisco, says whether Newsom can regain the public's trust may depend on his young staff, many of whom signed on in the belief that they were attaching themselves to a rising star.
Professor COREY COOK (University of San Francisco): He has this cult of personality in this city and among his staff people, and I think a lot of folks woke up this morning and said why am I working this hard? Is he really going somewhere? And maybe this isn't the guy, you know, that I thought he was.
GONZALES: That's a question on the mind of many San Franciscans.
Richard Gonzales, NPR News, San Francisco.
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