SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco supervisors have rejected a proposal, spurred by Mayor Gavin Newsom’s affair with a staff member, that would have banned City Hall managers from having “romantic or sexual relationships” with subordinates.
Supervisor Chris Daly proposed the measure in response to Newsom’s admission that he had an affair with his commission appointments secretary, the wife of his campaign manager.
“It is common practice in the corporate work setting where managers … are held accountable and these types of relationships are not tolerated,” Daly said. The city had paid more than a million dollars to settle sexual harassment claims brought by city employees who had been involved with their superiors, he added.
San Francisco’s current sexual harassment policy warns that consensual relationships between bosses and people they supervise are potentially problematic, but does not prohibit them.
Before Tuesday’s 10 to 1 vote, in which Daly was the only supervisor supporting the proposed change, Daly said he was working with the labor union that represents city employees to clarify the measure’s scope. He asked his colleagues to postpone considering his bill.
But after he failed to get enough votes for the delay, the rest of the board went ahead and killed the measure.
Newsom’s spokesman, Nathan Ballard, told the San Francisco Chronicle Tuesday that the board did the right thing in defeating Daly’s measure, which he called “intrusive.”
“Chris Daly has no business poking around in anybody’s personal life,” Ballard said.
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