KGO-TV I-Team reporter Dan Noyes finally cornered SF Mayor Gavin Newsom at the 1906 earthquake remembrance ceremony and got to ask him why the city hasn’t finished its earthquake planning, which Newsom had promised to complete by the end of 2005. Newsom has been dodging Noyes for several weeks. Newsom gave his side of the story, saying a good part of the plan is done but that it wasn’t fair to focus on the parts which haven’t been completed. Then the mayor praised Noyes for his “remarkable inability to be objective,” and walked off, saying, “Dan you are seriously one of the greats … one of the great jerks of journalism.” Noyes got back in Newsom’s face again and asked him whether he had called him a jerk. Newsom responded, “I would never say that about you.” A moment later he added, “I’ve been doing politics for 10 years and I’ve had some of biggest and most challenging interviews from some people who have been outstanding, I’ve never had an opportunity to meet someone like you. That’s all I want to say.” KGO has streamed the interview, unedited it appears, on its web site. Matier & Ross also had something to say about it in this morning’s Chron. [Dan Noyes’ blog about his series on emergency preparedness]
'Mr. Mayor, did you just call me a jerk?'
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