Gavin Newsom Quotes
Governor of California
City government can and must help San Franciscans prepare for emergencies in order to avoid tragedy where possible and minimize loss of life and property when emergencies occur.
Make no mistake: conversion therapy is not about 'praying away the gay.' It's an emotional torture against our most innocent citizens: our children.
We must continue to step in and stand up to resist reckless rhetoric and actions in a peaceful and forceful manner.
Government is the ultimate monopoly. And monopolies, as any economist will tell you, often breed complacency and a lack of innovation.
I have a very successful father-in-law and family with very different political views.
An arts education helps build academic skills and increase academic performance, while also providing alternative opportunities to reward the skills of children who learn differently.
I'm sick and tired of politics and politicians as usual.
You need to let go of your fear and anxiety of being judged by others.
You've got to change incentives for good behavior as opposed to just disincentivizing bad behavior.
The arts can play a vital role in revitalizing neighborhoods, using and improving vacant space, bringing new jobs and new sense of opportunity, and improving public safety by generating more foot traffic and more eyes on the street.
If Wikileaks didn't resolve that question for folks - at the end of the day, there are no secrets. We're living in a glass neighborhood, in a fishbowl, and technology, white hat hackers, the folks that are doing the right thing with hacking.
If high-wage, high-cost nations like Germany and Japan can compete on exports, California can.
There's something called CEQA in California - NEPA at the federal level. There's indigenous lands and autonomies relating to governance on those lands. There are all kinds of obstructions as it relates to just getting zoning approval and getting building permits.
I just butcher a book. Everything I underline I assume is important to me.
San Franciscans know we live in the most beautiful city in the world, a jewel on the edge of the Golden Gate.
You only get one chance in this thing called life. I know that is a bit maudlin and obscure, but it's a fact, and you can make a profound difference in people's lives without having a title in front of your name.
Cultural tourism surveys consistently rate San Francisco's art industry as a core reason for visiting.
California is a bellwether state. California was the first state in the United States to overturn the laws against interracial marriage. It took 19 years for the rest of the country to come around to that point of view.
There's a secret sauce in California, and I hope people pay attention to it.
People don't care anymore because they don't believe in us; they don't trust us. And that's why we should change politics, not just accept the cynical frame that, 'Well, that's just politics.'
Since Sandy Hook, I have sat back as a father and been mesmerized by the inability of the federal government to do anything substantively on gun safety.
There's been a gap between perception and reality, the perception being that California is on the cutting edge of gun safety legislation when, in fact, there are a number of areas where we have fallen behind.
I've never been a fan of pretense or procrastination. After all, our state is defined by its independent, outspoken spirit.
I have differences of opinion within my own family, an Irish Catholic family. So, I do respect those that disagree.
San Francisco has long been a leader in the arts, nurturing generations of painters, sculptors, poets, novelists, playwrights, film-makers, and performing artists and innovators of every kind.
President Trump is quick to attack American students, immigrants, women, the LGBT community, journalists, and our international allies but he is either too weak or too ignorant to stand up to white supremacists and others who spew hatred.
These Millennials are volunteering more; they're smarter than ever.
As Mayor of San Francisco, I will work hard to ensure that, in the event of natural or man-made disasters, San Franciscans are prepared and our City is protected.
I don't want to let the rest of this country drift into the abyss. I want to fight for it.
If we continue to fight the National Rifle Association on their home court, which is the legislative front, I think we'll continue to be frustrated. But when you have an ability to go directly to the public, that's a completely different field of engagement, and I think the NRA is not adept at that kind of engagement.
I don't know many better training grounds than being mayor of San Francisco - those were pretty intense years in terms of reporting and scrutiny.
Society becomes how we behave.
As goes California, so goes the rest of the nation.
Founders Den provides the kind of collaborative and creative atmosphere to foster new ideas not only for emerging new businesses, but government as well.
But living in uncertain times does not mean San Franciscans must live in fear.
There was a lot of hype about social media in President Obama's first campaign. It was important, but it wasn't as important as I think people let on.
Do I support a driver's license for everybody? The answer is yes.
We need to allow people to bypass government... to look to themselves for solving problems rather than asking the government to do things for them.
There is nothing worse than a politician that gets defensive and starts attacking the media - and it always looks bad for the politician, because you sign up for this. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.
Californians are blessed with the remarkable leadership of Gov. Jerry Brown, who... has led our state to firm fiscal footing and brought us to the enviable position of dreaming - and achieving - big dreams again.
Government can do best by simply getting out of the way.
The tech genie is out of the bottle; you can't put it back in.
I act on my principles, whether they're popular or not.
The value of an arts education is widely accepted, especially in California.
We recognize that the arts are an essential part of San Francisco's cultural vitality.
During the 1990s, San Francisco lived through one of the most intense economic booms of its history.
As Mayor, I will fully support my Arts Commission and its professional selection committees so that they can commission a full range of public art that is daring and, when appropriate, daringly traditional.
As Mayor, I will lead city government, businesses, and community groups to support innovative projects that will make San Francisco streets and public places vibrant and healthy.
The kind of cynical politics of divide and conquer, that's shameful stuff, and I don't know - people live their life like that, but I don't know how they look back and feel good about themselves.
Involvement in the arts engages kids in their community, improves self-esteem, reclaims at-risk youth, and builds the creative skills that are required of a 21st century workforce.
Like any small business owner, I experienced the pressures of building a company from the ground up - developing a business plan, balancing the books, meeting payroll and building a customer base.
San Francisco can no longer afford to be a city divided between downtown and neighborhoods, with a downtown that becomes a ghost town when workers go home for the evening.
Street and park trees provide tremendous benefits to cities.
As Mayor, I will use my experience to make San Francisco a place where small businesses can thrive.
As mayor of San Francisco, I will provide the vision and work hard to make San Francisco a beautiful, well-planned city with excellent housing and transportation options.
San Francisco lags behind other communities in providing a vital, vibrant and ecologically sustainable urban canopy, as well as open space in the city.
We can build new housing while preserving the quality and character of adjacent residential districts and ensuring infill development strengthens the surrounding neighborhood.
The 21st Century has begun as an era of uncertainty, with a heightened focus on security and public safety.
Livable neighborhoods with a vibrant street life will stimulate our economic life as well.
Historically, San Franciscans have not valued street trees as much as other communities have.
When you have a good idea, the money flows.
Accessing capital to start a business can be a daunting process, especially for entrepreneurs who start out with a great idea, but have no real familiarity with the business world.
I'm not courting labor. I come from a labor background. To me, it's just intuitive.
Take responsibility. Step up and step in. Because at the end of the day, folks, we are our behaviors.
We do not have the right to discriminate against people.
I'll be kicked out before I rust out.
You don't have to be something to do something.
Government doesn't have to come up with new killer features on its own. It has to step aside and let others come up with them.
Are we going to solve the issue of poverty? Absolutely not. Are we going to have an impact? I'm committed to it, and if we don't, I'll have no regrets because we're going to try everything we can.
San Francisco businesses face many challenges, including high rents, regulatory burdens, and the rising cost of workers compensation insurance and employee health plans.
If you're not open, you're not transparent, you're still holding on to vaults of information, you're not going to build that trust.
Even if Donald Trump's successful, it's the beginning of the end if this rhetoric persists in the Republican Party.
If you're trying to understand why it is that certain things happen in Sacramento and certain things don't, at the end of the day, it comes down to the issue of incentives: We do what we're incentivized to do.
Guys like me don't necessarily progress very far, which is fine.
We are not going to turn our backs on people who have been persecuted, turn our backs on people who have been threatened by terror.
My daughter's met Hillary Clinton, so she's got a strong bias. But she, of course, parrots me and goes, 'Oh, Donald Trump, I don't like him!' I'm like, 'That's good!'
We have rules that no longer are relevant to the world we're living in. Our regulatory system can't keep up.
I'm much more optimistic about this next generation because this is the first global generation.
No-Drama Obama? Yeah, that's not me.
The Republican Party - that was the end of the Republican Party. What Pete Wilson did with the xenophobia and the negative attitude, all this sort of anti-crime backlash.
You'd be hard pressed to find a bigger champion of high-speed rail than me when the bond went to voters. I believed in it.
People always thought I'd never get elected outside San Francisco; I was always more worried that I'd never get elected again inside San Francisco.
Separate is not equal. Civil unions are civil unions. Marriage is marriage. They're different institutions.
It was difficult to realize, 'I'm lieutenant governor.' And Brown appropriately reminded me of that.
The economy is not immutable; it's not about natural laws. It's about rules, and we make the rules.
The question for politicians here is fundamental: You can read the polls, or you can change the polls. Stand up on the things you believe in.
Good people can disagree.
If, in this country, a simple majority of people can start stripping away the rights of a protected class in the minority, that's a pretty alarming thing.
Prop 8 did something that no other state in the history of this country has done. It took away the rights of people that already were legally affirmed. Imagine someone putting something on the ballot saying your wedding, your marriage is no longer valid.
If you distill the essence of everything, what life is about, every single one of us is given a short moment in time on this planet, and we all have one universal need and desire, and that is to be loved and to love. And to deny that for your own political expediency, I don't want to live in that column. It ain't worth it.
People don't have to agree with me. They can say, 'My gosh, I can't believe I'm listening to this guy. I can't disagree with him more.' But at least they know that I'm going to fight for things that I believe in. And I don't need to be in formal office to do that.
A mistake that a lot of us have made, related to those who advocate for gun safety legislation, is that we try to process it through our legislative bodies, and that's where the NRA's strength lies.
When Californians see something we truly believe in, we say so and act accordingly - without evasiveness or equivocation.
The people that are serving you gas, the people that are in your restaurants serving you, the firefighters, and police officers are members of the gay and lesbian community. They're members of our broader community.
At the end of the day, there's not a day that goes by without a mass shooting.
I think Thanksgiving is the perfect occasion to break open a buttery, oaky Chardonnay from California.
Even though he's a third-generation San Franciscan, my father's very European in some ways, and he loves wine.
I really feel it's time to dissolve the current relationship of governor and lieutenant governor by running as a ticket.
I will negotiate with my worst enemy.
The whole idea that the Constitution of the United States would be used to advance a political agenda is absurd.