San Francisco rejects ban on affairs

San Francisco supervisors have voted down a law that would have prevented managers at City Hall from having “romantic or sexual relationships” with subordinates.

Supervisor Chris Daly proposed the measure in response to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s admission that he had an affair with a staff member, who happened to be his campaign manager’s wife.

“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 has paid more than $1 million to settle sexual harassment claims brought by city employees who had been involved with their superiors, he said.

San Francisco’s sexual harassment policy warns that consensual relationships between bosses and people they supervise are potentially problematic, but does not prohibit them.

Before this week’s 10-1 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, who is divorced, acknowledged having an affair with his commission appointments secretary. She was married at the time to the mayor’s deputy chief of staff, who went on to become manager of Newsom’s reelection campaign but resigned when he found out about the tryst.

Newsom’s spokesman, Nathan Ballard, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the board did the right thing in defeating Daly’s measure, which he characterized as “intrusive.”

“Chris Daly has no business poking around in anybody’s personal life,” Ballard said.