Minimum support? The debate at the Commonwealth Club Nov. 11 kicked off the mayoral runoff between Sup. Gavin Newsom and San Francisco Board of Supervisors president Matt Gonzalez with a contentious tone. The candidates sparred over housing and party loyalties – and campaign lies. Things got especially heated over the subject of Proposition L, the successful ballot measure that raised the San Francisco minimum wage to $8.50 an hour.

When Gonzalez said Newsom only became supportive of the measure a few days before the Nov. 4 election, heeding positive polls, Newsom went on the defensive. "I supported the minimum wage, advocated for the minimum wage in front of the Hotel Council, advocated for the minimum wage on my Web site, advocated for the minimum wage in all my literature," he shot back.

Both candidates blurred the truth. Yes, Newsom reportedly told the San Francisco Hotel Council right before the election that he supported the measure. And yes, it's true he publicly supported the measure at least once, back in July – not three days before the election, as Gonzalez said.

But there is no mention of the issue among Newsom's oft-referenced 21 policy briefs or anywhere else on his Web site, www.gavinnewsom.com.

Prop. L backer Barry Hermanson, a small-business owner who put $100,000 of his own money into the Yes on L campaign, told us he personally asked Newsom aide Mike Farrah three times if Newsom would officially endorse the measure – to no avail. "Normally, if you're going to endorse a measure, you would contact someone in the campaign to let them know," Hermanson said. "He was not out there advocating for this. But I give him credit for [his speech] at the Hotel Council."