MAYOR GAVIN NEWSOM likes to talk about big ideas, and when he wants to make a huge splash and set the national agenda, he's clearly capable of doing it: A year ago he made San Francisco the capitol of same-sex marriage and forced the issue into prime time. When he took to the picket lines outside local hotels that had locked out their workers, he sent a strong message and helped force the owners back to the bargaining table.

And yet, when he talks about the city budget, he sounds like a hapless bureaucrat who can do nothing but twiddle a few dials and push a few buttons and shift a dollar here or a dollar there to make the inevitable painful cuts a little less gruesome. In an extensive interview with Steven T. Jones (see "The Mayor's Perspective," at www.sfbg.com), Newsom offered few new ideas and barely addressed the structural budget crisis. Instead, he talked of "tweaking" various pieces of the budget pie and using fancy computer programs to better track departmental performance. That's not going to solve anything – and it's going to leave the city in the same exact mess next year.

The problem is, San Francisco's budget is fundamentally out of balance – yesterday, today, next week, next year. There isn't enough revenue to cover the level of services the city needs to be providing. And the only way to get out of the ocean of red ink is by planning – now – for an aggressive, full-scale overhaul of the city's tax and fee structures.

Newsom correctly points out that it will be almost impossible to get the voters to approve any new taxes this year (that would require a two-thirds majority in a low-turnout election). But he could get a lot more support for a tough-times budget if he showed the sort of leadership he's demonstrated on same-sex marriage and put forward a comprehensive, progressive plan for bringing in enough money to cover the city's future needs. We've outlined a long list of ideas (see "The Money's There," 12/8/04). Others have more. Taxes are always tough, even in San Francisco – but unless someone comes forward with a long-term plan, the city will be stuck in the same mess year after year. That's Newsom's job – and it's past time for him to start doing it.