Top consultant leaves Team NewsomBy Steven T. Jones
Sometimes I love Facebook. I quickly find when people I know post interesting photos or break up with their boyfriends. And now I learned that my friend Shawnda Westly, a top Democratic Party political consultant who I knew from my Sacramento days, has left the administration of Mayor Gavin Newsom after less than two months on the job.
Clearly, this is not a good sign for this juvenile frat house of a political team that aspires to the governor's office, but as usual I couldn't get Westly to dish the dirt. She's a pro with long and deep connections to the party, particularly labor, which meant she couldn't have been comfortable with Newsom so often being at odds with local labor leaders. And I doubt it was very satisfying or inspiring to work with petulant hacks like press secretary Nathan Ballard, who has unnecessarily sullied the relationship between the Mayor's Office and Board of Supervisors by regularly firing over-the-top invective at President Aaron Peskin and others.
So I'm not sure exactly how Westly is feeling right now, but on this beautiful weekend in San Francisco, my guess is she's breathing a little easier.
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Comments (4)
Steve, be honest ... Nate Ballard isn't as bad as Peter Ragone. At least he hasn't used anonymous blogger handles to write favorable comments about his boss.
Posted by Paul Hogarth | November 15, 2008 03:05 PM
Just give him time, Paul. He's a hack, a Nixonian dirty trickster. They don't change, and he'll be up to that kind of bullshit in no time.
Posted by joewmorse![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 15, 2008 06:16 PM
HEADLINE:
BEYONDCHRON LIKES NATE BALLARD!!!
Petulant hack responds: "Is that like a blog, or what? P.S. Peskin's a drunk!"
Posted by rob hall | November 17, 2008 11:16 AM
Actually, Paul, I think Ballard may be worse than Ragone. For all Peter's faults, you could at least talk to the guy and feel like he was making some effort at being fair and responsive in his answers. Ballard is just pure political spin, reality be damned. He's a shrill partisan warrior on the public payroll.
Posted by Steven T. Jones | November 17, 2008 01:44 PM