Newsmaker

S.F. mayor apologizes for affair

(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-02-02 09:34

Gavin Newsom, center, and his then wife, Kimberly Guillfoyle Newsom, celebrate his victory over Matt Gonzalez for the post of San Francisco Mayor in this Dec. 9, 2003 file photo, in San Francisco. Mayor Newsom's campaign manager resigned after confronting Newsom about an affair the mayor had with the aide's wife, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007. [AP]

San Francisco - Mayor Gavin Newsom apologized Thursday for having a sexual relationship with his former campaign manager's wife. "I'm deeply sorry," Newsom said during a brief news conference at City Hall the day after the aide resigned. Newsom appeared poised but visibly emotional. He spoke for about a minute and left without taking questions.

Alex Tourk, 39, resigned Wednesday after confronting his boss about his relationship with his wife, Ruby Rippey-Tourk, 34, who once worked as the mayor's appointment secretary.

Newsom acknowledged that he had the affair first reported Wednesday night on the San Francisco Chronicle's Web site and apologized for what he called "a lapse of judgment."

"I want to make it clear that everything you've read is true and I'm deeply sorry about that," he said. "I hurt someone I care deeply about, Alex Tourk and his family and friends, and that is something I'm deeply sad about and sorry for."

Tourk, 39, served as Newsom's deputy chief of staff until September, when he became manager of the re-election campaign.

After his wife told him about the affair, Tourk approached the mayor about it, then resigned.

Tourk did not immediately return phone calls and e-mails seeking comment by The Associated Press.

"It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the Newsom campaigns and the city of San Francisco and its residents," Tourk said in a statement released by the mayor's office Wednesday.

Newsom, 39, who is seeking a second four-year term in November, said in the statement that he accepted Tourk's resignation "with great sadness," adding that he was "an extraordinary leader of our campaigns and a tireless public servant."

Rippey-Tourk told her husband that the affair was short-lived and happened about 1 1/2 years ago, when she worked for Newsom. At the time, Newsom was in divorce proceedings with his then-wife, Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle.

Rippey-Tourk, who left the mayor's office last spring and is now a local radio host, did not return the Chronicle's calls for comment, the newspaper said.

San Francisco residents said the mayor's interoffice dalliance would have little bearing on his performance as mayor.

"I could care less," said Lee Simmons, 79, at a downtown bank. "Newsom is great. I voted for him last time and I'll vote for him again."

Tom Abbott, 36, an executive recruiter, said that having an affair with a loyal aide's wife was "a total slimeball move.

"Any guy who puts that much mousse in his hair can't be trusted," Abbott said. "You don't screw over your own boys."

However, Abbott said that he would probably vote for Newsom in November.

Construction worker Geremy Curtis, 34, agreed that while the news out of Newsom's office made for interesting gossip, "it will be laughed off," he said.

"We put these people on a pedestal and think they are above all usual activities, and when they do something that is completely human, we are astonished," he said.

Curtis predicted that San Francisco voters would forgive the mayor if he owned up to any lapses in judgment.