Working hard or hardly working, Gov?<\/p>\n
Gavin Newsom\u2019s<\/a> official calendars show the lefty governor listing zero government business on a staggering 18 taxpayer-funded workdays in the first four months of the year, The California Post has learned.<\/p>\n The uber-secretive Newsom \u2014 who only finally released his calendars after a monthslong delay that required legal intervention by The Post\u2019s lawyers \u2014 marked the 18 non-holiday weekdays as \u201cno official business,\u201d or about one in every four days.<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s calendar also includes 53 murky entries only described as \u201cwork time,\u201d blocking off the large chunks to tinker on unknown tasks. <\/p>\n Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s office repeatedly delayed releasing his calendars. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post<\/p>\n Calendar entries frequently listed \u201cno official business\u201d on non-holiday weekdays.<\/p>\n Newsom conducted a nationwide book tour on some of the days he had \u201cno official business.\u201d <\/p>\n On Feb. 6, for example, Newsom\u2019s sole listed activity was a block labeled \u201cwork time\u201d from 2 to 5:20 p.m.<\/p>\n The calendars, covering January through the end of April, offer a rarely seen picture of how California\u2019s Democratic two-term governor spends his time.<\/p>\n Newsom refuses to release a daily log of his activities on taxpayers\u2019 dime.<\/p>\n His typical work day runs roughly seven hours from start to finish, according to the calendars.<\/p>\n The records show the expected Democratic presidential candidate meanwhile finds plenty of time to jet-set across the globe, thirstily seeking national press and quietly meeting with lawmakers, CEOs and officials behind the futuristic California Forever<\/a> megacity in northern California.<\/p>\n Newsom has not talked publicly about his support for the California Forever project, but he met with the group\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n One explanation for the many days listing \u201cno official business\u201d could be Newsom\u2019s roadshow to hawk his memoir, \u201cA Young Man in a Hurry<\/a>,\u201d as related events this past spring coincided with some of his breezy days.<\/p>\n The book\u2019s release is widely seen as a prerequisite for Newsom\u2019s expected run for president in 2028.<\/p>\n Corrin Rankin, chairwoman of the California Republican Party, blasted Newsom\u2019s calendar revelations, saying he \u201cseems to treat the governor\u2019s office like a part-time gig, spending his limited time pushing failed policies.\u201d<\/p>\n Newsom is widely expected to run for president in 2028. Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n Unlike the Newsom administration, the governor\u2019s office in neighboring Oregon maintains a public archive of its top pols\u2019 weekly calendars, while several other states \u2014 including Virginia, Iowa and Utah \u2014 routinely publish their governors\u2019 official schedules online.<\/p>\n Newsom\u2019s office defended what its records show by claiming the calendars are an incomplete accounting of the Golden State governor\u2019s daily activities.<\/p>\n \u201cLike many people\u2019s calendars, the governor\u2019s calendar is not a complete record of what the governor has done, or with whom he has met,\u201d Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a rep for Newsom, told The Post.\u00a0\u201cOnly meetings and other matters scheduled in advance are reflected on the calendar. The calendar may or may not be updated after the fact if a scheduled meeting does not take place.\u201d<\/p>\n She insisted, \u201cThe term \u2018no official business\u2019 doesn\u2019t mean he wasn\u2019t working; it just means he had no pre-scheduled events or meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor spent work hours talking up his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom for national media. REUTERS<\/p>\n But even with those caveats, the calendars reveal an official governor\u2019s schedule that appears surprisingly sparse. Newsom, who receives an annual salary of almost $246,000, frequently doesn\u2019t begin his official business until after 9 a.m. and often wraps up before 5 p.m., according to the records.\u00a0<\/p>\n Just how much Newsom focuses on his duties as governor has been a persistent question this year, as he has lived out of a suitcase flying to Davos<\/a>, Munich<\/a> and London<\/a>, as well as numerous stops across the country on his whirlwind book tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of Newsom\u2019s biggest time commitments involved more than 19 hours rehearsing his final State of the State speech in January, working out the kinks with his communications director, Bob Salladay.<\/p>\n The speech itself lasted just over an hour and received tepid reviews<\/a>.<\/p>\n Newsom has also spent considerable time courting glowing national media coverage for him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who along with the governor is currently the subject of federal investigations<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Newsoms are currently the focus of federal investigations. AP<\/p>\n A 20-minute prep meeting and 80-minute interview with Maya Singer of Vogue led to a profile that painfully began: \u201cLet\u2019s get this out of the way: He is embarrassingly handsome<\/a>, his hair seasoned with silver, at ease with his own eminence as he delivers his final State of the State address.\u201d<\/p>\n Capitol reporters are rarely given the same amount of one-on-one access to Newsom as national media outlets such as Vogue, Politico<\/a> or Noor Ibrahim, a writer for Marie Claire<\/a> who received a 25-minute phone interview before publishing a piece titled: \u201cIs Jennifer Siebel Newsom the Most Underestimated Woman in American Politics?\u201d<\/p>\n Siebel Newsom was referred to as the \u201cmost underestimated woman in American politics\u201d in a magazine headline. Getty Images for Conference for Women<\/p>\n Siebel Newsom is frequently featured in press releases by the governor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n Another 30-minute video conference with Matt Winkler at Bloomberg<\/a> led to a slobbering piece with the headline, \u201cWho Knew \u2018Slick\u2019 Gavin Newsom Was Such an Economic Maestro?\u201d<\/p>\n On March 30, his calendar contained a single 30-minute energy video conference beginning at 3:25 p.m.<\/p>\n The only work he also had listed from Friday, April 3, through Sunday, April 12, was a 35-minute appearance at the North Salton Sea Conservancy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Newsom made a brief visit to the Salton Sea in a week that otherwise had \u201cno official business.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s office issued a press release<\/a> April 10 featuring Newsom surrounded by staff as he looked beyond the camera while wearing a rumpled white dress shirt, jeans and aviator shades.<\/p>\n On April 22, the sole calendar entry on Newsom\u2019s calendar was an Earth Day news conference in Fresno that lasted less than an hour and a half.<\/p>\n The calendars show Newsom has worked long days when events demand it, such as his frequent overseas trips to glad-hand world leaders. During overseas travel to start the year<\/a>, Newsom\u2019s schedule was packed with diplomatic meetings, panel discussions and media appearances. The meetings included sitdowns with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez and David Lammy, former deputy prime minister of Britain.<\/p>\n German Chancellor Friedrich Merz\u00a0met with Newsom while he was in Munich. CLEMENS BILAN\/EPA\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez\u00a0also met with Newsom in February. REUTERS<\/p>\n On March 19, the governor\u2019s calendar ran from 9:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. as he delivered remarks for the California Hall of Fame ceremony and attended the after-party.<\/p>\n Within California, Newsom has traveled to Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Irvine, Fresno, Wasco, the Salton Sea and Deep Springs College near the Nevada border. Travel time to these places was not listed on the calendars.<\/p>\n Many of the governor\u2019s office days include internal \u201cExecutive Sync\u201d sessions or briefings that usually last five to 10 minutes before meetings.<\/p>\n The calendars also identified meetings between Newsom and executives from Procter & Gamble, Stripe, Sprouts Farmers Market and CommonSpirit Health. He also met with lawmakers, labor leaders and foreign diplomats.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia’s top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n But significant portions of the calendars remain hidden. The Post counted 17 entries in which the subject, attendees or other identifying information had been blacked out.<\/p>\n The administration cited exemptions covering the governor\u2019s deliberative process, personal security, attorney-client privilege, personnel matters and the privacy of prospective appointees.<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s office argued that releasing a fuller accounting of his schedule would amount to an \u201cintrusion into the deliberative process.\u201d<\/p>\n Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/p>\n California Post News: Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, X<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, WhatsApp<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t
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