An hour with Gavin and next year's budget

Found a link at the Sentinel to a video of Gavin presenting the 2007-2008 budget. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the photograph of Gavin to commence viewing.

The video (and the presentation) clocks in at just under an hour. Luckily, with a video you can click on the pause button if you just can't spend an hour watching him go over his proposed $6b budget.

If Gavin hasn't had a speech coach, he doesn't need one. If he has had one, that person should crow. I love watching Gavin in action. Smooth, so very smooth. Even those who don't like his message usually admit he speaks well. Watch the hands. Watch the movement back and forth with the microphone. Watch the facial expressions and listen to that roughened voice with just a bit of folksy drawl. Self deprecation. Public nods to the good things done by those rascally supervisors. Thanks, Tom Ammiano. Thanks, Ross Mirkarimi. Close your eyes and you can almost picture Clinton (that's Bill Clinton, not Senator Clinton) up at the podium.

If you don't have the patience to listen to Gavin 'xplain the budget, he did mention something cool near the very end of his presentation. This year you can access the proposed budget on line, hot links and all.

Well, that's all very well and good but I couldn't for the life of me find the proposed $$ for the public library. (Shouldn't the library be under Arts and Culture or somewhere like that? I searched everywhere) I finally had to break down and pull up the Mayor's Budget Book to find the answers to my questions.