Police Chief George Gascon was named San Francisco district attorney by outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom on Sunday and Gascon quickly announced that he would seek election to the post in November.
In his final act of office, Newsom swore in Gascon in a hastily arranged ceremony at city hall. The surprise move was the latest in a flurry of changes in the city’s top government posts.
"Forty-eight hours ago, I wouldn’t have thought about it," Gascon said. Gascon will serve the final year of Kamala Harris’ term, who became state attorney general last week. "I took this job because I believe we can take and build on now-Attorney General Harris," he said.
Gascon joins the race along with Paul Henderson, the chief administrator of the district attorney’s office, and David Onek, a former police commissioner who served in Newsom’s criminal justice office.
Newsom, who became lieutenant governor today, said he had a short list of "six or seven people" to consider as the city’s top prosecutor and had sought input from Gascon. He compared Gascon’s appointment to Ed Lee’s selection as interim mayor as one given to someone who didn’t initially seek the post.
"He didn’t know that he gave good advice," Newsom said. "He didn’t know how good that advice was."
Public Defender Jeff Adachi said he expects his office’s working relationship with the district attorney’s office to be the same under Gascon.
"He’s somebody who always gets back to you and tells you what he knows," he said.
Gascon told reporters that he practiced law for one and a half years. According to a statement, Gascon has a law degree from Western State University in Fullerton and has been an active member of the state bar since June 1996. City law requires that a district attorney must be in the state bar at least five years.
Prior to becoming police chief, he was chief in Mesa, Ariz., for three years. He was also an assistant police chief in Los Angeles, where he served in various capacities beginning in 1978.
Assistant Chief Jeff Godonow will serve as acting chief until Lee and the police commission name a replacement.
