We, like SFist, were intrigued by Matier and Ross’ bit on the latest person to leave the Mayor’s office: Stefanie Coyote, the executive director of SF’s Film Commission. Sources tell us that she was doing a great job, so what went wrong?
We’re told Mayor Gavin Newsom asked Coyote, the wife of actor Peter Coyote (link inserted by the Appeal, are you kidding, this is the Chronicle we’re talking about), for her resignation last week. That was unusual in itself, as Newsom is known for his aversion to firing anyone.
Say Matier and Ross. They speculate that:
There may be a bit of personal politics at play here as well. Before Newsom dropped out of the governor’s race, Coyote’s husband was publicly supporting his longtime friend and Newsom rival, Attorney General Jerry Brown.
SFist seems to concur, saying:
(W)e kind of feel like this is evidence of Gavin cleaning house and removing the faces of all who remind him of his failed gubernatorial bid.
We’re told (hey, if that kind of attribution’s good enough for Matier and Ross, it’s good enough for us — but, trust us, our source is solid as Matier’s hair during his CBS5 segments) that:
She had a ton of stuff lined up re production in SF, she’d done very well in a very tough economic environment and she’d established great relationships with the unions, studios and members of the film commission.
Our source didn’t have any inside dirt on all the Brown-support speculation going on. But if Coyote was doing as well as our source says, what’s a better reason for her dismissal? Let’s hear it. And, more importantly, is asking for someone’s resignation a sneaky way to get out of future EDD claims?
Yup! I was on a panel with Stefanie Coyote a few years ago. Nope, I’ve only talked to her a few times since then, and I doubt she’d know me from Adam. So don’t even start, conspiracy theorists.
