I left San Francisco early Saturday morning and arrived in Atlanta later that evening. I spent most of Sunday cruising the town and getting my first taste of the South (previously, northern Kentucky was as far south as I had ventured). Although most of my time here will be spent on the showroom floor, I'm happy to have the opportunity to be temporarily immersed in a lifestyle and culture very unlike that to which I'm accustomed.

In closing, I'd like to send a hello to a very special and very dedicated reader, my good friend Karen Breheny. Karen, a student at SUNY New Paltz, is a fairly new reader of CAW, but eagerly awaits each issue of our newsletter. Greetings from Atlanta, Karen, and thanks for reading!

Until next week...

-Gabe

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The governor offered Brown, now the mayor of San Francisco, an appointment on the board, then apparently reneged on the offer when it became clear that Brown was facing serious political problems in San Francisco. Then Davis denied he made the offer, then acknowledged the offer had been made but blamed it on a mistake by a low-level staffer.

The question of whether Brown is a good pick for the job is secondary to the governor's handling of the issue, and whether his communications staff retains any credibility with the reporters who cover the administration. Davis revels in the popular characterization of him as a consumate micromanager, but he has not shown it on this issue. There are others.

The real question is whether the governor and his staff can be relied upon to tell the truth about his actions. Based on the Brown case, the answer is a clear "no." That's unfortunate for Davis, because there will be many, many instances during the remainder of his administration when he will need the public's -- and the press' -- trust to effectuate his policies.

Every politician makes blunders, public and private, and there is always somebody there who is quick to point them out.

But a good politician learns from those mistakes, or else is so deft that he minimizes the damage. Davis, hitherto considered a first-rate politician, has demonstrated neither quality.

The perception is rapidly developing in the Capitol Press Corps that the governor's communications machinery is haywire. And once a perception such as this takes hold, it is very difficult to repair the damage. In the end, the communications staff is the conduit, through the media,through which the governor's policies reach the public. If that conduit is flawed -- and right now, at least, that appears to be the case -- the governor's message becomes garbled.

Since his earliest days in office, the governor's` press relations have been suspect, but much of that was attributed, rightly so, to his staff's inexperience.

But the governor has been in power now for more than a year, and the problems clearly remain. Indeed, they have been exacerbated. The honeymoon period is over.

In other crises of his political life, Davis appeared to act with dispatch.

Clearly, it's time for him to do that now.

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