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San Francisco Mayor Newsom Won't Be Replaced Immediately

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)- A push at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to pick Mayor Newsom's replacement immediately has derailed.

Meanwhile, Mayor Gavin Newsom indicated he plans to leave office on January third and be sworn in as lieutenant governor, giving the current board one week to select his replacement.

"I'm looking forward to being sworn in the first week of January," said Newsom. "I hope it's January third."

CBS' Barbara Taylor Reports:

Newsom said he also wants newly elected supervisors and the public to be consulted on the date.

Later, at the weekly board meeting, Supervisor John Avalos re-worded his motion to take nominations for mayor now to instead merely take public comment.

"I have a concern about avoiding a Shakespearean tragedy here at the board of supervisors," said Avalos. "I don't want to have a Julius Caesar, I don't want to have a Macbeth, I don't want to have a Hamlet."

Avalos says that by putting a vote on a new mayor on hold, he hopes to turn attention from backroom politics to a public process.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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