Lose Your Bag, Get Some Swag
This all started when the mayor of Sacramento offered to help a man with his luggage
What do you do when a fellow Mayor gets robbed in your city? If your name is Gavin Newsom, you send over a bag of swag.
You may have heard that Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, known as K.J. to his NBA fans, was robbed of a garment bag last weekend during an overnight trip to the City.
On Monday morning, K.J. told a Sacramento television station that such a thing would never happen in his city.
Johnson said his bag contained a suit that was sentimental to him, because he wore it during his first visit to the White House to meet President Bill Clinton.
Johnson said he had received more than one call from Newsom's office this week to offer his sympathy.
Then Newsom offered more.
Newsom's office said an aid recovered the garment bag from a Good Samaritan in the Tenderloin Tuesday. The suit was still in the bag when it was found.
On Wednesday, the mayor had the bag and a goodie basket hand delivered to Johnson's Sacramento office.
The items appear to be worth more than a lost suit and some toiletries:
- San Francisco 49ers tickets
- Six pack of Anchor Steam beer
- Dinner at the Balboa Cafe
- Tickets to Beach Blanket Babylon
- Sourdough bread from Boudin
- Bottle of Cade wine
- Coffee from Caffe Trieste
- Golden Gate Bridge: History and Design of an Icon (book)
- City Lights Pocket Poets Anthology
- Two-night stay at the Fairmont Hotel
- Ghirardelli chocolate
- Baseball autographed by Tim Lincecum
- Precita Eyes Muralists: Street Art San Francisco (book)
- Organic agave nectar and all-natural margarita mix from Tres Agaves
- A necktie from Wilkes Bashford
- Tickets to the Wax Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf
- Dinner Cruise aboard Hornblower Yacht from the Convention and Visitors Bureau
"We want to encourage Mayor Johnson to come back and visit San Francisco soon, so we’re extending the
warm hand of hospitality," said Newsom. "When San Francisco’s business community heard about Mayor
Johnson’s misfortune, they stepped up to the plate and donated gifts as an invitation to return to our city."
And that, Newsom hopes, is the final chapter to this garment bag caper of 2009.
It looks like it is. Johnson said he plans to send the young man who found it a reward with his personal thanks.
"And thanks to everyone in San Francisco, from Mayor Newsom on down," Johnson said.
Posted Wednesday, Oct 14, 2009 - 4:06 PM PST
