I don’t have a problem with California governor Gavin Newsom dropping by a Bakersfield health club, which he did last week as part of his celebrate-a-return-to-normal, California-reopening tour.
In fact, I’ll give the man credit for venturing to a part of California that, historically at least, hasn’t rolled out the welcome mat for the state’s 40th governor.
Bakersfield, California’s ninth-largest city, rests in the heart of Kern County. Newsom received only 41% of the countywide vote back in November 2018 as he breezed to victory statewide. He wasn’t even the most popular Democrat in that county during the June 2018 gubernatorial primary—former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa received almost 14% of the open primary’s vote (all candidates appeared on the same ballot) to Newsom’s 12%.
I’ll also credit California’s governor for some clever political signaling. Attending Newsom’s health-club press avail was a representative from the California Fitness Alliance (yes, there’s such a thing), which previously had sued the state over COVID-related fitness-club restrictions. This time around, a once-hostile entity said it now stands by the governor—look for more of this later this year as Newsom battles his recall challengers.
Where I’ll deduct points from the governor’s gym visit:
First, Newsom showed up for the event donning a ball cap and a T-shirt (one assumes, to look like a regular fella about to do some circuit training). It’s not a strong look for a California governor, especially one whose gelled coif and designer threads don’t scream “mullet-haired gym rat” (Newsom’s 2019 tax return shows California’s First Couple shelling out $288,000 in non-itemized household expenses, which may or may not include the services of a personal trainer).
Second, Newsom declared that his predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t necessarily California’s only “fitness governor.” We know Newsom was kidding, but if you know anything about the former “Governator” and his sense of humor, the former Mr. Olympia rarely misses a chance to tease those who encroach upon his Pumping Iron turf (a little free advice for the current governor: don’t go T-shirt-to-T-shirt with Arnold and what once were his 20-inch biceps back in the latter’s bodybuilding heyday).
But my main gripe: redundancy—and a question of outcomes.
If the process-prone Newsom has such a thing as a predictable modus operandi as governor, it’s to take a matter and assemble a group to study it. Sometimes it’s a “council,” other times a “task force.” Whatever the term of art, it’s become far too predictable a move as we approach the 30-month mark of Newsom’s Sacramento tenure.
The aforementioned Bakersfield event was no exception. Newsom used the occasion to announce the creation of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being, to be cochaired by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, with 15 members yet to be named.
According to a Governor’s Office press release, here’s the core mission:
- “Advising on the development of physical activity and wellness goals for Californians of all ages.
- “Advising on methods to increase awareness among all age groups, especially among children and youth, about how physical activity, sport, nutrition and mental wellness contribute to healthy and productive lives.
- “Encouraging inter-generational physical fitness activities including the use of physical activity and sport to strengthen families.
- “Facilitating collaboration among federal, state and local agencies, education, business and industry, the private sector, and others in the promotion of physical activity and mental wellness.”
At which point, the former governor—the one often seen pedaling his street bike to and from a Venice Beach gym—might say: “This sounds familiar.” And it should: Schwarzenegger likewise launched a California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports with the help of some notable Golden State jocks (football’s Jerry Rice, baseball’s Reggie Jackson, soccer’s Julie Foudy). In Arnold’s words: “They are going to help us pump you all up and get California in shape. The purpose of this is to promote health and fitness and to promote sport all over the state of California and to make everyone . . . participate in fitness and sports activities.”
Time will tell if Newsom’s fitness council will yield positive results. My concern: we’re looking at another brick in the wall of an administration that trots out research bodies that are star powered but, over time, star crossed. Those would include:
- a nine-member task force to inform Californians about slavery reparations and explore avenues for the state to provide compensation—the goal being nothing less than “a more equitable future” (a point of clarification: Newsom was doing the legislature’s bidding);
- a Forest Management Task Force that, to its credit, actually produced a long list of suggestions for improving wilderness health and protecting the population from future blazes;
- an Alzheimer’s Task Force that delivered mostly bureaucratic recommendations on how to deal with that insidious disease (former California first lady Maria Shriver, whose father was an Alzheimer’s victim, chaired the effort); and
- a “task force on oxygen” announced four days into the current year and at a time when California was experiencing something of an O2 crisis (as California hospitals overrun by COVID patients prompted a strain on local oxygen supplies).
But the assemblage that stands out for its futility: Newsom’s Task Force on Business Recovery and Jobs. It belly-flopped for one key reason: more thought was put into a headline-grabbing rollout (what one would expect when Apple’s Tim Cook and Disney’s Robert Iger come on board) than in coming up with an action plan (Newsom eventually dissolved the undertaking, with the task force releasing a final report that failed to suggest new initiatives for improving a COVID-affected economy).
Where that task force also failed: it was secretive (we may never know what transpired on the group Zoom calls); over time, it tested the patience of some task force members (Disney’s Iger quit the effort altogether, reportedly because he was fed up with California’s COVID restrictions’ keeping visitors away from his company theme parks).
Perhaps that won’t be the new fitness council’s fate. A basketball squad’s worth of members means less chance that meetings will turn into a tower of babble (the business recovery task force had nearly 100 members). While many a celebrated athlete may be a diva, let’s see if any have the temerity to embarrass Newsom by quitting.
That leaves us with one wild card: California’s First Partner.
To the extent that she ever courted controversy, former First Lady Michelle Obama found it when she started advising Americans on what to eat and what school cafeterias should serve students. The end result: a food fight over sodium, milk, fruits, and vegetables.
The challenge for Jennifer Siebel Newsom is the same as Mrs. Obama’s: if she wants to convince Californians to alter their lifestyles, to do so while not coming across as elitist (whereas Mrs. Obama has degrees from Princeton and Harvard, Mrs. Newsom has two Stanford degrees).
This is especially tricky in discussing physical fitness, as not all Californians have $288,000 to devote to miscellaneous household expenses. Translation: if Mrs. Newsom is wise, she’ll encourage folks to walk and run and do calisthenics—and remember that a lot of cash-strapped Californians can’t afford a Peloton bike and don’t have the time (or in-home nanny) to hop in their Tesla and motor over to barre class.
A fitter California: a laudable goal.
California’s fitness council: hopefully, not a laughable outcome.
