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Gavin Newsom’s long record of absenteeism

Gov. Gavin Newsom presides over a broad set of self-inflicted challenges –– each one a monument to bad policy, grandiose ego, and questionable priorities as he struts around the nation and the world.

His freshly released book, Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery, basically sums it up: He sprints toward bigger stages while the job he actually signed up for gathers dust.

Now in middle age, Newsom is still in a hurry, but … not to fix the state he’s supposed to govern.

Instead of rolling up his sleeves to face the mess, Newsom jets off like a teenager dodging curfew, for international photo-ops, Davos schmoozing, elite summits in Munich, and now his new book tour that’s basically a rolling campaign ad.

Since taking office in 2019, he’s racked up dozens of out-of-state jaunts, to destinations such as El Salvador, China, Brazil, Italy, Davos, Munich, Nashville, Atlanta, Rock Hill, and, this very weekend, Miami.

A look at Newsom’s excursions over the years shows a restless state executive.

While Californians wrestle with homeless encampments, $6 gas amid the shuttering of refineries, and insurance companies fleeing the state, the governor is busy playing global influencer and future presidential hopeful. 

Call it absenteeism with frequent-flier miles; it’s certainly not governing.

Homelessness sprawls across sidewalks like an unwanted house guest that won’t leave. Despite the state throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at the problem, nearly a quarter of the entire country’s homeless population is in California. 

Newsom in 2019 took a $44,000 trip to El Salvador, the tab covered by donors, as the tents multiplied. It’s about priorities, clearly.

Here at home, the cost of living is punishing, like perpetual hail. We face high median home prices, electricity up to twice the price of the national average, and gas consistently $1-2 higher per gallon than elsewhere in the nation, thanks to taxes and green........

© New York Post