S.F. Mayor To Seek Alcohol Counseling

Mayor Gavin Newsom said Monday that he plans to seek counseling for alcohol use, following the disclosure that he had an affair with the wife of a trusted aide.

Newsom, 39, said that although "my problems with alcohol are not an excuse for my personal lapses in judgment," he had stopped drinking and wanted professional help staying sober.

"Upon reflection with friends and family this weekend, I have come to the conclusion that I will be a better person without alcohol in my life," Newsom said in a statement.

Newsom said that he would get treatment from the Delancey Street Foundation in San Francisco and that it would not affect his duties as mayor. He is running for a second term in November.

Before taking office in 2004, he founded a wine store, a string of highly successful restaurants and the Plump Jack Winery in Napa County.