Shift inside City Hall: Ginsburg steps down

The real surprise in Thursday’s announcement that Phil Ginsburg was stepping down as San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s chief of staff is that it took so long to become official. Rumors of Ginsburg’s departure began not long after he took the job — which should tell you how much fun it must be to be the ring leader in the animated quarters known as Room 200.

“Phil’s done his tour of duty,’’ is the way Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard put it.

Ginsburg was a rarity inside the bellowing chamber of City Hall. He was almost universally liked and respected, a consummate professional. More important, he was nice, a trait that came in handy when he was negotiating contentious issues, such as universal health care and road closures in Golden Gate Park.

Replacing him in the hot seat is Trent Rhorer, no stranger to civic battles as Newsom’s longtime homeless czar who helped put Care Not Cash into effect. And that moniker also seems appropriate for the latest administrative switch, because Rhorer is going to have to take about a $50,000 pay cut from his current post as the head of San Francisco’s Human Services agency.