People across California are up in arms about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s faux pas: recently attending a party at the French Laundry. Yes, it was wrong. Yes, he should follow his own rules like the rest of us and set the example.

But I’m thinking about what he has been through. He has been running at full throttle since February, the safety and welfare of 40 million people weighing on him, not only with COVID-19 but record-breaking wildfires and everything else he has to manage. Securing PPE supplies, providing safe shelter for fire victims as well as the huge homeless population, school closures, job loss and unemployment, tax loss, sufficient hospital beds — the list is endless. He’s been running up and down the state to understand, implement and respond to the differing needs of the many cities and regions of the State.

I say appreciate his rising to unimaginable burdens and give the guy a break.

Wendy Bradley