Arthur (Art) Christ Agnos (born September 1, 1938) is an American politician. He served as the 39th mayor of San Francisco, California from 1988 to 1992, and the Regional Head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1993–2001.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Agnos was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bates College and a Master of Social Work from Florida State University. He moved to San Francisco in 1966 and went to work at the San Francisco Housing Authority as a social worker with senior populations. At that time, San Francisco’s senior housing was being built as high-rises that many believed left seniors disconnected from the community. Agnos learned through his involvement in challenging this policy that political decisions can shape the environment for poor and vulnerable people.

On December 13, 1973, Agnos, who was then a member of the California Commission on Aging, was attending a meeting in the largely black public housing project on Potrero Hill in San Francisco to discuss building a government-funded health clinic in the area. After the meeting broke up, he was shot twice at point blank range by a black man; Agnos became one of two victims shot that day in a series of killings called the Zebra murders. It was perhaps the first cases of urban terrorism in the United States, with random shootings in San Francisco resulting in 16 murders and eight to ten wounded in waves of attacks in 1973 and 1974 by a more militant offshoot of the Nation of Islam in which points were earned by killing a white person. Agnos was one of the few who survived that day; the other victim, Marietta DiGirolamo, died.

Early political career[link]

Agnos was asked by California State Assemblyman Leo McCarthy to join his staff in January 1968. McCarthy was elected Speaker of the Assembly in 1974 and Agnos became his Chief of Staff. During this period, Agnos helped obtain the first-ever California state funding for community-based mental-health services serving the lesbian and gay community, helped pass nursing-home reform, and worked for preservation of farm land.

In 1976, Agnos was elected in his own right to the California State Assembly, defeating Harvey Milk in the Democratic primary in a district covering the eastern neighborhoods of San Francisco. He served as the Chair of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and as chair of the health subcommittee of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. Agnos also served as co-chair of the Joint Committee on South East Asian Refugees.

Agnos authored legislation that received national attention for innovative approaches to challenges in health care, welfare and civil rights, among other areas. He authored California’s model welfare reform, GAIN, that matched work requirements with funding for job training, education, and child care.^[1] Agnos also authored much of California’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, working directly with President Reagan’s Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, M.D., and the President of the National Academy of Sciences, David Baltimore,M.D.^[2] Although Agnos arranged for the nation’s first Joint Legislative Session on the AIDS/HIV Epidemic with Dr. Koop and Dr. Baltimore, the comprehensive approach to the epidemic failed to muster a majority of votes when the Governor failed to support the measure.

Since then, nearly all aspects of Agnos' proposals have become law and policy in California. Agnos also authored laws that provide support for family caregivers, fair child-support payments with a calculation that remains known as the Agnos calculator, safeguards against brain damage in the boxing ring, and legislation to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.^[3]

Mayor of San Francisco[link]

In 1987, he ran for mayor, to replace Dianne Feinstein, who was term-limited. Agnos came from behind to defeat Supervisor John Molinari, garnering 70 percent of the vote.

Agnos is best known for his leadership of San Francisco during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and for the city's recovery. The recovery effort also brought political peril to Agnos when he led the effort to tear down the Embarcadero Freeway rather than rebuild it. Agnos won a narrow vote at the city's Board of Supervisors on a 6–5 decision for the tear-down, leading the way to the opening of the San Francisco waterfront into what is widely considered one of the best outcomes from the earthquake. However, the move angered the city's Chinatown merchants and voters, who had been significant supporters of Agnos, and played a significant role in his failure to win re-election.

In recent years, Agnos’ decision has been looked to by city leaders and elected officials in Seattle and Toronto, Canada, where Agnos’ Embarcadero result is considered a potential model for replacing elevated freeways in urban areas.^[4] Under Agnos, the waterfront transit system gained an uninterrupted streetcar line with historic trolley cars running from Fisherman’s Wharf in the north to Mission Bay in the south.^[5] Agnos added to the waterfront by laying plans for the city’s first public access pier, Pier 7, to allow pedestrians to walk out into the Bay. Today San Francisco has dedicated a new public pier, Pier 14, to honor Agnos for his leadership in opening the city’s waterfront^[6]

Agnos inherited a city struggling with homelessness, a challenge that faced a number of cities in the late 1980s. Agnos convened a task force of providers, homeless advocates, city agency representatives and others to develop an approach that ended the reliance on overnight shelters in favor of programs to help homeless individuals and families become self-reliant. The plan, Beyond Shelter, won national recognition and awards.^[7]

The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake resulted in the loss of more than 1,000 low-rent housing units, including units housing those recovering from homelessness. Agnos championed changes in earthquake recovery programs from the federal and state government and from the Red Cross that provided funds to build new facilities and housing to implement the Beyond Shelter program and to restore arts programs and facilities. In 1993, the results were named a Finalist in the Rudy Bruner Foundation Award for Urban Excellence.

During the nine months that it took to renovate and open the Beyond Shelter multiservice centers, Agnos allowed homeless individuals to sleep in the park in front of City Hall, saying that the alternative was to drive them into neighborhoods and that, as long as they were in front of City Hall, city leaders would be confronted daily with the urgency of the crisis. Critics dubbed the result “Camp Agnos,” and called on him to use police force to remove them, which Agnos refused to do.

Agnos remained committed to a program of expanding affordable, low-cost housing in San Francisco. The city increased funding to repair and rehabilitate public housing by 300 percent, changing the vacancy rate from ten percent to one percent. He increased other affordable housing production from 342 units when he took office to 2,240 units, winning San Francisco’s first national recognition from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Excellence in Rental Rehabilitation and a Special Achievement Award.

Agnos’ liberalism also ran counter to other conservative interests. As mayor, Agnos and his family became the first to ride in the Lesbian Gay Freedom Day Parade, appointed minorities, lesbians and gays to high city posts, and ended the city’s opposition to a court-ordered consent decree to hire and promote minorities and women in the fire department which a federal judge opined was “out of control” due to racism when Agnos took office.^[8] Agnos ended a police department policy seen as permitting spying on local political organizations and ended the Department’s Tactical Squad that critics blamed for abusing citizens. Agnos also strengthened civilian oversight of the Police Department.

Agnos signed a law establishing domestic partner recognition for lesbian and gay couples that had been vetoed by his predecessor, which then became a target of repeal efforts.^[9] In 1989, voters narrowly repealed domestic partner recognition. Agnos moved forward with a Family Policy Task Force that recommended broad changes to San Francisco policy and law, including health insurance for domestic partners of city workers. In 1991, the city formally adopted domestic partner health insurance rights for the city’s 20,000 employees, the largest employer to do so at that time.^[10] Also in 1991, San Francisco voters approved a new domestic partners recognition law for the city.

Agnos served as Chair of the US Conference of Mayors AIDS Task Force, where he organized the lobbying effort that resulted in passage of the Ryan White Care bill.^[11] He implemented the policies he advocated as a state legislator, including a 98 percent increase in the city’s AIDS budget. He created the Mayors Task Force on the AIDS/HIV Epidemic staffed by Dr. Don Francis, a national leader on AIDS/HIV and credited with leading the effort to eradicate smallpox worldwide.^[12]

During his tenure, Agnos also undertook major improvements to the city’s infrastructure. As first lady of San Francisco, Agnos’ wife Sherry co-chaired the bond campaigns for public school renovations and a new Main Library at Civic Center, and Agnos designated that the existing Main Library become the new home for the Asian Art Museum that had been located in Golden Gate Park. In 1990, Sherry Agnos also raised funds and oversaw the construction of the $2 million Jelani House that has become a most successful drug rehabilitation facility for pregnant addicted women. Agnos ended the nation’s longest stalled public works project at Yerba Buena to develop a cultural hub that includes the Museum of Modern Art, Yerba Buena Center and Yerba Buena Gardens.^[13] Agnos also proposed a waterfront site for a new San Francisco Giants ballpark, but the proposal narrowly lost in November 1989 weeks after the Loma Prieta earthquake absorbed public attention. Later the Giants ballpark was sited at the location Agnos designated and built to the same overall design by the architects and developers he selected originally.

Post-mayoral career[link]

During the Clinton administration, Agnos served as Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii. Agnos also served as Acting FHA Commissioner and Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing, as well as Director of the Special Actions Office.

Agnos led HUD’s effort to uplift San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley, blighted by twin 20-story high-rises supported by HUD and which were unsafe for the residents and the community. Agnos created a partnership with the city, the residents, local community leaders, and HUD that led to the demolishing of Geneva Towers in 1998 and a new resident-led housing development of townhouses and apartments.

Agnos also crafted a HUD partnership for teacher housing in San Francisco and communities with excess land set aside for schools. Under the program, HUD financing supported construction and rental assistance for housing dedicated for teachers. San Jose, California has a similar program now in effect.

Agnos worked with city leaders throughout the region to create the first funding for homeless coordination between neighboring cities to address concerns that services were not well matched with those in need.

Agnos also led an effort to combat predatory lending aimed at minority homeowners and to repeal “racial covenants” barring non-whites from living or staying overnight in many California communities.^{[citation needed]}

Agnos worked with his mentor former California Assembly Speaker and Lt. Governor Leo T. McCarthy to establish the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good at the University of San Francisco. He has frequently been called upon by the US State Department, the National Democratic Institute, the Asia Foundation and other international bodies to provide leadership development on democracy building, including in the Russian Far East, the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Zaire, Sierra Leone, Angola, Korea, and as one of the first official to arrive in Bethlehem to offer disaster assistance after the Palestinian-Israeli army siege of the Church of the Nativity ended on May 10, 2002. He also is frequently sought as a speaker on disaster preparedness and recovery.

In 2007, Agnos was appointed as receiver for the troubled San Francisco Housing Authority. The Housing Authority sued to block the court order, and the matter went before the California Court of Appeals.^[14] The city still failed to act for two years, while appealing Agnos' appointment. By April 2009, the SF Chronicle reported that continued inaction while Agnos' appointment remained in court "seemed to jolt City Hall into action. Agnos never took control of the agency; instead, Fortner resigned under pressure from Newsom, who appointed Mirian Saez, director of operations at Treasure Island, to run the agency on an interim basis before hiring Alvarez. Under Saez and then Alvarez, the agency sold off properties to satisfy the judgments."^[15]

Agnos' most recent projects also include advising the founders of Open House, the first senior housing planned for elderly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in San Francisco as well as a project working with young families seeking to improve neighborhood schools in their neighborhood of Potrero Hill in San Francisco.^[16] And he has worked as a consultant with Minnesota-based Cargill and Arizona-based DMB Associates on their controversial plan to develop a bay salt pond in Redwood City.^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

	San Francisco Bay Area portal
	Biography portal
	Politics portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Art Agnos

• Art Agnos Website, Art Agnos Website

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Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco
Flag of San Francisco, California
Incumbent Ed Lee since 2011
Term length	Four years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	John W. Geary
Formation	1850
Website	Office of the Mayor

The Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the San Francisco city and county government. The mayor has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the legislative branch. The mayor serves a four-year term and is limited to two successive terms.^[1] Because of San Francisco's status as a consolidated city–county, the mayor also serves as the head of government of the county; both entities have been governed together by a combined set of governing bodies since 1856.^[2]

There have been 42 individuals sworn into office. John W. Geary, elected in 1850, was the first mayor of the city. Charles James Brenham, who served as mayor during the 1850s, is the only person who has served two non-consecutive terms. The previous mayor, Gavin Newsom resigned to become the Lieutenant Governor of California on January 10, 2011. Ed Lee was appointed by the Board of Supervisors on the following day to finish out Newsom's term. Lee was elected to his own term on November 8, 2011

Elections[link]

The mayor of San Francisco is elected every four years; elections take place one year before United States presidential elections on election day in November. Candidates must live and be registered to vote in San Francisco at the time of the election. The mayor is usually sworn in on the January 8 following the election. The next election for the mayor will be in 2015.

Under the California constitution, all city elections in the state are conducted on a non-partisan basis. As a result, candidates' party affiliations are not listed on the ballot, and multiple candidates from a single party can run in the election since primary election is not held.^[3]

Mayoral elections were originally run under a two-round system. If no candidate received a simple majority of votes in the general election, the two candidates who received the most votes competed in a second runoff election held several weeks later.^[4] In 2002, the election system for city officials was overhauled as a result of a citywide referendum. The new system, known as instant-runoff voting, allows voters to select and rank three candidates based on their preferences. If no one wins more than half of the first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and second-choice votes (and third-choice votes, if necessary) are counted until a candidate captures the majority. This eliminates the need to hold a separate runoff election and saves money. This was first implemented in the 2004 Board of Supervisors election after two years of preparation.^[5] In 2007, the new system was implemented in the mayoral election for the first time.^[6]

Duties and powers[link]

The mayor has the responsibility to enforce all city laws, administer and coordinate city departments and intergovernmental activities, set forth policies and agendas to the Board of Supervisors, and prepare and submit the city budget at the end of each fiscal year. The mayor has the powers to either approve or veto bills passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, participate in meetings of the Board of Supervisors and its committees, appoint a replacement to fill vacancies in all city elected offices until elections, appoint a member of the Board as acting mayor in his/her absence, and to direct personnels in the case of emergency.^[1]

Succession[link]

John W. Geary, 1st mayor of San Francisco

Isaac Smith Kalloch, 18th mayor of San Francisco

Washington Bartlett, 20th mayor of San Francisco

Adolph Sutro, 24th mayor of San Francisco

James D. Phelan, 25th mayor of San Francisco

Edward Robeson Taylor, 28th mayor of San Francisco

Dianne Feinstein, 38th mayor of San Francisco

Gavin Newsom, 42nd mayor of San Francisco

If the mayor dies in office, resigns, or is unable to carry out his/her duties and he/she did not designate an acting mayor, the president of the Board of Supervisors becomes acting mayor until the full Board select a person to fill the vacancy and finish the previous mayoral term.^[7] (In the case that both the president of the Board of Supervisors and the mayor are incapacitated, the order of succession is followed.^[1]) This has happened four times: James Otis died in office and was succeeded by George Hewston,^[a] James Rolph resigned and was succeeded by Angelo Rossi,^[c] George Moscone was assassinated and was succeeded by Dianne Feinstein,^[d] and Gavin Newsom resigned and was succeeded by Ed Lee.^[e]

List[link]

To date, 42 individuals have served as mayor. There have been 43 mayoralties due to Charles James Brenham's serving two non-consecutive terms: he is counted chronologically as both the second and fourth mayor. The longest term was that of James Rolph, who served over 18 years until his resignation to become the California governor. The length of his tenure as mayor was largely due to his popularity. During his term, San Francisco saw the expansion of its transit system, the construction of the Civic Center and the hosting of the World's Fair.^[8][9] The shortest term was that of Charles Boxton, who served only eight days before resigning from office. Two mayors have died in office: Otis died from illness and Moscone was assassinated. Dianne Feinstein is the only woman, Willie Brown is the only African American and Edwin Lee is the only Asian American to have served as mayor.

Eleven mayors are native San Franciscans: Levi Richard Ellert, James D. Phelan, Eugene Schmitz, Rolph, Elmer Robinson, John Shelley, Joseph Alioto, Moscone, Feinstein, Frank Jordan and Gavin Newsom. Four mayors are foreign-born: Frank McCoppin and P. H. McCarthy (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, present-day Republic of Ireland), Adolph Sutro (Prussia, present-day Germany) and George Christopher (Greece).

This list does not include all acting mayors, of which there have been many, as an acting mayor is typically appointed by the mayor whenever he or she will be out of the city.

Other offices held[link]

The following is a list of congressional, gubernatorial and other offices held by mayors, before or after their term(s).

* Denotes those offices which the mayor resigned to take

Living former mayors[link]

As of January 2011, five former mayors are alive, the oldest being Dianne Feinstein (1978–1988; born 1933). The most recent mayor to die is George Christopher (1956–1964; born 1907), on September 14, 2000.

Notes[link]

References[link]

San Francisco Bay Area portal

General

Specific

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Art Finley (born Arthur Finger in 1926 in Fairmont, West Virginia, U.S.) is a former North American television and radio personality, mostly in San Francisco and Vancouver, until his retirement in 1995.^[2]

His broadcasting career began at KXYZ Houston in 1943. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, and in the Korean War, he was recalled to active duty as a reserve officer in the U.S. Air Force, where he helped establish radio stations in Newfoundland and Greenland for the Strategic Air Command. Afterward, he worked in New York City in TV and radio. He moved to Stockton, California in the mid-1950s, to host a children's program, Toonytown, on KOVR-TV, where he remained until 1958.

He is widely remembered as "Mayor Art," the host of a live children's show that aired weekday afternoons on KRON-TV in San Francisco beginning in 1959 through 1966.^[2][3][4] Dressed in a top hat and a morning coat,^[5] he addressed his live audience of attendant children, who wore similar top hats, as the "city council."^[6] Each program featured a short science segment; and in between Popeye cartoons, Finley used a hand puppet, "Ringading,"^[7] to teach introductory French, Spanish, German, and Italian words and phrases. ^[6]

"Mayor Art's Almanac" was the first TV newscast for children in the U.S., and the State of California awarded him two gold medals for the feature, in 1963 and 1965. The Mayor Art character was partly a way of introducing young people to civic matters, which, in retrospect, revealed Finley's true interests and foreshadowed his later career as a radio talk show host. When the Mayor Art Show ended in the summer of 1966, Finley joined KRON-TV’s news department as a reporter and producer-host of “Speak Out,” a weekly political interview program, until 1968.

During the last half of his 50-year career, Finley returned to radio as a newsman and talk-show host. He relied on his wife Geraldine as his career advisor, researcher and editor throughout their 56-year marriage. She died in 2006.

In the U.S., Finley’s station affiliations were primarily in San Francisco: 10 years at KGO, and KCBS. Three interim years were spent at XTRA in San Diego and WNIS in Norfolk. Two radio stations in Vancouver, B.C., needed a talkshow host with U.S. experience and a knowledge of Canadiana, and Finley spent five years at CKNW, and later, six years at CJOR. He retired in 1995 from his years as a KCBS news anchor.^[6]

While living in Canada, Finley contributed many news stories and features from that country and from Europe, as byline writer for the San Francisco Chronicle Foreign Service.

Art Finley served as Master of Ceremonies for San Francisco's official celebration of Independence Day for fourteen of the years between 1960 and 1979.

From 1962 to 1981, the San Francisco Chronicle and scores of other North American newspapers published his syndicated daily panel “Art's Gallery”, consisting of 19th Century woodcuts, to which Finley had written humorous modern-day captions.^[2] All 6200+ original panels are now in the archives of San Francisco State University.

On February 12, 2002, Finley donated tapes of 100 of his memorable radio interviews, to the University of British Columbia Library's Rare Books and Special Collections.^[8]

Notes and references[link]

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Art Finley biographical materials". Bay Area Radio Museum. http://www.bayarearadio.org/stn_documents/art-finley_kgo-1978-bio.shtml. Retrieved 2009-04-17. 
3. ^ "Fifty Years of Broadcasting in Bay Area". Marin Independent Journal. http://www.marinij.com/ci_4532931?source=most_emailed. Retrieved 2009-04-17. 
4. ^ Hollis, Tim (2001). Hi there, boys and girls!: America's local children's TV shows. Oxford: Univ. Press of Miss.. pp. 60. http://books.google.com/books?id=hHZ3wYy7e9gC. 
5. ^ Image of Mayor Art: "Bluey, Bluey". Notes from around the Block. http://cheriblocksabraw.com/2009/01/30/bluey-bluey/. Retrieved 2009-04-17. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} "Art Finley biographical materials". BC Radio History. http://www.bcradiohistory.com/Biographies/ArtFinley.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-17. 
7. ^ Horton, Jane (2008). The 50 / 60 Kid - A Palo Alto Dreamer. Lulu.com, 2008. pp. 198. http://books.google.com/books?id=cyfK1mqLd8gC. 
8. ^ List of interviews donated to the University of British Columbia

He would also introduce creative art and imagination when he would have one of the kids from the audience come up and haphazardly draw a shaped line on a blackboard. Mayor Art would then complete the line by continuing it into a caroon or real world object. He was wonderfully gifted with many talents.

External links[link]

• Art Finley interviews rock impresario Bill Graham on KGO Radio, San Francisco, 1978

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Ross Mirkarimi
Mirkarimi in 2008
Sheriff of the County of San Francisco
In office January 7, 2012 – (suspended March 20, 2012)
Mayor	Ed Lee
Preceded by	Michael Hennessey
Succeeded by	Vicki Hennessy (Acting)
Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from District 5
In office 2005–2012
Mayor	Gavin Newsom Ed Lee
Preceded by	Matt Gonzalez
Succeeded by	Christina Olague
Personal details
Born	(1961-08-04) August 4, 1961 (age 50) Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	United States
Political party	Democratic (since 2010)
Other political affiliations	Green (founding non-member)
Spouse(s)	Eliana Lopez
Children	Theo Mirkarimi
Residence	San Francisco, California
Alma mater	St. Louis University Golden Gate University University of San Francisco
Occupation	Politician
Website	Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi

Ross Mirkarimi (born August 4, 1961) is the (currently suspended) sheriff of San Francisco. From 2005^[1] to 2012, he served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing District 5. Mirkarimi is a co-founder of the Green Party of California, but in March 2010, became a Democrat.^[2]

As Supervisor, Mirkarimi garnered national attention when he introduced the first legislation prohibiting the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags by large supermarkets and drugstores in 2007, making San Francisco the first city to do so. Later, other cities around the US and the world took up similar bans.^[3]

Mirkarimi served on the California Coastal Commission from 2009 to 2011. In 2006, he was awarded the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws' (NORML) Rufus King award, given annually for leadership in the reform of marijuana laws.^[4]

On January 13, 2012, Mirkarimi was charged with domestic violence battery, child endangerment, and dissuading a witness in connection with a New Year's Eve altercation he had with his wife.^[5] While jury selection was underway, Mirkarimi entered into a plea agreement with the district attorney, pleading guilty to one count of misdemeanor false imprisonment.^[6] On March 20, 2012, Mayor Ed Lee suspended Mirkarimi pending an ethics investigation and appointed Vicki Hennessy (no relation to former Sheriff Mike Hennessey) as Acting Sheriff.^[7]

Personal life[link]

Ross Mirkarimi (pronounced Meehr-kah-REE-mee) was born in Chicago to Nancy Kolman, a 19-year-old descended from Russian Jews, and Hamid Mirkarimi, an Iranian immigrant. His parents divorced when he was 5, and he moved with his mother to Jamestown, Rhode Island. He rarely saw his father.^[8] Mirkarimi graduated from the Catholic, all-male Bishop Hendricken High School in 1979. "I totally credit my childhood in Jamestown for my green views," Mirkarimi said. "I'll never forget living near Fort Getty and exploring the unspoiled island with my dog Oscar when I was a boy."^[9]

He has a Bachelor's degree in political science from St. Louis University, a Master's degree in international economics and affairs from Golden Gate University, and a Master of Science degree in environmental science from the University of San Francisco.^[10] He has lived in San Francisco since 1984.

Mirkarimi is a graduate of the San Francisco Police Academy, where he was the president of his class. Before his election to office, he served in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office investigating white collar crime.^[10]

On April 21, 2009, Ross Mirkarimi became a father, as Eliana Lopez, a Venezuelan telenovela star whom he met at an environmental conference in Brazil, gave birth to his son, Theo Aureliano Mirkarimi.^[11]

Founding of California Green Party[link]

Mirkarimi co-founded California's Green Party in 1990, and coordinated Ralph Nader's 2000 presidential campaign in California. He also managed local campaigns in San Francisco, including the 1989 Nuclear Free Zone initiative, the 2001 campaign for public power, the 1999 re-election of DA Terrence Hallninan, and the March 2002 campaign to elect Harry Britt to the State Assembly. He was a press spokesperson and campaign aide in the 2003 campaign to elect Matt Gonzalez mayor of San Francisco.^[12] Mirkarimi supported Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.^[13]

Mirkarimi supported Green Party candidate Krissy Keefer over Nancy Pelosi in the 2006 congressional election. "Why," he asked in regard to supporting Pelosi, "do we decide to support the lesser of two evils or the evil of two lessers...the level of mediocrity being dished out by the Republicans and Democrats?"^[14]

Supervisor[link]

As Supervisor, Mirkarimi has sponsored some 40 pieces of legislation in a wide range of areas, including medicinal marijuana, crime, making streets safer for pedestrians, improving efficiency of city departments, and the environment.

Marijuana legalization[link]

In April 2009, Mirkarimi proposed legislation that would make San Francisco the first city in the nation to sell and distribute marijuana. "We're spending much more money keeping marijuana underground, trying to hide a fact that is occurring all around us," he said. "Now is the time to take responsibility for something we've deflected to others and to test our ability to take responsibility."^[15]

On April 20, 2006 (4-20), the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws honored Mirkarimi with its Rufus King Award for outstanding leadership in the reform of marijuana laws.^[16] In a speech accepting the award, Mirkarimi said:

That particular logic (of being in favor of medicinal marijuana but not wanting dispensaries in the neighborhood in which you live), as complex as it is, was emblematic of what certainly concerned me, that we continue to drive back in the shadows the very idea of what we're all congregated here for, and that is to mainstream the issue so that marijuana should not be criminalized and medical cannabis should not be criminalized and that we should do everything we can to build that kind of resiliency, to shore up even in the face of adversity, that while there's any attempt at pushback or blowback from our efforts to try to proliferate Prop 215 states throughout all fifty states of the United States, that we should not shrink at all with that ever particular kind of adversity once again.^[17]

Tobacco smoking ban on golf courses[link]

Mirkarimi supported a measure by Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier to ban smoking on city parks. Mirkarimi helped expand the ban to bus shelters to the city's public golf courses. Not extending the law to golf courses, Mirkarimi declared, "has this undertone of elitism."^[18]

Reentry Council[link]

On September 9, 2008, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed Mirkarimi's legislation creating a Reentry Council to coordinate the disparate and disconnected City programs that help ex-offenders transition from incarceration back into society.^[19][20] Mirkarimi, in collaboration with Public Defender Jeff Adachi, District Attorney Kamala Harris, and Sheriff Michael Hennessey, crafted the legislation to increase the effectiveness of City-wide efforts to reduce recidivism and violence, and promote safe and successful reentry into society for adults released from jails and prisons.

Environmental issues[link]

In March 2007, Mirkarimi introduced legislation that prohibits large supermarkets and drugstores from providing customers with non-biodegradable plastic bags, making San Francisco the first city to regulate such bags. Since then other cities around the country and in Europe have take up similar bans, and there is a move by the California legislature to do the same.^[21] Mirkarimi said, "Instead of waiting for the federal government to do something about this country's oil dependence, environmental degradation or contribution to global warming, local governments can step up and do their part. The plastic bag ban is one small part of that." Many supermarkets opposed such legislation. The bill passed 10-1 and became an ordinance.^[22] Although the ban was initially criticized as "cosmetic" by the SF Weekly, which asserted that the ban has led to an increase in the use of paper bags, a practice they claim is worse for the environment,^[23] the ban also requires that stores charge a ten cent fee for each paper bag used, to encourage consumers to use reusable shopping bags. All revenues from the fee are kept by the stores. In 2012, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an expansion of the ban to include to all retailers citywide. ^[24]

In June 2008, Mirkarimi sponsored a one-year pilot program of a solar rebate program that provides $1.5 million to nonprofit organizations and lower income residents for the installation of solar voltaic power on rooftops; the measure received initial approval from the Board of Supervisors.^[25] In July, Mirkarimi was named among several supervisors who, along with the mayor and various organizations, opposed a move to build fossil-fuel power plants in the low-income southeastern part of San Francisco.^[26]

Ross Mirkarimi was the chief sponsor of a measure to require most employers to give pre-tax commuter checks to employees, with the intention of getting workers out of commuting via private car and into using public transportation; the measure is unlike many others involving regulation of businesses in that it was not opposed by the Chamber of Commerce.^[27]

Street name changes[link]

In February 2008, Mirkarimi announced his support for changing the name of a portion of Eddy Street to Marcus Garvey Way. Supporters hope that by renaming a street in honor of a well-known and influential figure of African descent, San Francisco's African-American residents will choose to stay in the city despite increases in the cost of living.^[28]

Reparations bill[link]

Mirkarimi also authored a piece of reparations bill, which would give descendants of those displaced by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency from the Western Addition priority in obtaining affordable housing. During the 1960s the city tore down much of the historic Fillmore district, most of whose residents were permanently removed. Two-thirds of those displaced were African American.^[29]

Gun control[link]

As a member of the San Francisco board of supervisors, Mirkarimi fought against the NRA challenging San Francisco's attempt to bolster gun control laws.^[30] This issue has caused many gun rights advocates to accuse Mirkarimi of hypocrisy, when it was reported that he himself was a gun owner even before he was elected Sheriff. He has since had to surrender his firearms due to the pending domestic violence allegations.^[30]

Campaign for Sheriff[link]

In May 2011, scheduled to be termed out as supervisor, Mirkarimi announced he was running for sheriff of San Francisco in the November 2011 election.^[31]

Mirkarimi did not receive the endorsement of the San Francisco Deputy Sheriff's Association, the union representing sheriffs. In an endorsement election of members, Capt. Paul Miyamoto received 353 votes to Mirkarimi's 2 votes. "This was a very large turnout for us," said Don Wilson, president of the association. "Miyamoto is a very popular guy in our department. We want one of our own to be sheriff. We want someone with experience."^[32]

In an interview with the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), Mirkarimi said about his candidacy:

The challenges of our campaign are that I am running citywide. I have opposition, but with my name recognition as an elected official, it’s one of the first times that I’m seen as an automatic frontrunner, instead of the underdog posture that I'm more used to from my previous runs. The election is in November 2011, and it will be at the same time as the mayor and district attorney. Competing for resources and attention is always an inherent challenge with other high profile races.^[31]

Mirkarimi made combatting recidivism a centerpiece of his campaign:

We have to realize that what happens in the jail system directly affects public safety throughout all of San Francisco neighborhoods. That entwinement can’t really be denied anymore, and the money we throw at the Police Department to just re-arrest the same people really sort of is counter-intuitive without asking the obvious question, “What can we do so that when somebody comes out they will not repeat their offense?” And there are tested programs already existing in the Sheriff’s Department, ones that we could I think consider adopting and ones that deserve institutional support because most of the programs in the Sheriff’s Department aren’t general-fund-funded, they’re grant-funded, and so they live and die by the vulnerability of those grants. That says San Francisco is not frontburnering the importance of what it means to stand towards the development and accountability of those programs, and that needs to change. I’ll change it.”^[33]

Domestic violence allegations[link]

On January 13, 2012, Mirkarimi was charged with domestic violence battery, child endangerment, and dissuading a witness.^[5] The charges came five days after he was sworn in publicly as sheriff and resulted from an altercation Mirkarimi had with his wife before he became sheriff, on New Year's Eve.

Mirkarimi and wife repudiate charges[link]

After his swearing in ceremony, Mirkarimi suggested that the police probe was politically motivated.^[34] Mirkarimi called the alleged incident "a private matter, a family matter".^[35] Mirkarimi's wife, Eliana Lopez, repudiated the charges against her husband.^[36] She added, "The richest people in California are behind all this. They can't stand that a progressive with very little money won the campaign for sheriff."^[37]

Details of domestic abuse complaint[link]

The domestic abuse complaint was lodged by Ivory Madison, a neighbor of Mirkarimi who had supported Mirkarimi in his campaign for sheriff and raised funds for his election campaign.^[38] According to a search warrant that police issued on Madison to obtain text messages that she exchanged with Mirkarimi's wife and a video that she took of his wife's bruised arm, Madison called police after Mirkarimi's wife told Madison that she had been bruised in a New Year's Eve altercation with Mirkarimi.^[39] Madison videotaped the bruise at the request of Mirkarimi's wife and the two discussed the incident via text messages.^[40] Madison also "indicated the alleged incident indicated a larger pattern of abuse."^[41] On the video, Lopez said, "This is the second time this is happening... We need help and I'm going to use this just in case he wants to take Theo away from me because he did said (sic) that he is very powerful and can do it."^[42]

Abraham Mertens, Ivory Madison's husband, wrote in a San Francisco Chronicle editorial that Mirkarimi should resign.^[43]

Not guilty plea[link]

On January 20, Mirkarimi pleaded not guilty to the domestic violence, child endangerment, and dissuading a witness charges. The judge issued a stay-away order requiring Mirkarimi not to have any contact with his wife or two-year-old son. The judge said that based on an arrest warrant affidavit that contains "physical and emotional abuse," a stay-away order was necessary.^[44]

Other abuse compaints[link]

On January 23, a second woman filed a police report claiming that Mirkarimi had abused her. She stated that Mirkarimi displayed a "raging pitbull aggressiveness" toward her, turning violent on at least one occasion, when he "grabbed both her upper arms, shook her and pinned her against the wall," leaving a bruise on her arm.^[45] "He (Mirkarimi) is like a pit bull," the victim said. "He snaps, and he gets mad, and he goes right for the jugular."^[46]

Two days later, after Mirkarimi's lawyer Robert Waggener told the press, "He's got a bombastic personality and occasionally he can be a bit of tyrant, but he is no abuser," Mirkarimi hired a new lawyer, Lidia Stiglich.^[47]

Guilty plea agreement and "runaway train of innuendo"[link]

On March 13, Mirkarimi pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of false imprisonment. The charges of domestic violence and two other misdemeanor counts were dropped. Under the plea agreement, Mirkarimi was sentenced to three years' probation, one year of weekly domestic violence batterers classes, parenting classes, a hundred hours of community service, and fines and court fees nearing $600.^[48] As part of the plea agreement, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón forced Mirkarimi to publicly apologize to Ivory Madison, the neighbor who brought the domestic violence incident to the attention of police.^[49]

Later, Mirkarimi said he agreed to the plea bargain because it did not require him to relinquish his firearm, which he needed to carry out his job as sheriff. He blamed a "runaway train of innuendo" in the news media for his legal travails.^[50] Asked if he felt ravaged by the excesses of San Francisco's political correctness, Mirkarimi answered, "In some ways, San Francisco has a very inflated image of itself being politically correct."^[51]

Calls for resignation[link]

On March 20, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee gave Mirkarimi a 24-hour ultimatum to resign from his post as sheriff, but a defiant Mirkarimi refused to resign, telling the press, "I am Ross Mirkarimi, the sheriff." The Mayor then appointed a temporary replacement, Vicki Hennessy, and ordered the city's Ethics Commission and Board of Supervisors to investigate Mirkarimi under misconduct charges.^[52]

Suspension from Sheriff's office[link]

Mirkarimi was suspended without pay and faced mounting legal bills without his $199,000 annual salary.^[53] A week after being suspended, Mirkarimi asked a court to reinstate him as sheriff and for the City of San Francisco to pay his attorney's fees. Mayor Ed Lee's decision to suspend him for official misconduct, he argued, was "an abuse of discretion and not supported by substantial evidence." He was owed attorney's fees, he said, "as a remedy for prejudicial abuse of discretion and violation of due process."^[54] The court, however, refused to reinstate Mirkarimi as sheriff.^[55]

Mirkarimi told a radio interviewer about the cost to him personally of his ordeal, "Oh my God, I’m destroyed inside out. I thought I was more tender, more caring. Not as gruff or abrasive. Not as testosterone-packed... Everything has bubbled up in such a way where it has been a complete nightmare for me and my family." He also said that he wanted to resolve the issue or "evaporate as a person."^[56]

Gives first public account of domestic violence incident[link]

On April 18, 2012, Mirkarimi gave his first-ever public account of the events that led him to injure his wife. He told a radio interviewer:

I had already vented what I had to say, and so, it was off my chest and I had acted inappropriately. I swore at my wife in front of my son, I was angry that she wasn't hearing me and I regret this terribly, but she was also extremely upset to a point where I had never seen her agitated before, in a way where it made my son extremely upset. So as she was getting out of her passenger seat to unharness our son, who is nearly three, he was panicked, you could see the panic, and she was screaming and I reached over from the driver's seat - still with my seatbelt on, to put my hand underneath her arm to try to guide her back into the passenger seat so we could just de-escalate this and talk this through. It was when I put my hand underneath her arm that she got bruised, in that process. I was instinctively just inserting myself because I saw my wife upset in a way I hadn't seen her upset, my son was just... I thought I was being a father in a moment where I had not any premeditated thought. And I thought I was coming to - I was trying to remedy the situation.^[57]

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón characterized Mirkarimi's statement as minimizing and rationalizing his behavior.^[58]

San Francisco Ethics Commission Hearings[link]

On April 23, 2012, misconduct hearings commenced at the San Francisco Ethics Commission to decide whether to recommend removing Mirkarimi from the sheriff's office.^[59] Mirkarimi's lawyers attempted to prevent the video of Mirkarimi's wife crying and pointing to the bruise on her arm from being played at the hearings, but on May 14 a judge ruled that the video could be played.^[60]

Release of the video[link]

Attorneys for Mirkarimi and his wife Eliana Lopez attempted to keep the video from being released, but California's Sunshine Law and a decision by the Ethics Commission to deny a protective order compelled the San Francisco Attorney's Office to release it on May 31.^[61] In the video, Lopez tearfully recounts the confrontation she had with her husband while displaying her bruised arm. "This happened yesterday," she says. "Twice, this has happened... I told Ross I want to work on the marriage."^[62]

In a statement issued by his attorney, Mirkarimi said, "The release of the video is the latest heavy-handed tactic to ruin me with absolutely no regard for my family’s well being. It utterly violates my wife's rights and serves no public good. It is the politics of destruction at its worst, and those who advocated its release should be ashamed."^[63]

Community Support[link]

Some groups created statements of support for Mirkarimi since the domestic violence allegations surfaced, including the Bernal Heights Democratic Club^[64] and the San Francisco Green Party.^[65] A petition to reinstate Mirkarimi to the Sheriff's office^[66] received over 600 signatures in May, 2012,^[67] and Mirkarimi's supporters lined up to speak in his favor during an April Ethics Commission.^[68] In April a facebook page titled StandWithRoss was created.^[69]

Law enforcement issues[link]

Support of the San Francisco 8[link]

In 2008, Mirkarimi supported a controversial resolution by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors asking the state to drop charges against the San Francisco 8, eight former Black Panthers arrested for their involvement in the 1971 murder of Sgt. John V. Young at San Francisco's Ingleside Police station.^[70] The San Francisco Chronicle opined, “A police officer slain in the line of duty is a disgrace that needs an answer. Instead, the shotgun slaying of Sgt. John Young is getting the political treatment from four San Francisco supervisors more interested in rhetoric than healing justice.”^[71]

Support for Josh Wolf[link]

At a solidarity fundraiser for Josh Wolf, an indie video blogger imprisoned for refusing to give a Federal Grand Jury his tape of an anarchist demonstration during which a San Francisco city policeman received a fractured skull, Mirkarimi said:

The issue here is certainly about the illegal incarceration of Josh Wolf and violating his protections as a member of the free press. But more importantly, we are witnessing the unraveling of the very fabric that made this country great. Maybe it's time for a new revolution?^[72]

Police foot patrols[link]

Mirkarimi sponsored legislation to require police foot patrols in high-crime neighborhoods. The Board of Supervisors approved this measure, but Mayor Gavin Newsom, citing objections by Police Chief Heather Fong, vetoed it. However, by a 9-2 vote, the Board overrode the veto; this was the first time that the Board of Supervisors had overridden a Newsom veto.^[73] As of 2010, the policy was not implemented. New San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón called foot patrols "laughable" and "simplistic."^[74] In 2010, San Francisco voters rejected Measure M, sponsored by Mirkarimi, which would have required the San Francisco Police Department to maintain a foot patrol presence from all its stations. Voters rejected the measure 54 to 46 percent.^[75]

Civic and community organizations[link]

Mirkarimi has been involved in these civic and community service activities: Director for SF Nuclear Freeze Zone Coalition; union negotiator for DAI Association union; member of the IFPTE Local 2; member of the Harvey Milk Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Democratic Club; member of the Iranian-American Chamber of Commerce; environmental analyst for the Harvard Study Team (Iraq) Bayview Hunters Point, California Base Closures; and member of the National Organization for Women (NOW).^[76]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Mirkarimi for Sherrif
• StandWithRoss Facebook page
• San Francisco City Government profile page