Acting mayor of San Francisco London Breed announces she's running for mayor
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - Acting mayor of San Francisco London Breed announced she is running for mayor to lead the city she was born and raised in.
She posted the announcement on Twitter and added, "I'm not an ideologue. I believe in a San Francisco where we succeed as one. Together there is no problem we can't solve."
Following the news of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee's sudden death last month, Board of Supervisors President London Breed was announced as acting mayor of San Francisco.
She is the first African American female to hold the top job.
Breed took over as acting mayor after serving as president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors since 2015. She has been on the board since 2012.
“I ask for your patience and I ask for your support and I ask for your prayers,” Breed said at a press conference following Lee’s death.
While serving as president, Breed has been responsible for overseeing a $10-billion budget and roughly 30,000 employees, making it the city’s largest legislative job.
Breed is a native of San Francisco who was raised in public housing by her grandmother. Her biography says she graduated from Galileo High School and attended the University of California Davis where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Public Service degree with a minor in African American Studies. She also received a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco.
Breed has campaigned for the board on goals of improving housing, the environment, public safety, transportation and quality of life. Some of her biggest accomplishments include: passing legislation to increase housing along transit routes; rehabilitating unused public housing for homeless families; spearheading a clean electrical energy program to cut CO2; passing drug takeback legislation to keep tons of medical waste out of landfills and waterways; and passing the strongest Styrofoam ban in the country.
The acting mayor is currently on the Golden Gate Bridge Board of Directors, San Francisco County Transportation Authority and the San Francisco Democratic County Central Commission.
Breed has previously served on the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency as commissioner for five years. Additionally, she once served as fire commissioner.
Before serving on the Board of Supervisors, she was the executive director of the African American Art and Culture complex in the Western Addition for more than 10 years, helping to create an after-school arts and culture center and strengthen resources for children and seniors.
The Board of Supervisors could choose to appoint someone else if it so chooses, however, the city attorney said action is not required.
“She has all the powers that come with the office,” City Attorney Dennis Herrera said. “The board does not have to take any action and there is no timeline.”
There will be an election on June 5, 2018, to let voters determine who will fulfill the unexpired term of late Mayor Ed Lee. That term will end in January 2020.
A look at Breed's career - (source: sfbos.org)
- Elected as District 5 Supervisor
- Executive Director of the African American Art & Culture Complex in the Western Addition for over a decade
- Served for five years as a San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Commissioner
- In 2010 was appointed by then Mayor Gavin Newsom to be a San Francisco Fire Commissioner, where she served until her election to the Board of Supervisors.
- Passed legislation to increase housing production along transit corridors
- Helped rehabilitate 193 units of unused public housing for homeless families
- Passed strongest Styrofoam ban in the country
- Spearheaded San Francisco’s clean electrical energy program, CleanPower
- Helped cut ambulance response time by over 26 percent, according to the city
- Passed an overhaul of the City’s graffiti policies
- First-in-the-country legislation to protect music and nightlife venues
- Championed legislation to replace hundreds of Muni buses and entire fleet of Muni trains