San Francisco’s new acting mayor is a black woman
Early Tuesday morning, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee died suddenly. According to the city charter, that elevated President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors London Breed to the status of acting mayor.
Breed, a Black woman, grew up in poverty in San Francisco’s Western Addition neighborhood, coming from a family of five that lived on $900 a month, as she described in an op-ed for the San Francisco Examiner in 2016.
However, Breed went on to study political science at the University of California, Davis, and then earned a master’s in public administration from the University of San Francisco.
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She has served San Francisco not only as president of the board but as Executive Director of the African American Art & Culture Complex in the Western Addition, Redevelopment Agency Commissioner, and Fire Commissioner.
Now, Breed is making history as only the second female mayor of San Francisco. Like Breed, Dianne Feinstein became mayor after Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay public officials in America, was assassinated in 1978. Feinstein ultimately served in the position for ten years after winning reelection in 1979 and 1983.
Breed will be acting mayor until the board choosing a new mayor, but it may be the case that they choose her to fulfill the rest of the term until the next election, on November 5, 2019.
"It is with profound sadness that I confirm Mayor Edwin M. Lee passed away early this morning," San Francisco Board of Supervisors President London Breed, who has become acting mayor of the city, says. https://t.co/PjiuzCS8DQ pic.twitter.com/c835VWSRCz
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) December 12, 2017
