SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco is known as a city filled with gratifying irony.
On Friday, the bust of James Phelan, a former mayor who promoted his anti-Chinese views, was replaced with that of the city’s first Asian American Mayor, Ed Lee.
“It’s so poignant, so important not just for the Asian community but for all people in San Francisco to know hat hate and discrimination like that doesn’t have a place in the city,” said Lee’s daughter, Tania Lee.
Lee was a child of Chinese immigrants who grew up in public housing. He later became a housing rights attorney.
When then mayor Gavin Newsom resigned to become Lieutenant Governor, the Board of Supervisors agreed they could work with Lee and elected him.
City Administrator Carmen Chu was a board supervisor back then.
VIDEO: A look back at San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee’s legacy
Ed Lee will be remembered for being San Francisco’s first Chinese American mayor, but he also stepped up to lead a city emerging from a national economic crisis.
“We really wanted someone who knew how the city’s operations worked and try to take the politics out of things and really try to delivery for the city,” remembered Chu.
Shortly after, Lee was elected by voters in 2011 promising to only serve for one term.
He broke that promise, much to the dismay of some city officials and went on to win reelection in 2015.
During his tenure, Lee focused on the city’s growing homelessness issue and in 2016 created the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.
He later came up with the Affordable Housing Fund realizing the need for more homes for seniors, teachers and other San Franciscans who were being priced out.
He also made it his mission to revitalize the long-neglected mid-Market area by bringing in Twitter and other tech companies, offering them big tax breaks, a controversial move still criticized today.
MORE: San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee’s Chinatown roots
For some years, it appeared the area was on its way to recovery, only to fall once again in disarray after Twitter moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas.
Lee was known for appealing to the heart of the city. For one whole day, he turned San Francisco into Gotham City to please a five-year-old with leukemia obsessed with the Batman character.
He loved sports and was instrumental in bringing the Golden State Warriors to San Francisco and facilitating the construction of Chase Center.
“He was a Giants fan, he was a Warriors fan, a big fan of all the sports. He loved sports. Every time he talked about sport his face lit up,” recalled his widow, Anita Lee.
In December 2017, Lee suffered a heart attack at his local supermarket and later died at SF General Hospital. He was 65.
Anita Lee told ABC7 news she wants San Franciscans to remember her late husband as the “People’s Mayor.”
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