San Francisco, CA - This synopsis of Ed Lee, the mayor of San Francisco, is an exhibit to the report "San Francisco, California: An Island Unto Itself" written by Baruti Muhammad Kamau.Ed Lee is the first Chinese and Asian American Mayor in the United States. He was born in Seattle Washington to immigrant parents. Lee was educated at the University of California Berkeley and trained as an attorney. He was appointed Mayor of San Francisco in 2011 by the Board of Supervisors when Mayor Gavin Newsom resigned to take up the position of California's Lieutenant governor.
Milestones in Housing
1. Housing Trust Fund ($1.5 billion)
2. Housing Plan 30,000 new and rehabilitated homes (2014)
3. Small Site Acquisition Program
4. Neighborhood Residents and Displaced Tenants
5. Ellis Act Housing Preference Program (EAHP)
6. Rental Assistance Demonstration Program
Minimum Wage Boss
Mayor Ed Lee has played a central role in manifesting an increase in San Francisco's minimum wage. Since 2014 to 2016, the City of San Francisco has witnessed its minimum wage increase multiple times from $10.74 to $13 per hour. Lee’s ballot measure to raise the minimum wage was passed overwhelmingly by San Francisco voters in November 2014. Hence, San Francisco's minimum wage will gradually increase to $15 per hour by 2018. After 2018, San Francisco's minimum wage will increase annually based on increases in cost-of-living. It is interesting to note here that as a consequence of Lee's campaign to augment the local minimum wage is that San Francisco's minimum wage is higher than the state and federal mandatory minimum, which do not account for inflation. As a consequence of Lee's efforts in looking after the interest of the poor and working classes, the City of San Francisco is the only city in the United States that enjoys a progressive and enviable minimum wage.
Homelessness
Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (7/1/16)
About Barutiwa News Online, Inc.
Barutiwa News Online is a citizen journalism news site with an editorial slant to produce content from a different, perhaps controversial perspective. It has been online since 1999 and has its roots in Barutiwa Newspaper (ISSN 1080-997X), which was published from 1992 to 1999.