Susan Leal
Member of the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
from District 8
In office
June 1993 – 1997
MayorFrank Jordan
Willie Brown
Preceded byRoberta Achtenberg
Succeeded byMark Leno
Constituency8th district
San Francisco Treasurer
In office
1997–2004
Preceded byMary Callanan
Succeeded byJosé Cisneros
General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
In office
August 2004 – March 2008
Succeeded byEd Harrington
Personal details
Born (1949-10-11) October 11, 1949
San Francisco, California
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic Party
Domestic partnerSusan Mayer Hirsch
EducationUniversity of California at Berkeley (BA)(JD)

Susan Leal (born October 11, 1949)[1] is an American water utility consultant and the co-author of the book Running Out of Water. Formerly, she was the General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, San Francisco Treasurer, and a San Francisco Supervisor.

Early life and education

Leal was born the youngest of three on October 11, 1949, to Mexican immigrant parents in San Francisco.[2] She grew up in Eureka Valley.[3] Leal graduated from Presentation High School in 1967; the Catholic prep school was founded in 1915 by the Sisters of the Presentation, and it closed in 1991. (The site is now part of the campus of University of San Francisco).[2]

Leal attended University of California, Berkeley, where she received a bachelor's degree in economics in 1971 and a Juris Doctor in 1975.[4] San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty was a classmate of hers at Cal.[2]

Career

After graduation, Leal worked for IBM's legal department. From 1976 to 1982, Leal served as staff attorney for the United States House Committee Interstate and Foreign Commerce subcommittee. In 1982, she served as senior consultant to the California State Assembly's Committee on Ways and Means, under Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.[2] In 1985, Leal became vice-president of a health care management company.[5]

San Francisco elections

Leal was appointed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in June 1993 by mayor Frank Jordan. She was re-elected the following year to a four-year term.[2][6] While serving on the Board, she chaired its Finance Committee.[1]

From 1997 to 2004, Leal served as Treasurer of San Francisco, the City and County's banker and chief investment officer, winning re-election in 2001.[7] Her duties as Treasurer also included managing all tax and revenue collection for San Francisco as well as managing billions of dollars in short-term revenue.[8] She introduced the first socially responsible investment portfolio among California’s 58 counties. Her socially-responsible portfolio’s return on investments surpassed the other 57 other California counties during her tenure. She helped increase tax collection rates, including a 91% increase in delinquent revenue collection, representing tens of millions in additional revenue.[9] Leal spearheaded the city's e-commerce initiative, which was named one of the top e-government projects nationwide and helped launched the nation's first audio ATM for the visually impaired.[10]

Leal was a candidate in the 2003 San Francisco mayoral election. She lost in the general election and endorsed Gavin Newsom, who later won, in the runoff election.[11]

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

In 2004, Leal was appointed General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), the county's utilities agency, by mayor Gavin Newsom, though she had no experience in the utilities field prior to this appointment.[11]

During her term, Leal implemented SFGreasecycle — a biodiesel fuel program that collects waste oil and grease to run San Francisco's fleet of vehicles and keep it out of the city's sewer system.[12][13][14] She upgraded the Bay Area's seismically unsafe water system and initiated a program to update San Francisco's wastewater system. The Commission installed tanks of bluegills at the Millbrae water treatment plant to measure water safety and detect nonbiological threats in the water supply, as mandated by anti-terrorism federal law.[15][16] It was also in talks to pay $58 million dollars to build a new power plant in Hunters Point, San Francisco to supplement the Hunters Point Power Plant.[11]

The Commission's governing board voted unanimously to fire Leal in February 2008.[17] Although the board did not cite an official reason, commissioner Dick Sklar has expressed disappointment in Leal's handling of the power plant negotiations.[11] She was succeeded by City Controller Ed Harrington.[11] Following her departure, the Board of Supervisors declared April 2008 "Susan Leal Month" for her service to the city.[6]

Subsequent work

Shortly afterward, Leal joined Harvard University as a Senior Fellow of the Advanced Leadership Initiative, where she researched the delivery of potable water and treatment of wastewater in communities worldwide.[18][19]

Personal life

Leal is openly gay.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Susan Leal, California, 1994 · Out and Elected in the USA: 1974-2004 · OutHistory: It's About Time". outhistory.org. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Finnie, Chuck (2003-08-23). "2003 S.F. MAYORAL RACE / Leal's acumen is unquestioned -- political allegiance another matter". SFGate. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  3. ↑ Lloyd, Carol (September 30, 2003). "At Home with Susan Leal". SFGate. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "Academy of Distinguished Alumni - Civil and Environmental Engineering". www.ce.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  5. ↑ Official Bio
  6. 1 2 City and County of San Francisco Tails Resolution: 080381 (PDF), San Francisco Board of Supervisors, March 25, 2008
  7. ↑ "November 6, 2001 Consolidated Municipal Election | Department of Elections".
  8. ↑ "Full Biography for Susan Leal".
  9. ↑ "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Susan Leal".
  10. ↑ "Money Talks?". www.afb.org. AccessWorld. American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Vega, Cecilia M. (23 February 2008). "Ousted S.F. utilities head vents about mayor". SF Gate. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  12. ↑ "San Francisco Residents Turn Holiday Meal Grease Into Biofuel for City's Fleet". www.government-fleet.com. January 2, 2008. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  13. ↑ Tran, Thy (December 1, 2007). "Donuts to Diesel: SFGreasecycle". KQED. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  14. ↑ Burress, Charles (2007-11-20). "S.F. program recycles restaurants' cooking oil for use as fuel". SFGate. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  15. ↑ "Fish to guard water". Al Jazeera. September 18, 2006. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  16. ↑ Davidson, Keay (6 September 2006). "Anti-terror fish guard S.F.'s water / Bluegill monitored to detect an attack on city's drinking supply". SF Gate. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  17. ↑ Vega, Cecilia M. (21 February 2008). "Susan Leal voted out as S.F.'s PUC chief". SF Gate. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  18. ↑ Lohr, Steve (13 December 2008). "Starting Over, With a Second Career Goal of Changing Society". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  19. ↑ "New leadership fellowship program established — The Harvard University Gazette". 12 October 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
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