Ed Lee

He becomes lieutenant governor.

Uh, there's a vote to accept nominations for a, uh, acting mayor-

Mm

... that will be, like, the interim, or not acting mayor, interim mayor.

And, uh, it was, you know, crazy because I, I mean, I had no idea.

I'd, I had never read the charter before.

... you know, doing the whole thing.

Yep.

Okay.

Soon shortly after, um, Ed Lee, um, took office and, and really we grew a lot of it in partnership with his administration.

Yeah.

Um, but I got to work as a citizen and as a nonprofit leader with a lot of different folks here at the city.

Then Gavin Newsom, who was handpicked by him, served two or a little less than two terms.

Then Ed Lee, who was like really handpicked, I mean, like not only handpicked, but actually installed by mainly by Willie and then and convinced to take the job.

You know, Ed Lee did not want to be mayor.

He was basically strong armed into it.

He was made to do it by by Willie and Rose Pack and other people.

He is definitely the patriarch of the city family.

Um, it was Gavin Newsom and, and Ed Lee who engine- uh, uh, who engineered...

Ed Lee along with Willie Brown.

Uh, I, I knew someone who ran a restaurant that doesn't exist anymore, but it was called Alfred's, and, uh, there was a back room there, and he told me, the owner's son told me that that's where Gavin, Willie, and, and, uh, Ed Lee used to hold their, their secret meetings and, you know, k- he, they were pushing him to run for, for, you know, "Let's make you a placeholder." But, you know, then later it was, "Okay, but you gotta run." And the one thing I found really funny about it, because I also knew Ed Lee, was that they, y- you know, he said, "Oh, Ed just looks so uncomfortable with the whole concept.

He's just a bureaucrat and this is just so uncomfortable for him." And there was Gavin and Willie saying, "You gotta do it, you gotta do it.

You gotta do this for us."