The Chron is reporting that former District 5 Supervisor Sue Bierman died today, after crashing her car into a Dumpster in Cole Valley.
Bierman was 82 years old; she was first elected into office in 1992 at the age of 68. She had just been appointed by Newsom to the Port Commission two weeks ago. She served on the Board from 1992-2000 and who else but Matt Gonzalez took her seat on the board after she termed out.
While on the board, Bierman spearheaded such efforts as attempting to tear down the Central Freeway, trying to ban owner move-in evictions, banning live-work lofts, and stopping TICs. (Thank goodness for the "search full archives" function on SFGate; we weren't really paying attention to local politics when Bierman was in office.)
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Bierman's list of accomplishments that greatly benefited San Francisco are far to long to list.
A couple points of clarification however:
Yes, she led an effort at the BOS to get the Central Freeway ramp (now Octavia Boulevard) torn down, but more importantly, she was a leader of the "San Francisco Freeway Revolt" of the 1960's. This movement stopped CalTrans' jaw-droppingly horrific complex of new freeways planned for San Francisco (including along the northern waterfront and the panhandle).
Also, she was not "District 5 Supervisor". When she served on the Board, Supervisors were elected "at-large", or Citywide - no districts.
Finally, she has served on the Port Commission since 2003. She was just reappointed by Newsom.
Thanks for your post on her - all San Franciscans owe her a debt of gratitude.
I adored her, not just because she was San Francisco's version of New York/Toronto's Jane Jacobs (who also just recently died), but because she was fun to drink and talk with at the bar at Max's Opera Plaza, where she would often repair after a dreary political meeting.
She was a very cool lady.
Was on the Planning Commission from 1976 to 1992.
Founded the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Council (HANC)in 1960 to fight the Panhandle Freeway. The proposed Panhandle Freeway which would have taken out everything from Page to Hayes including most of the Panhandle starting at Octavia to Golden Gate Park.
"All San Franciscans owe her a debt of gratitude"
"She was a very cool lady"
Agreed.