Chancing upon Edwin Lee in downtown’s Lefty O’Doul’s, FilAm Star rose to the occasion and engaged the chief – the city’s first Asian American mayor — in small, quick talk. Here are a few notes from the conversation:
FILAM STAR (FAS): You took the flak when you changed your mind and decided to run for mayor last November. Any other reason, besides what you already said over and over, for running?
LEE: None, and I’ll say it again: the only reason people clamored for my candidacy, and to which I gave in, was they knew I have a solid plan to create jobs, which is what this city needs first and foremost.
FAS: How do you propose to address homelessness in San Francisco?
LEE: Homelessness and poverty are deep-rooted concerns that cannot be addressed with short-term solutions. I do not believe in quick fixes and dole-outs, for one. So what we need to do is to look into building housing communities. But the city must first make sure it can provide these communities with the necessary social services as well as jobs.
FAS: What has been the biggest difference between your role then as city administrator and your job now as mayor?
LEE: Politics. I still have to get used to it. And as city administrator, I didn’t have to deal with the Board of Supervisors.
FAS: What’s next after City Hall …. Sacramento?
LEE: No. City Hall is my first and last destination. I do not have any political ambitions.
FAS: How would you like San Francisco to remember you after you’re done as mayor?
LEE: I would like to be known as the mayor who created jobs for San Franciscans, especially in the digital technology field. I’d like to be remembered as the mayor who transformed San Francisco into another Silicon Valley, if not better.
FAS: Are you winning back the 49ers?
LEE: No, I can’t ….. not without $250 million for starters.