City Treasurer Susan Leal is running in the San Francisco mayoral race as a self-proclaimed woman’s woman who is supported by female leaders and women’s groups.
“I appeal to a lot of women,” says Leal, one of nine mayoral candidates in the Nov. 4 election. She has garnered support from Board of Supervisors members Fiona Ma and Sophie Maxwell, Assessor-Recorder Mabel Teng, the San Francisco Women’s Political Caucus and the National Organization for Women.
Among Asian Pacific Americans, she has also won the support of the Westside Chinese Democratic Club, Asian Pacific Democratic Club and the Chinese-language Sing Tao Daily newspaper and College Board member Rodel Rodis.
Leal says that one of the main reasons she is supported by so many women is her stance on improving education, an issue that is important to mothers.
She helped write Proposition I, a Nov. 4 ballot measure that would subsidize child care and preschool programs for children in the 3 to 5 age range whose parents earn 75 percent or less of the state median income.
“Children who do not attend preschool have a greater chance of not doing well further in life,” says Leal, a lesbian mother who has raised twins with her partner, Susan Hirsch. Her children are now 19 years old.
Another proposal of Leal’s would help teachers find housing by providing city grants to cover their security deposit or first and last month’s rent.
Leal says that her appeal to women is based on her broad qualifications and her experience that also benefit others, including men, minorities and gays.
“If people elected officials based purely on their qualifications [and not based on personal or political ties], you would see a lot more women and people of color in office,” says Leal, who served as a supervisor before becoming city treasurer in 1998.
fiscal know-how
Leal cites the growth of city investments during her tenure as treasurer as a clear mark of her ability to handle huge responsibilities and improve the city.
As city treasurer, Leal says, she has made fruitful investments by using $2.5 billion to $3 billion annually to generate $735 million in the last five years. The city’s investment portfolio outperforms that of all other major California counties, she says.
Additionally, her fiscal acumen has tripled the collection rate of delinquent revenue and business taxes to an estimated $55 million a year, she says.
Some people have labeled Leal as a workaholic, and they may not be far from the truth, Leal says, adding that her favorite way to spend the day is to attend meetings.
Raised in the Mission
Raised by working-class Mexican immigrant parents in the Mission district, Leal received degrees in economics and law from the UC Berkeley. She then worked as a fraud investigator in Washington, D.C., before co-founding a small health care company that started with a handful of people and grew to a staff of a few hundred before she left, Leal says.
Leal says that the greatest asset she could offer as mayor would be her education and experience.
Criticism of Leal has largely involved her personal style, which some have described as uncharismatic and standoffish.
“I’m not as flashy, loud or funny as some of the other candidates,” Leal says. But she adds that, where it counts, she has the intensity and commitment necessary to get the job done as mayor.
AsianWeek contributed to this story.