Agnos, Art: Atmosphere of change

Art Agnos: I think that Mayor Joe Alioto’s administration and time in office did create an atmosphere where the people of this city were ready for a more progressive change and empowerment of the neighborhoods. The neighborhoods had felt shut out of City Hall; particularly on development issues. They saw things being proposed, high rises etc. As you know, San Francisco can be very fussy about this city and rightfully so because it’s a beautiful place. So I think that neighborhoods were feeling frustrated that they were not having any kind of participation through City Hall and the Mayor’s Office in what the future of this city was gonna be in a variety of areas, but development being one of them. At the same time I think that San Francisco was going through a change with new people coming to the city. New people had always come to the city, but I think we were seeing a wave in the 60’s and in the 70’s with the whole Haight-Ashbury movement and the urban renewal movement and all that stuff creating an atmosphere that was just right for 1975 when Mayor Moscone was a candidate and was successful because the people wanted a change from what had been to a more progressive inclusionary kind of government that they could be a part of. And that’s what George Moscone offered as Mayor

Agnos, Art: Milk\u27s political transformation

Art Agnos: Well, the race with Harvey Milk was a very interesting one. I was the candidate of the political left establishment. Mayor Moscone and Speaker Leo McCarthy, Willie Brown, Congressman Burton, both Congressman Burton, they were all supporting me which meant I was gonna get elected. Nevertheless, Harvey was a very competitive guy. Ironically, he was the conservative, and I was the liberal in that race. Harvey had come a few years before, I think in 72, we’re now in 75 or 76. He had come earlier when he had been outed as a stockbroker in New York where he was a Goldwater republican. Not a lot of people knew that. It was here that he found his liberation. As I said, people come to San Francisco to be liberated from whatever hampers them and sort of closets them. Whether it’s social, cultural, economic, whatever it is. Harvey came to be free as a gay man because he was deeply in the closet in New York, he was outed. He was a conservative guy; as I said a Goldwater republican. Came out here and found freedom, grew his ponytail and started to move to the left. But nevertheless, in 1975 as a candidate against me his favorite speech, and in the movie about him there’s a scene that depicts this, that he insisted that we needed to government run like a business. Where have you heard that before? And that “we didn’t need anymore social workers like Agnos to be developing these social programs”, and he went on from there. When you’re a candidate you get to know the other candidates rap if there were few of them. So I could give Harvey’s rap; he probably could give mine. And at that scene that you see in the movie. I liked him, I liked Harvey. He was a charming and appealing guy, and I could see he might go some place so I took him after he gave his speech at the University of California Law School debate between the two of us, again repeating his what we called “Throw the Bums Out” speech. I took him aside afterwards on the steps, put my arm around him and said “You know, Harvey, I know you want to go some place in politics in this city, but you’re not get too far with your ‘Throw the Bums Out’ conservative speech. You gotta give people hope.” Just like that. And he looked at me, and he said “What do you mean?” I said “You gotta give people hope for the future, and talk to them about the positive things that you can help them achieve together. The next week, he had his give ‘em hope speech. It was stunning to see him turn around and sound like a liberal! He did a good job! I must say, I congratulated him. I still won, but the next year he was a full-blown progressive. And in a district election that encompassed the Castro, won against a very crowded field. I didn’t support him. I supported Rick Stokes, who was an early freedom fighter for gay rights, but nevertheless Harvey with his “Give ‘em Hope” speech, which he NAILED. He was good at it. He won a resounding victory and went on to become the supervisor. We became friends. And by this time I had helped, not in a big way, but I had been a supporter of George Moscone when he ran for mayor against Barbagelata and Feinstein and all the others, and because he was a progressive and all the reasons that we talked about in this segment. So we would all see each other a lot. Mayor Moscone would have me over for some political event, and I’d talk to Harvey and so on. So there was a growing personal relationship to go on with the political alliances

Agnos, Art: Moscone\u27s legislative style

Art Agnos: George… The best way to describe him is the way my supervisor once did early on when she was telling me about it. He was a very progressive legislator who had a dashing style. He was George Clooney before George Clooney became who he is. He was this handsome guy who was personable, affable, easy to talk to, and very easy to like who nevertheless would never compromise with any of his ideals or values as a public official who believed in a progressive democratic philosophy. Even when he took on the most vociferous right-wingers in the state legislature, there would never be the kind of animosity and the kind of angry vitriol that we see characterizing too much of politics today in 2010. Never happened when George was in charge

Agnos, Art: Moscone\u27s legislative style

Art Agnos: George… The best way to describe him is the way my supervisor once did early on when she was telling me about it. He was a very progressive legislator who had a dashing style. He was George Clooney before George Clooney became who he is. He was this handsome guy who was personable, affable, easy to talk to, and very easy to like who nevertheless would never compromise with any of his ideals or values as a public official who believed in a progressive democratic philosophy. Even when he took on the most vociferous right-wingers in the state legislature, there would never be the kind of animosity and the kind of angry vitriol that we see characterizing too much of politics today in 2010. Never happened when George was in charge

Agnos, Art: Legacy

Art Agnos: I think that the most consistent everlasting legacy of Mayor Moscone is the fact that he opened City Hall to the neighborhoods; to every part of this city. That had never happened before. He empowered people from neighborhoods that had never been in City Hall much less on commission that affected the future of the city developmentally and socially. He included you whatever your ethnic background, your racial background, your sexual orientation or any part of you that gave you a status that meant you weren’t part of the establishment. George brought you in and gave you a chance to participate in the decisions that affected your life and those of your neighbors in the city. Now, people who succeeded George in the Mayor’s Office may have been more conservative as Dianne Feinstein was in her two administrations, but they never, never could go back to what was in this city; a very conservative sort of single oriented group of people who ran this city. You had to retain the Moscone value which was that everybody has a right to participate in the decisions that affect their lives and this city. Every mayor since him had made sure that happened

Agnos, Art: Milk\u27s political transformation

Art Agnos: Well, the race with Harvey Milk was a very interesting one. I was the candidate of the political left establishment. Mayor Moscone and Speaker Leo McCarthy, Willie Brown, Congressman Burton, both Congressman Burton, they were all supporting me which meant I was gonna get elected. Nevertheless, Harvey was a very competitive guy. Ironically, he was the conservative, and I was the liberal in that race. Harvey had come a few years before, I think in 72, we’re now in 75 or 76. He had come earlier when he had been outed as a stockbroker in New York where he was a Goldwater republican. Not a lot of people knew that. It was here that he found his liberation. As I said, people come to San Francisco to be liberated from whatever hampers them and sort of closets them. Whether it’s social, cultural, economic, whatever it is. Harvey came to be free as a gay man because he was deeply in the closet in New York, he was outed. He was a conservative guy; as I said a Goldwater republican. Came out here and found freedom, grew his ponytail and started to move to the left. But nevertheless, in 1975 as a candidate against me his favorite speech, and in the movie about him there’s a scene that depicts this, that he insisted that we needed to government run like a business. Where have you heard that before? And that “we didn’t need anymore social workers like Agnos to be developing these social programs”, and he went on from there. When you’re a candidate you get to know the other candidates rap if there were few of them. So I could give Harvey’s rap; he probably could give mine. And at that scene that you see in the movie. I liked him, I liked Harvey. He was a charming and appealing guy, and I could see he might go some place so I took him after he gave his speech at the University of California Law School debate between the two of us, again repeating his what we called “Throw the Bums Out” speech. I took him aside afterwards on the steps, put my arm around him and said “You know, Harvey, I know you want to go some place in politics in this city, but you’re not get too far with your ‘Throw the Bums Out’ conservative speech. You gotta give people hope.” Just like that. And he looked at me, and he said “What do you mean?” I said “You gotta give people hope for the future, and talk to them about the positive things that you can help them achieve together. The next week, he had his give ‘em hope speech. It was stunning to see him turn around and sound like a liberal! He did a good job! I must say, I congratulated him. I still won, but the next year he was a full-blown progressive. And in a district election that encompassed the Castro, won against a very crowded field. I didn’t support him. I supported Rick Stokes, who was an early freedom fighter for gay rights, but nevertheless Harvey with his “Give ‘em Hope” speech, which he NAILED. He was good at it. He won a resounding victory and went on to become the supervisor. We became friends. And by this time I had helped, not in a big way, but I had been a supporter of George Moscone when he ran for mayor against Barbagelata and Feinstein and all the others, and because he was a progressive and all the reasons that we talked about in this segment. So we would all see each other a lot. Mayor Moscone would have me over for some political event, and I’d talk to Harvey and so on. So there was a growing personal relationship to go on with the political alliances

Agnos, Art: Zebra murders 1973-74

Art Agnos: In 1973, I was working as a field representative administrative assistant to Leo McCarthy, working in the capitol in Sacramento as well as in San Francisco, and because I had chosen to continue living in the eastern side of the city which ultimately became the assembly district I ran for, Potrero Hill, I was well known at that time as a social worker who has political power. And so some of my neighbors over on the Potrero Hill housing projects asked me to come to a meeting to build a health clinic for the housing project for women and children, and families in need. That was a dangerous time in San Francisco. People didn’t go out at night because there was a series of killings going on. It hadn’t become quite as pronounced as it did later that year in 1973, but people were still conscious of it, it was in the papers, and it ultimately be known as the “Zebra Killings.” It wasn’t known as that then. But nevertheless I had made a commitment to go to the meeting. Went to the meeting. Had a very successful and productive meeting with a group of people, primarily African Americans who lived in the public housing project, and agreed that I could help them. And as I was walking back to my car, I had a date with my now wife, then fiancé, a couple of people from the meeting stopped me to ask a follow-up question. And as I was addressing them, another African American man came up to me and fired twice into my chest point-blank range. I didn’t react when he was coming up to me because it was a very integrated neighborhood and you weren’t surprised if somebody of color came towards you. So he was literally at point-blank when he pulled out a .32 caliber pistol and fired twice in the chest. Once right here, and once there. What saved my life, quite frankly, the doctor said was he happened to point the pistol in a downward trajectory rather than level because if it had been level it would have gone through my heart. So the whole neighborhood erupted. He ran away. I was brought to the hospital at San Francisco General who saved my life. Later on, a couple of the inspectors, Carreras and Fatinas (who happened to be Greek) who were doing the investigation came and told me that I was part of the Zebra Case. I said, “the Zebra Case?” I thought it was a racist description when you’re talking about zebra, black, white. I said “You cops are all the same. Ya’ know you’re always thinking the worst.” But they turned out to be right. It was a radical sect of the Black Muslims who required the killing of a Caucasian as an initiation into this group. And they were very deadly because they shot and killed about fifteen or sixteen people, wounded another five, and of those five I’m the only one who’s not permanently disabled. So I was very lucky. This went on for the better part of a year because it was stretched out as these various perspective members into this radical group were earning their initiation. Indeed at that time, as we look back, it was the first example of radical Islamic terrorism in this country, and it was in this city. At that time we only had three major networks you know, ABC, CBS, etc. I was on all of them because the country was completely captivated by this terror that this famous city of San Francisco was under - captivated by it. So Mayor Alioto had to do some really dramatic things that were controversial at the time which today would be called racial profiling; stopping every Black person who fit a certain description to see if they had guns on them and all the other kinds of things. It was not an easy time in San Francisco

Agnos, Art: Atmosphere of change

Art Agnos: I think that Mayor Joe Alioto’s administration and time in office did create an atmosphere where the people of this city were ready for a more progressive change and empowerment of the neighborhoods. The neighborhoods had felt shut out of City Hall; particularly on development issues. They saw things being proposed, high rises etc. As you know, San Francisco can be very fussy about this city and rightfully so because it’s a beautiful place. So I think that neighborhoods were feeling frustrated that they were not having any kind of participation through City Hall and the Mayor’s Office in what the future of this city was gonna be in a variety of areas, but development being one of them. At the same time I think that San Francisco was going through a change with new people coming to the city. New people had always come to the city, but I think we were seeing a wave in the 60’s and in the 70’s with the whole Haight-Ashbury movement and the urban renewal movement and all that stuff creating an atmosphere that was just right for 1975 when Mayor Moscone was a candidate and was successful because the people wanted a change from what had been to a more progressive inclusionary kind of government that they could be a part of. And that’s what George Moscone offered as Mayor

Agnos, Art: Farm worker legislation

Art Agnos: One of the biggest pieces of legislation to pass during the time that Leo was the speaker and George was the Senate Majority Leader was farm worker legislation. Jerry Brown was in the Governor’s office, and it was time to deal with the issues that Cesar Chavez had brought to the attention of this country and certainly this state. And these two progressive leaders who had had their own political differences in the city, coming from slightly different orientations came together and made sure we had one of the strongest farm worker protection bills that became law in the history of this state

Agnos, Art: Zebra murders 1973-74

Art Agnos: In 1973, I was working as a field representative administrative assistant to Leo McCarthy, working in the capitol in Sacramento as well as in San Francisco, and because I had chosen to continue living in the eastern side of the city which ultimately became the assembly district I ran for, Potrero Hill, I was well known at that time as a social worker who has political power. And so some of my neighbors over on the Potrero Hill housing projects asked me to come to a meeting to build a health clinic for the housing project for women and children, and families in need. That was a dangerous time in San Francisco. People didn’t go out at night because there was a series of killings going on. It hadn’t become quite as pronounced as it did later that year in 1973, but people were still conscious of it, it was in the papers, and it ultimately be known as the “Zebra Killings.” It wasn’t known as that then. But nevertheless I had made a commitment to go to the meeting. Went to the meeting. Had a very successful and productive meeting with a group of people, primarily African Americans who lived in the public housing project, and agreed that I could help them. And as I was walking back to my car, I had a date with my now wife, then fiancé, a couple of people from the meeting stopped me to ask a follow-up question. And as I was addressing them, another African American man came up to me and fired twice into my chest point-blank range. I didn’t react when he was coming up to me because it was a very integrated neighborhood and you weren’t surprised if somebody of color came towards you. So he was literally at point-blank when he pulled out a .32 caliber pistol and fired twice in the chest. Once right here, and once there. What saved my life, quite frankly, the doctor said was he happened to point the pistol in a downward trajectory rather than level because if it had been level it would have gone through my heart. So the whole neighborhood erupted. He ran away. I was brought to the hospital at San Francisco General who saved my life. Later on, a couple of the inspectors, Carreras and Fatinas (who happened to be Greek) who were doing the investigation came and told me that I was part of the Zebra Case. I said, “the Zebra Case?” I thought it was a racist description when you’re talking about zebra, black, white. I said “You cops are all the same. Ya’ know you’re always thinking the worst.” But they turned out to be right. It was a radical sect of the Black Muslims who required the killing of a Caucasian as an initiation into this group. And they were very deadly because they shot and killed about fifteen or sixteen people, wounded another five, and of those five I’m the only one who’s not permanently disabled. So I was very lucky. This went on for the better part of a year because it was stretched out as these various perspective members into this radical group were earning their initiation. Indeed at that time, as we look back, it was the first example of radical Islamic terrorism in this country, and it was in this city. At that time we only had three major networks you know, ABC, CBS, etc. I was on all of them because the country was completely captivated by this terror that this famous city of San Francisco was under - captivated by it. So Mayor Alioto had to do some really dramatic things that were controversial at the time which today would be called racial profiling; stopping every Black person who fit a certain description to see if they had guns on them and all the other kinds of things. It was not an easy time in San Francisco